Thomas Hornbeck, MS, PhD(c)

CTO and Venture Partner

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.

Mission-Driven Executive Team

Diverse in experience, united in mission. The Kind Capital team brings 100+ years of combined experience across industries and leadership roles, authentically mission-driven to leverage our skills to catalyze positive sustainable impact while driving financial returns for our partners & investors. We have experience working with early stage companies through large Fortune 500 conglomerates across the full spectrum of asset classes, including structuring program-related investments (PRI), mission-related investments (MRI), social impact bonds (SIB) and income share agreements (ISA).

John Duong

Founder & CEO

Jason Buchanan, MD

Partner & Chief Medical Officer

Kimberly M. James

Director, Head of Metrics & Evaluation

Thomas Hornbeck

CTO and Venture Partner

Debbie McKeon

Partner and Senior Advisor, Strategic Partnerships

Lori M. Ruffin

VP of Entrepreneur Services

Ash Sharma

Director ESG and Corporate Sustainability

Zyrine Dave Geraldez

Executive Assistant

Advisory Council

Andre Bennin

Jennifer Oertel

Melanie Audette

Joe Fuller

Rich Krygiel

Thomas Terdjman

Ted Mitchell

Sonal Shah

Peter Fusaro

Karen Tay

Meredith Finn

Senior Workers of Talent (SWOT)

Joy Profet

Superpower: COO & Comms

Ray Wilburn

Superpower: Finance & Compliance

Keith Aikens

Superpower: Comms, Racial Equity

Marissa Lowman

Superpower: Product & Innovation

Isaac Segal

Superpower: EdTech, Entrepreneurship, Management

Lucia Weathers

Superpower: Strategic Comms

Maria Del Toro

Superpower: Philanthropic Fundraising, Strategy, & Management

Jocelyn Sargent

Superpower: Philanthropy, Racial Equity/EDI, Leadership
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