David is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Executive Chairman of Newlab, a venture platform for critical technology established in 2016. Newlab is home to over 250 deep-tech startups and more than 1,500 entrepreneurs and inventors tackling urgent challenges in energy, mobility, and materials. Through public-private collaboration, Newlab advances a new model of technology-driven economic development.

Newlab operates flagship locations in New York City and Detroit. In 2023, under David’s design leadership, the company opened a 270,000 sq ft innovation space in Detroit’s Michigan Central District, now home to over 100 companies and 700 innovators focused on mobility and decarbonization. In May 2025, Newlab announced its expansion to New Orleans, where it will spearhead efforts to reindustrialize and diversify Louisiana’s energy sector through emerging technologies.

In 2020, David sold his firm, DBI (founded in 2002), to its employees. DBI specialized in project management, development, and consulting, delivering over $1 billion in real estate projects across the U.S., France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and beyond.

He is also the Founder and Managing Principal of Macro-Sea, a creative real estate development firm he launched in 2009. His work spans traditional at-risk development, the adaptive reuse of abandoned spaces, and public art installations that reimagine the role of design in urban environments. Macro-Sea’s projects have been internationally recognized, with exhibitions at the Venice Biennale (2012) and the MoMA Design and Violence Exhibition (2015). David has led projects across Rome, Paris, Berlin, the United States, and even within a refugee camp in Uganda.

David has received numerous accolades, including being named one of NYC’s 50 Most Powerful People in Tech (City & State, 2018), one of Brooklyn’s 100 Most Influential People (Brooklyn Magazine, 2019), and one of the top 400 people shaping creative America (Wallpaper Magazine, 2023 and 2024).

He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board at Pioneer Works, where he is helping lead the development of New York City’s first public observatory.