Alteon is building the infrastructure to power the creator economy

By Riley Kaminer

The creator economy is growing at a record-breaking clip. Estimated at around $13.8 billion in 2021, this sector is reshaping the way that we consume content.

Behind this flood of content, brand deals, and engagement are some vexing technical snags. For one, high-level editing now happens remotely. Gone are the days of dark edit bays in a central location. That presents a plethora of problems, including uploading and downloading files and communicating changes to be made.

Matthew Cimaglia is acutely aware of these issues. Since his early 20s, the Boca Raton native has worked in the creative and broadcast industries, including as a TV producer and multimedia storyteller for brands including Mercedes-Benz and Citadel.

In 2018, Cimaglia pitched one of his clients on the idea of a cloud system to store, access, and manage their digital files.

“The CFO looked at me and said: ‘Matt, we can’t spend millions of dollars on a system that’s just for us. But if it existed as a SaaS platform or a subscription based service, we would be all in,” Cimaglia told Refresh Miami. 

And thus the lightbulb went off. “Even the little production company that I ran couldn’t afford the enterprise class tools that existed out there that the major studios,” said Cimaglia. So he set out to develop a platform that democratized access to these tools.

“It’s all about accessibility,” asserted Cimaglia. “We’re providing tools to content creators and freelancers and small businesses and even large businesses that would otherwise cost them millions of dollars.”

Cimaglia launched Alteon, his digital solution for content management, right before the pandemic. The SaaS company, which has a team of around 20 full-time employees, has developed a platform that allows creators to streamline their workflows and produce better content more quickly.  

“When you harness the cloud, you have the ability to centralize your storage,” explained Cimaglia. “Now you have accessibility for your whole team.” That stands in stark contrast to the previous standard, which was sending physical hard drives back and forth between editors around the country or even the world.

Alteon also transcodes video files for editors. That way, users can upload large files in less common formats and not worry about their teammates having trouble viewing the clips. Editors can then send comments to each other natively, right through Adobe Premier – avoiding lengthy, confusing email chains or text messages.

For Cimaglia, who grew up in Boca around the same time that IBM was here developing the first computer, the rise of South Florida tech feels like a natural phenomenon.

“At one point, the South Florida tech ecosystem was as strong as Silicon Valley’s,” he said. “Over the last few years, we’ve seen talent return back to Florida.” Cimaglia is partially in this group, having spent time around the US while always maintaining a residence in South Florida.

“What’s so great about it is that this talent is taking their knowledge from world class cities and bringing it back to Florida – bringing their thirst for culture and innovation,” he said.

Cimaglia sits on the board of the Boca Raton Center for Arts & Innovation, a local cultural hub that plans to open its doors in 2025.

READ MORE ON REFRESH MIAMI:

Riley Kaminer