Meet the Riller Capital team and learn about our extensive backgrounds.
Suril Shah
CEO & Managing Partner
Suril Shah is the CEO and Managing Partner at Riller Capital. Mr. Shah leads the sourcing and execution of Riller’s Investments. Previously, Mr. Shah served as Managing Director and Head of U.S. Hotels at Starwood Capital Group. Mr. Shah led Starwood Capital’s U.S. Hotel Acquisitions team and U.S. Hotel Asset Management team with a portfolio valued over $11 billion. From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Shah also served as President of SH Hotels & Resorts, a hotel brand management company that operates 1 Hotels, Baccarat Hotels and SH Collection properties. After joining Starwood Capital in 2005, Mr. Shah spent three years in Paris as a member of the management team of Groupe du Louvre, which owned, managed and franchised more than 1,000 hotels throughout Europe, in addition to over a dozen luxury hotels. Previous to Starwood, Mr. Shah was with Gleacher Partners, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions across all industries. Mr. Shah holds a B.S. in management science and engineering from Stanford University.
Akshay Goyal
President
Akshay Goyal is the President at Riller Capital. Mr. Goyal leads the sourcing and execution of Riller’s Investments. Previously, Mr. Goyal served as Senior Vice President and Head of U.S. Hotel Acquisitions at Starwood Capital Group. As the Head of U.S. Hotel Acquisitions team for Starwood, Mr. Goyal led sourcing, structuring, underwriting and executing investments in the hospitality and leisure sectors and was involved in over $16 billion of transactions over a nine-year period. Prior to Starwood, Mr. Goyal was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City on the real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking team. Mr. Goyal holds a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Brittany Kneidinger
Vice President
Brittany Kneidinger is a Vice President at Riller Capital. Ms. Kneidinger is involved in the sourcing, underwriting, and execution of Riller’s investments. Before joining Riller, Ms. Kneidinger was a Senior Associate at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), where she focused on acquiring, developing, and managing the sovereign wealth fund’s US-based real estate assets. Prior to ADIA, Ms. Kneidinger was with Deutsche Bank in New York City on the real estate investment banking and equity capital markets teams. Ms. Kneidinger holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in finance and economics from the University of Richmond.
Evan Crandall
Senior Vice President, Asset Management
Evan Crandall is a Senior Vice President of Asset Management at Riller Capital. Mr. Crandall is involved in the asset management of Riller’s investments. Before joining Riller, Mr. Crandall was a member of the Development team at Accor based in Sydney, Australia responsible for the growth of the company in the Pacific Region. Prior to Accor, Mr. Crandall served as the Director of Strategy and Business Development at B.R. Guest Hospitality, a portfolio company of Starwood Capital Group. Previous to B.R. Guest, Mr. Crandall was a member of Starwood Capital’s Asset Management team based in Greenwich, CT with a focus on hotel and restaurant investments. Mr. Crandall began his career with Wachovia Securities, the investment banking arm of Wachovia. Mr. Crandall holds a B.S. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Cornell University.
Stacy Xu
Controller
Stacy Xu is a Controller at Riller Capital. Before joining Riller, Ms. Xu was the Treasurer, Controller, and Secretary of The InterGroup Corporation, a publicly-held entity. Prior to InterGroup, she served as Controller at Hilton San Francisco Financial District. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance from The Ohio State University and her Master of Professional Accounting, with a concentration in Audit and Assurance from University of Washington.
Louie Eisen
Analyst
Louie Eisen is an Analyst at Riller Capital and is involved in both the Acquisition and Asset Management of Riller Capital’s investments. Prior to joining Riller, Louie was an Analyst at BRE Hotels and Resorts, where he focused on Asset Management of the BRE Portfolio including full and select-service hotels. Louie holds a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development from New York University and Bachelor’s Degrees in Finance and Accounting from the University of Miami.