Thomas Hornbeck

Thomas is a seasoned entrepreneur and technology leader with a passion for impact investing. At Kind Capital, he leverages his extensive experience to support and invest in innovative companies that drive positive social and environmental change.

Thomas is the Co-Founder of Homeroom Inc., a YC-backed, AI-powered property management platform for affordable housing (Y Combinator W'22). He was formerly the Co-Founder of GotIt!, a leading VC-backed Silicon Valley AI education company, and has authored numerous US technology patents. His career began as a software engineer in 2004 at PhoneFactor, a pioneer in multi-factor authentication, which was later acquired by Microsoft. Between 2007 and 2012, he pursued a PhD in Computer Science while being one of the first engineers at VIDA Lung, a global leader in pulmonary diagnostics used in over 40 countries.

In 2011, Thomas co-founded GotIt!, one of the first on-demand tutoring platforms, which achieved the #2 ranking in the App Store's Education category and served millions of students worldwide. He has successfully grown and managed large technology teams of over 100 engineers and was also the former Co-Founder of Elliott Bay Technologies, a software engineering firm focused on building early-stage technology companies.

With over 20 years in the tech industry, Thomas excels in software engineering, product development, and AI. He has consistently attracted significant backing from top-tier investors like Y Combinator, 500 Startups, YouWeb, and TechStars. Beyond entrepreneurship, Thomas has made substantial contributions to academia as an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa’s Department of Computer Science. His CDC-funded doctoral research in computational epidemiology using big data, sensor networks, and large-scale distributed simulation was published in Oxford Journals in 2012.

At Kind Capital, Thomas is dedicated to fostering companies that align with his vision of impactful innovation. He also co-founded Distynct, serves as an angel investor and board member at Jobhop Inc., and continuously seeks opportunities to drive positive change through strategic investments and mentorship.