Tim Heyl awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year® 2022 for Central South Region
AUSTIN, Texas, June 29, 2022 — 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.
As a Central South award winner, Heyl will now be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 National Awards. National finalists and winners, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2023.
About Homeward
Homeward is a modern home finance company that helps real estate agents and their clients overcome the limitations of traditional mortgages. The Homeward Cash Offer eliminates finance, home sale, and appraisal contingencies, enabling homebuyers to win with cash and, when necessary, to buy their new home before they sell their old one. Homeward has an office in Austin, TX, but operates with a fully remote workforce. If you're an agent, please visit homeward.com to learn how to make every client a cash buyer.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. ey.com/us/eoy