Redbox founder and former CEO and former Coinstar President and COO Gregg Kaplan has joined Pritzker Group Private Capital as its operating partner for the services team.
Kaplan will be based in Chicago, where he and investment partner David Rosen will lead the services investment and operations team. Rosen and Kaplan will source, invest in and oversee a group of services companies for Pritzker Group Private Capital. Pritzker Group Private Capital’s services companies today include PECO Pallet and Entertainment Cruises.
Kaplan, 45, has spent his career building and operating high-growth businesses. Kaplan founded Redbox, the ubiquitous movie-rental kiosk network, when it was an incubation project within McDonald’s Corporation. He grew the company from its earliest stages, bringing it to more than 20,000 kiosks, nearly $800 million in revenue and over USD100 million in EBITDA in its first seven years.
After selling Redbox to Coinstar Inc. in 2009, Kaplan continued as president and chief operating officer of Coinstar Inc until 2013. During this time, he oversaw the Redbox and Coinstar lines of business, which grew from USD1 billion to USD2.2 billion during his tenure. He also spearheaded all new growth strategy initiatives and ventures for the companies.
Previously, Kaplan was senior director of corporate strategy and business development for McDonald’s Corporation. He also has several years of experience in venture capital and investment banking, and was an early employee of two startup companies. Kaplan was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the city’s top “40 Under 40” in 2009.
Since early 2013, Kaplan has been an active investor, co-founding Modjule LLC, a private investment firm focused on multi-unit retail businesses, and has joined several corporate and civic boards including Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (1871), Enova, In Context Solutions and Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in Chicago.
“We are thrilled to welcome Gregg, a successful, seasoned executive, to the team,” says Paul Carbone, Pritzker Group Private Capital managing partner. “With exceptional entrepreneurial, innovation and growth experience, Gregg brings an exciting dimension to Pritzker Group Private Capital. As someone who helped build a multi-billion-dollar company from scratch, he’s sure to bring a wealth of ideas and expertise to our services team and companies.”
Kaplan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administration.