COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emagispace®, the startup interior construction and design innovator, today announced the appointment of David Kirshenbaum to CEO as part of a planned leadership transition that moves Noel Maxam, co-founder and former CEO, to the board. The transition follows the company’s successful Series B funding round, which raised Emagispace’s total financing to over $9 million in under two years. Kirshenbaum will lead Emagispace’s international expansion and will extend the company’s presence in fast-growing segments like commercial office and agile retail.
According to Fast Company, which named Emagispace among the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in 2018, the company’s approach has made designing interior spaces flexible, cost efficient, and sustainable, which has drawn the attention of commercial office, commercial retailers, concert venue owners, set designers, and even disaster relief organizers looking to build temporary shelters.
“The demand for Emagispace’s EmagiKit solutions, for which the building blocks are the backbone, is growing exponentially, and we have to scale organizationally to stay ahead of demand in this and other key markets,” said Noel and Clark Maxam (Co-Founders). “David has the fire in his belly to execute the vision that the board has for the future of Emagispace, and that’s why we know he’s the right person for the job.”
The idea for Emagispace came to Noel in his other career as a multi-Emmy-award winning director, writer and producer, where he grew frustrated with the expense, complexity, storage needs, and waste associated with building and tearing down sets. Noel saw first-hand the need for this innovative, flexible, and sustainable building system. With numerous patents under his belt, Noel evangelizes the infinite use cases across a variety of industries.
Kirshenbaum joins Emagispace after successfully leading Hilco Real Estate’s Corporate Services Group, which grew dramatically under his five-year leadership. Prior to joining Hilco Real Estate, David was SVP of residential and retail operations and COO with Joseph Freed and Associates, a Chicago-based developer, manager and owner of large-scale urban retail, residential and mixed-use projects. Previously, he served as COO and then President of LR Development Company, a Chicago-based developer focused on affordable, adaptive re-use and high-end residential developments. As part of the senior management team, LR grew ten-fold over the course of five years prior to a sale of the company to the Related Companies in 2000.
“This position is truly the embodiment of my 30+ years of experience in the real estate industry,” said Kirshenbaum. “I believe Emagispace is the future of construction and design and is going to shape the way several industries evolve – leading this company forward is an opportunity I could not pass up. The need for flexible EmagiBlock technology in the co-working, retail, event marketing, and entertainment spaces is clear. We see economies around the world moving toward modularization sustainability and heightened flexibility, and Emagispace is ready to become a significant player in these evolving markets.”
“Throughout his career, David has developed strong relationships with investors and entrepreneurs. He is not scared to take calculated risks and knows how to maximize a business’s potential,” said Maxam. “Emagispace has expanded personnel by 70 percent in 2018, and one of Kirshenbaum’s first initiatives will be to create a culture of growth and mentorship within the organization to continue to retain and recruit the best talent.”
“When looking for a CEO to lead Emagispace into our next stage of business maturation, we wanted to ensure we found the right leader who had a proven track record of success,” said co-founder Clark Maxam. “David’s vision to create a culture of imagination, teamwork, and mentorship to our employees is exactly what we need to continue our significant arc of growth in the near future.”
Kirshenbaum holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University, a juris doctorate from Northwestern University School of Law, and a master’s of business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. David has been an adjunct professor at Northwestern Law and is a guest lecturer at colleges, business schools, and law schools around the country. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Industrial Asset Management Council, ACG, Chicago Real Estate Council (where he is a board member) and Surplus Property Roundtable. Kirshenbaum is the local Chairman of the Board of the Chicago chapter or America Needs You, a national organization focused on mentoring underprivileged first-generation college students. Finally, Kirshenbaum is an active private investor having invested in Emagispace, other companies in the modular construction space as well as a variety of healthy food and technology startup/incubation companies.
For more information about Emagispace, and how it can help re-imagine your next space, (844) 949-2557 or visit the website at www.emagispace.com.
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About Emagispace® Inc.
Emagispace® Inc. is an interior construction and design innovator that has developed sustainable building block technology to re-imagine what’s possible for the construction of interior spaces. The company was founded in 2015 when Emmy® Award-winning TV executive producer and director Noel Maxam grew frustrated with the time, cost and storage needs of traditional set construction, and the environmental waste when ultimately scrapped.
Emagispace’s patented EmagiBlock® platform greatly reduces the cost, mess and time required for an interior construction build across a diverse range of industries including Office, Trade Shows, Retail, Art galleries and Museums, TV/film/theatre, Warehouses, Storage, and more, with code compliance for a vast array of industries and uses. For more information, visit www.emagispace.com.
