Nicolaj Reffstrup, Founder, acted as CEO of GANNI for 10 years alongside his wife Ditte Reffstrup, Creative Director of the Danish fashion brand. He recently stepped down to focus his efforts towards tech and responsibility within the company. In December 2017 Nicolaj managed the partnering of GANNI with the LVMH funded global leader in consumer brand investments L Catterton to support GANNI in fully achieving its international potential. In 2019 Nicolaj and Ditte Reffstrup were welcomed to the BOF500 definitive list of people shaping the global fashion industry.

Alongside his work at GANNI, Nicolaj is a trusted industry expert and has sat on the board of Danish Fashion Institute, Copenhagen Fashion Week and Global Fashion Agenda. Nicolaj is also Chairman and partner of the fine jewelry brand Sophie Bille Brahe and a partner of Tekla Fabrics. Most recently Nicolaj has also joined Giant Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on green and responsible projects, as a guiding Venture Partner.

Before joining fashion, Nicolaj was an entrepreneur in the tech industry, investing in and cultivating small and mid-sized companies for growth. As CEO he also co-founded Spleak Media Network, an early attempt at creating commercial chatbots backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Capital and Sunstone Capital. Nicolaj has a Master’s in Information Technology from the IT University of Copenhagen and a Bachelor in Economics and Philosophy from Copenhagen Business School.