HRS has appointed Kurt Knackstedt
Industry veteran Kurt Knackstedt has taken a new role as chief growth officer for HRS' payment solutions business. Prior to this appointment, Knackstedt founded and served as CEO of payment startup Troovo from January 2015 to this March. Troovo won BTN Group's Innovator of the Year award in 2018. He previously served as the president of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and was a global category lead for Rio Tinto.
The move signals HRS Group's continued focus on corporate travel payments. The company invested in and then acquired Conichi in 2019 to establish a dedicated payments division. At the time, Conichi co-founders Frederic Haitz and Maximilian Waldmann stayed on as senior executives of HRS Invisible Pay. Waldmann and Haitz departed at the end of 2020.
HRS expanded its payments dvision with the acquisition of invoice management specialist Itelya in April.
In his LinkedIn profile, Knackstedt wrote that his focus at HRS' payment solutions division is to drive the commercialisation, globalisation and expansion of HRS payment capabilities including the innovative HRS Invisible Pay solution to corporations worldwide.
Chicago native Knackstedt will be based in Sydney and will report directly to HRS CEO Tobias Ragge.
“Kurt’s a proven entrepreneur, and his mindset perfectly fits our HRS DNA and the creative clients we collaborate with every day,” said Ragge. “His proficiency in the payment realm is known throughout our ecosystem, and his years of industry service at ACTE gives him an unparalleled global network. We’re excited to tap into his expertise, gain from his leadership skills, and help clients benefit from our payment automation enhancements in the years to come.”
Additional reporting by Mark Frary