Arlington, VA – September 6, 2016 – Symplicity, a market leader in enterprise technology for higher education, government and businesses, announced today that EdTech veteran Matthew Small has been hired as the company’s next President & Chief Executive Officer. Small joins Symplicity from Blackboard Inc., where he previously served as Chief Business Officer and President, International.
“Matt is a well-known industry veteran who brings more than 20 years of higher-ed experience to Symplicity,” said Keval Patel, Symplicity Corporation Chairman of the Board. “He comes to us from Blackboard where he showed significant progression starting out as General Counsel and getting promoted to numerous leadership positions, including Chief Business Officer and President, International. Matt was instrumental in growing Blackboard’s revenues from $20M when he began to more than $700M today. We are confident that Matt has the right experience, talent and leadership skills to drive Symplicity’s growth strategy as we strive to create a truly global, innovative, data-driven employability and student services platform.”
At Blackboard, Small had numerous responsibilities across the organization throughout the company’s history, including operations, marketing, human resources, legal, business and corporate development, publisher relationships, mergers and acquisitions and, most recently, Blackboard International.
Small also led several major company transactions during his tenure at Blackboard, including Blackboard’s initial public offering in 2004; several public equity and debt financings; the acquisition and integration of several education technology companies such as WebCT, Inc. (2006), Xythos Software (2007), The NTI Group, Inc. (2008), Angel Learning (2009), Terriblyclever Design LLC (2009), Elluminate (2010), Wimba (2010), Presidium Learning (2010), Moodlerooms (2011), Netspot (2011), Txttools (2011), Positivo Portal (2013), Remote Learner UK (2014), Nivel Siete (2015) and X-Ray Analytics (2015); and the sale of Blackboard Inc. to Providence Equity Partners in 2011.
“I’m excited to be joining Symplicity at such a transformative time for the industry and company,” said Small. “Schools and institutions around the world are increasingly focused on connecting students with employers, employability and bridging what has become an increasing skills gap for students entering the workforce. I am looking forward to working alongside the talented Symplicity team as we strive to meet that demand, enhance our offerings and enter our next phase of growth.”
About Symplicity Corporation
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Arlington, VA, Symplicity sells SaaS-based solutions to over 1,200 institutions that help manage all aspects of a student’s life on campus, including career services, academics, behavioral intervention, and student conduct. More than 400,000 active employers utilize the Company’s on-campus recruiting software to leverage the largest higher education job network in the U.S. and recruit students and alumni for entry-level jobs.
