Matthias Knecht is co-founder and CEO of Billie, an online factoring marketplace. Previously, he was the co-founder of Zencap, the first digital marketplace for corporate loans in Germany where he was heading Risk Management and Operations as well as institutional investor relations. From 2008 to 2014, Matthias was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Together with his fellow McKinsey colleague, Christian Grobe, he founded Zencap – the fastest growing online lending marketplace in Continental Europe and then, after Zencap was acquired by Funding Circle (UK), billie.io. Via billie.io small businesses receive access to much-needed working capital. Matthias graduated with the highest distinction from University Karlsruhe (Industrial Engineering). He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Nuremberg and was a research scholar at Columbia Business School (USA).