Former vice president of finance at Lyft, Michelle DeBella, has been named chief financial officer at Knock, the company announced on Thursday.
DeBella will report to Knock CEO and Co-Founder Sean Black and will be tasked with driving the company’s profit growth.
DeBella’s background spans over 25 years of experience in finance operations and management. Prior to her most recent role at Lyft, DeBella was Global Head of Internal Audit at Uber, and before that, spent several years at Hewlett Packard in various finance leadership roles.
Sean Black | Photo credit: Knock
“Michelle’s leadership experience helping two hyper-growth, iconic tech companies go public as they drove a tectonic shift in an established industry makes her uniquely qualified to join Knock at a critical inflection point in our five-year history,” Black said in a press release. “We are extremely fortunate that Michelle has chosen to bring her experience to Knock as we continue to accelerate the growth of our business and share our mission to empower people to move more freely with the masses.”
The hiring news comes on the heels of the alternative mortgage provider’s recent announcement about offering its buy-now-sell-later “Home Swap” services in its 15th market, Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to the announcement, Home Swap was already available to consumers in the Florida markets of Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
Michelle DeBella | Photo credit: Kelley L Cox/KLC fotos
“Although they are in different industries, Knock, Lyft and Uber all have the shared mission of helping people move freely,” DeBella said in a statement. “Knock is fundamentally improving the everyday experience of buying and selling a home — one of life’s most important transactions. I’m excited to be joining a company with a strong culture that is leveraging technology to change how we work and live. I look forward to contributing to its already impressive growth trajectory.”
In 2019, DeBella was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology by the National Diversity Council.
Knock was launched in 2015 and currently offers its Home Swap service in 15 markets across six states. The company plans to expand to at least 21 markets by mid-2021 and 75 markets by 2023. In December, the company also announced a sale-leaseback product called “Knock Nest.”
