$2.5M gift continues momentum for KU’s entrepreneurship hub

LAWRENCE — Mathew Stava specializes in charting a course. As a veteran in the technology industry and founder of Spinnaker Support, he has built a successful career as an entrepreneur. He and his wife, Kelly, hope to provide University of Kansas students the opportunity to do the same with a pledge of $2.5 million to propel completion of a new building that will serve as the entrepreneurship hub for the university.  

The dynamic space will serve students from all academic backgrounds, allowing them to connect, create and innovate as they build business competency that will equip them to thrive in any career. The Stavas’ investment is instrumental to making the hub, which breaks ground this spring, a reality and in ensuring its sustainability for years to come.  

“This gift strengthens our ability to serve students across KU, regardless of major or career path,” said KU School of Business Dean Jide Wintoki. “We appreciate the Stava family’s belief in an entrepreneurship hub that reflects the collaborative spirit of KU and allows students to put learning into practice in meaningful ways.”  

It was Stava’s own entrepreneurial drive that inspired him to support the initiative.

“I have started companies with some success, and I feel fortunate if I can give back to the institutions and people who made me who I am. That was the primary driver for my wife and me, and where my heart lies,” he said.   

Stava also expressed confidence in KU and business school leadership to build the hub into a sustainable asset with broad reach and long-term impact.

“My wife and I have confidence that this will be a lasting program that — because it is universitywide — will have impact on all students, whether they’re engineering majors, theater majors or anywhere in between.” 

After earning a business degree from KU, Stava began his career as a supply chain manager at Andersen Consulting — now Accenture — where he helped develop and restructure supply chains for his clients. After just a few short years leading supply chain work for others, he forged his own path in 2002 and co-founded Spinnaker Management Group, which grew from a supply chain practice into a holding company with multiple practice areas, and merged five years ago with SCApath to expand solutions for its customers. In 2008, Stava founded Spinnaker Support, which provides third-party maintenance and consulting for enterprise software — primarily SAP, Oracle and Salesforce — as an alternative to a vendor support model. 

Stava said he hopes his family’s gift will enable KU students to pursue their interests in a way that hasn’t previously been possible. As a 1994 business administration graduate, Stava said he recognizes how this initiative reflects a next-generation approach that broadens the impact of a traditional business degree — and that the infrastructure required for this endeavor is twofold. 

“It’s crucial for KU to have not just the building but programs to allow students to go out and kickstart companies,” he said. ”I hope this project gives them opportunities that I didn’t have and a sense of the ability to pursue their dreams.” 

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.