Homeward's CEO and Founder was selected out of 44 finalists for his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit.
Ernst & Young LLP announced on Friday that Tim Heyl, Founder and CEO of Homeward, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 Central South Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed.
Heyl was selected by an independent panel of judges that considered his entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes. Forty-four finalists were selected, and fifteen were named winners for the Central South region. Heyl was the only entrepreneur with a company in the residential real estate space.
"It's been a long-term mission of mine to make a difference in the lives of others, and I'm humbled that EY recognized me in a field of equally impressive and innovative entrepreneurs," Heyl says. "I am inspired every day by the entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude of the real estate agents we partner with. This award is a testament to them, the entire Homeward team, and our investors."
Homeward is a modern home finance company that helps real estate agents and their clients overcome the limitations of traditional mortgages and buy a home with cash. An agent himself, Heyl noticed a pattern — Buyers couldn't make an offer on a new home until they sold their old home. In December 2018, Heyl decided to try and solve this problem. He bought the house his client wanted with his own money, then sold it back to the client once he had finalized his mortgage. Homeward's first service, Buy Before you sell, was born. To scale this solution and enable other agents to use it, Heyl created Homeward. And eventually launched a second service, Buy with cash, allowing those without a home to sell first to make an all-cash offer.
Thanks to Heyl's leadership and record-breaking growth in 2021, Homeward secured growth capital of $371M, including $136M in equity and $235M in debt. This enabled the hiring of more than 250 new employees in 2021 alone, in the midst of a pandemic. Scaling quickly has spring-boarded Homeward's ability to innovate on behalf of the agent, who is central to all of Homeward's transactions.
Source: PRNewswire