MetaProp NYC, a commercial real estate startup accelerator, hired Elie Finegold as its first entrepreneur-in-residence.

Finegold, a former senior vice president at CBRE and managing director of real estate investment banking company Island Capital Group, will guide MetaProp startups on strategy, investments, research and business development, Bisnow can report exclusively. He will also be a global ambassador for the three-year-old company.

“Elie is one of the pioneers of U.S. PropTech,” MetaProp founding partner and Managing Director Aaron Block said in a release. “He has had more success as an entrepreneur and intrapreneur than most people achieve in a lifetime. We’ve respected Elie’s work for years and are thrilled that he is now spending more time with MetaProp’s operating businesses, portfolio companies and global partners.”

As CBRE's SVP of Global Innovation and Business Intelligence, Finegold formed CBRE Labs and guided the brokerage in its strategic technology investments and partnerships. A former Cushman & Wakefield executive, Block founded Flatiron-based MetaProp in 2015 with partners Clelia Peters and Zach Aarons.

The firm runs accelerator programs aimed at PropTech startups. It selects 25 tech-driven real estate industry ideas each year for education, mentoring and growth hacking programs.