Matthew Flannery 2018 Speaker

Co-Founder/CEO

Branch International

Biography

Matt began developing Kiva in late 2004, as a side-project. In 2005, Matt left his job to devote himself to Kiva full-time. As CEO for 10 years, Matt led Kiva’s growth from a pilot project to an established online service in 80 countries and nearly 1 billion dollars lent to low income entrepreneurs.

More recently, Matt has dived back into the startup world by creating Branch International. Branch is a for profit, Android-based “branchless bank” for Africans, that was just launched in 2015. In its first three years, Branch has made 5 million loans in Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya. Matt is a Skoll Awardee, Ashoka Fellow and was selected to FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” list. He graduated with a BS in Symbolic Systems and a Masters in Philosophy from Stanford University.