Lorenzo Thione (Born October 21, 1978 in Milan, Italy) is a Tony Nominated producer and co-founder of Powerset (acquired by Microsoft in 2008), Artify.it, and LGBT non-profit Startout. He is also founder of and CEO at The Social Edge and Community theater owner in his San Francisco residence.

Lorenzo Thione was born and raised in Milan, and completed studies at the University of Texas at Austin, from which he holds a M.S. in Computer Engineering. Lorenzo holds Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.

He found a passion in pursuing careers which intersect technology and the arts.

Prior to joining Powerset, he worked at FXPAL.

Thione proudly identifies as an LGBT Italian and intends to give back to his community in any way.

He married Michael Prince on January 9, 2015 in New York City in a ceremony at 54 Below.

Lorenzo Thione has been part of the production team of numerous productions on and off Broadway since 2008.

His Broadway and Touring credits include the 2008 Broadway production of Slava’s Snowshow and the 2009 Broadway debut American Idiot, both of which were nominated for Tony Awards as best productions in their respective categories, as well as the national tour of Xanadu (all as Associate Producer).

Thione runs a small theater non-profit in San Francisco, the San Francisco New Theater Workshop, of which he is the managing director, and which is dedicated to discovering and producing new promising works in musical theater.

He has also co-founded Sing Out, Louise!

Productions, a theatrical production and investment company.

He and his business partner Jay Kuo are currently busy bringing several new works to the national stage.

The musical (staring George Takei and Lea Salonga) began development in 2008 and premiered in September 2012 in San Diego, California.

It played on Broadway from October 2015 to February 2016.

The musical about WWII, framed in a modern day story, was written based on real life experiences.

Thione began the writing process 7 years before the musical's opening after an encounter with cast member George Takei.

He lead social media campaigns that lead to growth and awareness from the Broadway audience in its developmental phase.

Lorenzo is the co-founder and board chair emeritus of StartOut, the leading non-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship within the LGBT community. He's an outspoken LGBT advocate and was named one of the most influential LGBT people in tech in 2014 by Business Insider.

In his early twenties, Thione launched his first company, Powerset, a search engine startup.

That company eventually sold to Microsoft for about $100 million, where it ultimately became part of the tech giant's Bing search engine.

Thione felt inspired during a trip to Mexico City to tackle the art industry.

In 2012, Thione tried to make a comeback with a new startup called Artify It, which pegged itself as a "Netflix for art." It reportedly shut down in June, but has since pivoted to selling high-quality prints from popular artists.

Lorenzo Thione co-founded The Social Edge along with Jay Kuo ** now based in Manhattan. The Social Edge is an engagement amplification platform for digital publishers and social media influencers.

Thione is an investor and advisor for startups such as CrowdFlower, CrowdMed, Famo.us, Etacts (now Salesforce), ChoicePass (now Salesforce), Gobble, and Lucid Charts. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Algebraix Data and Kenzen.