(Photo: Postmodern Studio/Shutterstock.com)Kickstarter Lures Away Uber Lawyer to Serve as General Counsel
Nicole Benincasa takes over as Kickstarter's top lawyer next month. She has served as a New York-based in-house lawyer for Uber for the past seven years, most recently as senior counsel of global safety.
April 27, 2020 at 11:59 AM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
Kickstarter has named Uber Technologies Inc. lawyer Nicole Benincasa as the Brooklyn-based crowdfunding platform's next general counsel.
Benincasa announced on LinkedIn that she was taking over as Kickstarter's top lawyer next month. She has served as an in-house lawyer for Uber in New York for the past seven years, most recently as senior counsel of global safety.
"Being a part of Uber's evolution since 2013 has been the thrill of a lifetime. Now, I'm excited to support Kickstarter's mission to help bring creative projects to life. Here's to the next big thing," Benincasa wrote.
Attempts to speak with Benincasa were not immediately successful. A spokesman for Kickstarter confirmed her appointment but said the company had not yet released a statement on her hiring.
Benincasa succeeds Christopher Mitchell, who left Kickstarter in January and now serves as an adviser for a stealth startup company.
As Kickstarter's GC, Benincasa will have a wide range of responsibilities, from overseeing all legal issues and outside counsel management to supporting the executive team and board of directors to handling public policy matters, including U.S. and international regulatory issues.
She joined Uber in 2013 as regulatory counsel and helped the company expand into New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont through the drafting and negotiation of model statewide ride-hailing legislation.
Benincasa stepped up in 2018 to serve as Uber's global safety counsel. She advised the firm's business team on developing company-wide safety policies and standards and also acted as primary safety legal adviser on Uber's emerging businesses, including Uber Eats and electric bike-sharing. She was promoted to senior counsel of global safety in September 2019.
Earlier in her career, Benincasa served as general counsel and operations manager of Sportaneous, a fitness app that a group of Columbia Business School students created. Fitness and health media firm Greatist acquired Sportaneous in 2013.
Benincasa is a graduate of Virginia Tech, William & Mary Law School and Harvard Business School Online.
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