Equiem brings heavyweights on board

Commercial tenant experience platform Equiem has added two New York real estate veterans, Michael Spies and Richard Saltzman, to its board of directors, guiding the Australia-founded company’s expansion across the USA.  

The pair are the firm’s first US-based board members and as well as advising on Equiem’s continued push across the states, will oversee Equiem’s global growth strategy and product line.

Last year Equiem secured £7m to take the company into new markets, and in recent months has expanded into Boston, Los Angeles and Austin. The firm said its technology is now rolled out across more than 18m sq ft of offices in the United States and is used by more than 170,000 users across 70m sq ft worldwide.

Gabrielle McMillan, CEO of Equiem, said: “Michael and Richard both command enormous respect within the real estate industry and will bring a wealth of additional experience and knowledge to our board.

“Michael’s expertise in developing and scaling innovative workplace solutions will help us to keep raising the bar for tenant experience technology, whilst Richard’s unparalleled knowledge of the investor market will ensure we keep tailoring our product to the precise needs of today’s commercial real estate owners and investors.

“Their appointments are a real sign of intent for us as a business and will help us further consolidate our position as the industry leader, both here in the USA and around the world. We look forward to working with Michael and Richard and to what will no doubt prove a hugely fruitful relationship with them both.”

From left: Richard Saltzman, Michael Spies

Spies is the founder of Fuse Strategies, an investment and advisory platform active within property and technology. Prior to Fuse, Spies was a senior executive at Tishman Speyer, where for more than 30 years he led the entry into multiple international markets, led its European and India businesses, and chaired its global investment committee. He also established the firm’s innovation initiatives, including the conception of ZO., a workplace services platform, and Studio, a flexible working platform.

Saltzman is a private investor focusing on real estate and financial services operating platforms that include Ranger Global Real Estate Advisors and Peaceable Street Capital.

Most recently, he was president and CEO of Colony Capital Inc where for more than 15 years he helped transform the firm from $3bn of assets under management to a diversified real estate investment manager and owner with a more than $43bn footprint. Prior to that, he spent 24 years in investment banking primarily at Merrill Lynch, where he was the global head of real estate.