by 
Matthieu Jost
🌈 LGBTQ+ speaker on inclusion, diversity & belonging
Ranked among the top 100 most influential LGBTQ+ leaders by OutMagazine. Raised $15M to build misterb&b, the world's largest LGBTQ+ travel company helping to create a more welcoming world. CEO & Co-Founder, Advocacy Speaker. Meet Matthieu Jost.
Matthieu Jost came up with the idea for misterb&b 8 years ago, when he and his partner booked a room in Barcelona, and were confronted by an immensely homophobic host. Feeling unsafe, the two of them returned home earlier than expected.
Co-Founder and CEO, Matthieu Jost, is contributing to the progression of LGBTQ+ equality and visibility with his tech startup misterb&b
- think Airbnb, but LGBTQ-friendly. The platform is described as the world’s largest short-term rental marketplace dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community with 1M hosts in 200 countries across the globe. CNN even referred to misterb&b as the “LGBTQ+ travel revolution”.
Following the founding of misterb&b after Matthieu's experience in Barcelona, the company was incubated in Silicon Valley through 500 Startups, one of the top 3 global startup accelerators. Matthieu successfully raised $15 million USD in funding.
The company was initially created in France. Early on, he needed funds to fuel its growth, but unfortunately he was not able to raise funds there. Serving the LGBTQ+ market was clearly an obstacle given that French VCs did not believe in an LGBTQ+ oriented short-term rental service. So he decided to take a chance, and move the company to the US where the LGBTQ market was a reality.
Since the beginning, the primary purpose of misterb&b has been providing safety – allowing equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ travelers and fostering a sense of security for all globetrotters, regardless of their sexuality.
By connecting the global LGBTQ+ community from different cultures, misterb&b is opening the doors to a world that may have otherwise been completely inaccessible to LGBTQ+ travelers who are afraid to be themselves in a foreign environments.
Matthieu is undoubtedly tackling an enormous task. His mission is to change the way LGBTQ+ individuals travel and see the world around them. To learn more on this, why not book a session with him and get some added insights on LGBTQ+ topics relating to diversity, inclusion, and travel?
He is constantly living in a multicultural environment, managing a team in 3 different offices in San Francisco, Lima, Paris, and sharing his personal life with his partner of 10 years who has North African origins.
As an entrepreneur who has confronted the issue of hostility with resolve and a clear vision, Matthieu has been chosen as the face of the Dockers (Levis group) challenger campaign.
Matthieu's achievements have clearly not gone unnoticed. In 2021, he was featured in OutMagazine's coveted list of the top 100 most influential LGBTQ leaders and activists in the world. Other big names included Activist Sara Ramirez, Actor Elliot Page, Hairstylist Cesar DeLeon Ramirez, and RuPaul's Drag Race Winner Symone, just to name a few.
Matthieu is leveraging his position as the CEO of one of the fastest growing LGBTQ+ companies to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights as well as improved LGBTQ+ visibility in tech industries. misterb&b has been elected App of the Day on the Apple app store three times, becoming the first LGBTQ+ app to ever receive this title.
10% of Matthieu speaker fees will be given away for LGBTQ+ non profit, pursuing the goal of misterb&b, and helping make the world a better place for the LGBTQ+ community.
If you would you like to hear more about Matthieu's journey, and learn about relevant LGBTQ issues concerning diversity and inclusion, you can reach out to him for a booking now.