EMEA Expansion for Visualization Services and Software Support Set for 2021; More Hires to Come

CHICO, Calif. – December 15 – As part of an ongoing campaign to expand its global footprint, Theia Interactive has named veteran product manager Nimrod Friedmann as its senior project & engagement manager, overseeing expansion throughout the EMEA region. Friedmann’s position is the first of several planned hires throughout 2021, each dedicated to growing Theia’s visualization services, along with its Optim software platform and Claria bioanalytic tool.

“Nimrod’s experience as both a creator and a project leader made him the perfect candidate to help us expand into new markets around the world, beginning with EMEA,” said Bill Fishkin, founder and CEO of Theia Interactive. “With Nimrod in place, Theia will be able to hit the ground running, immediately offering some of the best UE4 visualization work in the world, as well as a new level of support for Optim.”

Friedmann brings more than 15 years of 3D content creation and real-time expertise to the role, with tenures at industry leaders including Autodesk and CL3VER. He also served as a staff lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, focusing on 3D design. Immediately prior to joining Theia, Friedmann acted as a senior product manager for 3ds Max before founding his own visualization studio.

“Joining forces with Theia was an easy decision for me,” said Friedmann. “Their culture is excellent and easy to step into, and the quality of Theia’s Unreal services work is some of the best I’ve seen. The potential for expansion into the EMEA area is limitless, and demand for a company with Theia’s reputation and experience is very much there.”

Friedmann’s responsibilities include developing Theia’s EMEA team, which will be dedicated to driving growth across the company. He will also oversee services throughout the region, and help usher in new software solutions. Friedmann will be based out of Denia, Spain, while reporting to Theia’s global headquarters in Chico, California.

In addition to Friedmann, Theia Interactive also welcomes two new senior product managers. Max Sims joins Theia after stops at Maya, VW Electronics Lab and think3. He also founded the Imaginarium VR Lab for the Humanities at Santa Clara University, and was part of the Oscar-winning team at Alias (now Autodesk). Sims will be joined by Peter DeLappe, a veteran of the computer graphics industry with more than 35 years of experience in film, television, games, architecture and engineering. His resume includes stints at Nvidia, Avid, Havok and Autodesk to name a few.

Friedmann, Sims and DeLappe join Theia as it continues to expand its visualization and services portfolio, while increasing its reputation as a software maker. Founded in 2014, Theia has quickly become one of the preeminent visualization firms in the United States, offering high quality virtual reality environments for architecture, engineering and retail clients. Its list of clients includes Logan Airport, Epic Games and the Hard Rock Hotel chain. With work ranging from residential and commercial builds to 3D asset libraries, Theia now lists well over 100 clients around the world.

In 2019, Theia officially entered the software space with the commercialization of Optim, its in-house tool built to simplify and speed up content creation in Unreal Engine. Optim recently introduced a multi-user VR template, making it easier than ever for global teams to work remotely in Unreal. In 2020, Theia also introduced Claria, a suite of bioanalytic software tools designed to analyze a person’s physical responses while in VR. Created exclusively for the upcoming HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition VR headset, Claria offers easy-to-understand datasets, designed to give design and marketing professionals invaluable analytic insight, free of bias and external influences. Claria will be released in 2021.

About Theia Interactive
Based in Chico, California, Theia Interactive is an immersive solutions studio and software developer, with a passion for building beautiful virtual environments for Enterprise businesses. Whether it’s virtual reality experiences, augmented reality demos, or mobile apps, Theia tells engaging stories through virtualization. Theia has created award-winning projects for companies such as Epic Games, HP, Mohawk Group, NVIDIA, Suffolk Construction and Toll Brothers. For more information visit https://theia.io/.

About Optim
Originally developed as an in-house tool for use by Theia Interactive’s artists and creators, Optim is designed to help users of all levels streamline and simplify Unreal Engine, and improve real-time interaction through collaborative, multi-user templates. Developers can build repeatable rules to optimize, customize and import data more efficiently. Theia has a robust team of in-house software developers to provide innovative solutions to unique challenges. Optim was officially launched in November 2019 and new builds are being introduced on a monthly basis. Free trials are available.