Kirstie Chadwick

Ms. Chadwick has 25 years of experience at technology companies, including 15 years of direct executive-level experience at early-stage, venture-backed startups. Ms. Chadwick started her career at Lockheed Martin before being recruited into her first software startup company. From 1990-1999, Ms. Chadwick held business development and executive roles at both large and small technology companies that included Wind River Systems, Microtec Research, Sun Microsystems, Mentor Graphics, and ISR Global Telecom. In 1999 Ms. Chadwick co-founded DigitalOwl, Inc.. As the company’s CEO, Ms. Chadwick raised over $13M in venture capital, grew the company to 35 employees and garnered Fortune 500 clients that included McGraw-Hill, Time Warner and SwissRE Insurance.

In 2000, Ms. Chadwick was tapped by Mayor Glenda Hood to participate in the Orlando High Tech Council that was formed to create a strategy for creating technology jobs in Central Florida. Ms. Chadwick helped guide regional economic development officials on strategies to support local entrepreneurs and to attract investment capital to the region. In 2004, Ms. Chadwick was asked to lead the formation of the Venture Lab at the University of Central Florida. As the Director of the Venture Lab, Ms. Chadwick mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs and CEOs of early-stage technology companies in business strategy and financing. In 2007, Ms. Chadwick was tapped to become the Executive Director of the Winter Park Angels, a 50+ member angel investment group. Ms. Chadwick led WPA’s due diligence activities, term sheet negotiations, syndication activities with regional and national angel groups, interacted with regional venture capitalists, and negotiated the group’s investment transactions. Ms. Chadwick is also a certified instructor for the Kaufman Foundation’s educational programs, and has led a variety of seminars focused on educating entrepreneurs and angel investors.

Today, Ms. Chadwick consults to a variety of regional incubator programs and is advising the principals several angel investment groups. Ms. Chadwick is the recipient of the Orlando Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award, the Working Woman Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, and the Dr. W. Judson King Entrepreneurship Memorial Award. Ms. Chadwick graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Computer Science from UCF, and has an MBA from UCF.