MANAGEMENT | PARTNERS | ADVISORS
David Firshein
Partner
David Firshein is a veteran commercial financier, financial entrepreneur, and strategic advisor with more than 40 years of experience spanning corporate lending, venture capital, private equity, structured finance, mergers and acquisitions, turnaround financing, and startup management operations. Over the course of his career, he has built a reputation for helping emerging growth companies, middle market enterprises, and Fortune 1000 organizations secure strategic capital, execute complex financial transactions, and accelerate commercialization and long term growth initiatives across a wide range of industries.
Mr. Firshein is the President and Owner of Cascade Capital Corporation, a long established commercial finance lender, broker, and financial advisory firm headquartered in Fairfax, California. Throughout his career, he has completed approximately $1 billion in debt and equity financings involving a broad range of capital structures, including senior debt, subordinated and venture debt, mezzanine capital, revolving credit facilities, term loans, equipment leasing, growth capital, seed financings, venture capital transactions, private equity placements, restructurings, acquisition financings, and management buyout transactions.
His financing and advisory work has spanned numerous innovation driven sectors including clean technology, renewable energy, environmental technologies, wireless communications, telecommunications, software, advanced manufacturing, medical devices, drug delivery, biopharmaceuticals, food and agriculture, industrial technologies, and high growth emerging technology ventures. Through Cascade Capital, Mr. Firshein has also participated as an angel investor in multiple early stage ventures and has intermittently served in executive operating roles since 1997, including CFO, CEO, co-founder, and senior strategic management positions across several startup enterprises involving high technology, clean technology, industrial energy, sustainable food systems, and advanced manufacturing.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Firshein was a co-founder and senior executive involved in launching what is believed to have been the first North American venture debt fund dedicated exclusively to financing environmental companies and environmental assets. The fund launched with approximately $110 million of committed institutional capital, representing an early pioneering effort in the environmental and clean technology finance sectors well before the broader emergence of ESG and sustainability focused investing.
Since December 2011, Mr. Firshein has also served as the contract Chief Financial Officer of Brillouin Energy Corp., an advanced energy technology company focused on the development of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (LENR) systems and next generation ultra clean thermal energy technologies. Brillouin Energy has pursued research and development efforts centered on controllable LENR based thermal energy generation systems designed to potentially produce commercially useful heat with minimal environmental impact, no carbon emissions, and extremely low fuel requirements.
Brillouin Energy’s scientific development efforts included a long term formal research collaboration with SRI International, one of the world’s most respected independent scientific research institutions and the organization historically associated with major technology breakthroughs including contributions to the early development of the internet, artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced defense technologies. Scientists associated with SRI’s LENR research initiatives have continued to support and advise the company’s technical development activities.
During his tenure with Brillouin Energy, Mr. Firshein has played a significant leadership role across capital formation, strategic finance, investor relations, corporate communications, organizational development, and business operations. Since the company’s inception, Brillouin Energy has raised approximately $80 million through development stage equity financings, grants, licensing activities, strategic business relationships, and related funding initiatives. Mr. Firshein has co-led many of the company’s financing activities while also overseeing the development of investor communication materials, strategic documentation systems, business archives, and broader commercialization support initiatives.
Across his career, David Firshein has developed deep expertise in structuring sophisticated financing solutions for technically complex and innovation driven businesses operating in emerging markets and frontier technologies. His background uniquely combines institutional finance experience with hands on operational leadership across venture backed companies, strategic growth initiatives, commercialization programs, and advanced technology enterprises.