Matthew Thomas is an entrepreneur who has spent most of his career working in Austin-based start-ups with a particular focus on Education Technology and Software-as-a-Service. Most recently he co-founded AcademicWorks, which provides cloud-based software to help colleges, universities, and community foundations manage their scholarship processes while increasing donor engagement. That’s a fancy way of saying that AcademicWorks encourages the virtuous cycle of giving by ensuring that scholarship dollars are used to help kids pay for college while recognizing donors for their impact and contribution so that they will in turn be inclined to help more students.

In April 2017, AcademicWorks was acquired by Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB).

Prior to AcademicWorks, Matthew had the privilege of serving in several capacities, including the executive management team, at Austin-based PeopleAdmin, which was sold to Summit Partners in 2008.

Outside of entrepreneurial endeavors, you’ll usually find Matthew running around Lady Bird Lake or fighting his way through a marathon with Nutella to make up for the homebrew he just finished. You’ll also likely see him at an Entreprenuers’ Organization event, which is always filled with fantastic and inspiring people.