InvestHer Academy

Nicole got her entrepreneurial start in the 4th grade, orchestrating cousins into theatrical plays and charging neighbors admission. From there, she founded 3 startups which is the source of her passion for helping grow startups. Since then, she's spent over 15 years working with and funding early-stage web software companies. Most recently, she's the Chief Product Officer at Techstars (www.techstars.com) and was a key catalyst in growing the organization from 2 people to a global powerhouse with 18 offices worldwide, events in over 500+ cities, and a market cap of over $5B with $265M under management. She's an expert in growing global organizations, building startup ecosystems, working with early stage startups, venture capital, and more. She sits on boards, has invested in over 90 companies, was named one of the "Coolest People in New York Tech" by Business Insider, Marie Claire named her one of the "NewGuard", and Entrepreneur Magazine called her "One of the 7 most powerful women to watch". Nicole graduated with her Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology from the University of Florida, likes to do at least one philanthropic thing annually, and shares the wonderment of parenthood with the love of her life, Mark. In her free time, you’ll find Nicole speaking in public at large events like SXSW and WebSummit, on her bike, on a trail, or on the slopes, hanging with her big fat greek family, traveling to some exotic destination, or generally making a fool of herself to entertain others (like boxing!). Specialties: technology seed-stage companies, operations, public speaking and community relations, growth strategies, fundraising, venture capital, pitch for capital Learn more Discover more about Nicole on her blog(http://nearlynicole.com) and follow her on Twitter @nglaros (https://twitter.com/nglaros).

I am a writer, facilitator, and frequent speaker on The Nature of Gender Differences and The Business Case for Gender Diversity. I’ve done extensive research over the years on the biological and cultural influences on gender and have collaborated on three books on gender differences at work and in personal life, including “Work With Me” with John Gray, author of “Men Are from Mars Women Are from Venus”. I work globally with Fortune 500 companies and organizations such as American Express, Coca-Cola, NASA, L’Oréal, Nissan, SAP, and Vistage Worldwide, providing keynotes and facilitating gender awareness workshops, helping both men and women better understand and be better understood by the other gender.

Benita has run 5 crowdfunding campaigns, including the first ever Equity Crowdfunding campaign in the UK to triple their target raised. Her equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube was the first in the world to reach 304% of its target. Global award-winning social entrepreneur, crowdfunding expert, innovator and public speaker, Chief Sharer, Benita Matofska is a worldwide expert, speaker, writer and consultant on the Sharing Economy and the Founder of The People Who Share. The People Who Share is a social enterprise that helps people and companies discover the Sharing Economy -- the pioneers behind Global Sharing Week. Matofska is the winner of the Natwest Venus Entrepreneur of the Year 2015, Winner, Ogunte Women’s Social Leadership Award for Best Social Business Leader UK & World 2013, Winner of the Natwest Venus Business Award, Inspirational Woman 2013, Finalist in the G8 Innovation Summit DNA Profit with Purpose Prize, winner TechPitch, winner Tech City News Social Good Award, winner Tech City News Elevator Pitch and selected for Google’s Blackbox Connect programme of born global tech ventures. Recently named as one of the top 10 people in the Sharing Economy to follow, she is an RSA Fellow, a former BBC TV executive and media entrepreneur, she has presented at TEDx LeWeb, European Parliament, World Forum for a Responsible Economy in Lille, European Commission, Brussels, Ministry for Economic Affairs, The Hague, Guardian Media Summit, FT European Sharing Economy Summit, Sustainable Brands, the RSA, European Cities Marketing Summit, Madeira, OuishareFest Paris and the House of Lords. She has shared a platform with Desmond Tutu, presented at Number 10 Downing Street and features regularly in the media worldwide. She is a true expert on Crowdfunding and the Sharing Economy and knows how harness the power of the crowd!