German small business lending platform Creditshelf has boosted its management team by hiring a new IT boss.
The Frankfurt-based has appointed Dr Gregor Heinrich as its chief technology officer (CTO) who will take charge of IT and data analytics of the firm, which floated last year.
Heinrich, who has worked for more than a decade as a CTO, most recently worked at US data center business Stonebranch, which focuses on the financial services industry.
He has also worked for Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a Munich-based research body covering such areas as health, security and energy. Prior to that his doctoral thesis was on machine learning.
He reports to Creditshelf chief executive Dr Tim Thabe, but will not sit on the firm’s management board.
Dr Tim Thabe said: "Dr Heinrich is a seasoned specialist with valuable expertise in machine learning and extensive experience of managing IT projects and development teams. As such, he is the ideal addition to our second tier of executive management and will enhance our ability to progress further along our growth journey."
Earlier this month, the platform said it processed €1bn of lending in 2018, more than doubling the amount it handled the year before.
Heinrich added: “I am especially looking forward to working with my team – who have already succeeded in developing a fantastic technology platform. We will now pull together to take it to the next level. Our priority is to make it even easier for clients and partners to use. In this context, innovations in analytics and automation will have an important part to play.”
Creditshelf went public on Frankfurt Stock Exchange last July raising €16.5m, which it said it would use to upgrade its risk analysis algorithm, boost its product portfolio and increase brand awareness.
