Lauren Bigelow

Lauren Bigelow is the CEO of the Growth Capital Network (GCN) which serves business community by executing programs to connect entrepreneurial and growth companies with the investors and capital to accelerate their vision. With this platform, Lauren and her team manage the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the Midwest Green Technology Entrepreneur Academy, and the Midwest Midmarket Capital Survey and provide evaluative services for the foundation community. Prior to the Growth Capital Network, Lauren was the North American Commercial Director for New Energy Finance, the leading independent provider of information and research to investors in clean energy and the carbon markets. Before its acquisition by Bloomberg, New Energy Finance had 11 offices globally, providing a range of newsletters, data, economic, policy and technology analysis and carbon price forecasting to senior decision makers. From early 2004 through 2008, Lauren was the Managing Director of the Cleantech Group where she oversaw the firm’s technology and entrepreneur pipelines. Working directly with over two hundred early stage CEOs, more than $1.4 billion was raised by presenting companies. Lauren built fourteen of the Cleantech Forums and coordinated the outreach for to incubators, universities, labs, angel organizations and investor groups. She worked closely with the Cleantech North America, EU and China advisory boards to lead the next wave of investment opportunities and social responsibility in both continents. Lauren is on the board of the Clean Economy Network and the Advisory Boards of the Erb Institute at the Ross School of Business and the New Enterprise Forum. She is also on the advisory board for the entrepreneurial company InPore. Prior to joining Cleantech, Lauren was the Director of the IT Zone, a networking and education organization that promoted the growth of the IT industry in Michigan. Lauren received a BA from the University of Michigan, an MA and PhD from Northwestern University.