We are honored and humbled to announce that PeerStreet has been named the 2021 Crowdfunding Platform of the Year by the team at PropTech Breakthrough Awards. This PropTech Breakthrough Award is always a big honor to receive, but for 2021, it is even moreso. This accolade recognizes PeerStreet for its deep commitment to providing a quality customer experience for users of its platform after one of the most challenging years on record.
Our team started 2020 on a strong footing, even eventually being crowned Lendit’s Best Real Estate Platform award for the 2020. But as the year began to unfold and got increasingly more complicated, our teams worked hard to navigate the challenging waters of 2020. Now we are re-emerging stronger than ever in 2021. And for that reason, this recognition is particularly meaningful.
2020 was a tough year for just about everyone and PeerStreet was no different. Aside from the obvious human costs associated with Covid-19, our ecosystem encountered challenges for borrowers and lenders, rising real estate prices in many places, and moratoriums on foreclosures. Borrowers found themselves facing work stoppages, supply chain shortages for construction materials, fewer workers, unavailable city inspectors for permits and other approvals, and rising costs of materials.
On the other side of our marketplace, investors naturally wanted to see their loans serviced and paid on time; and if needed, foreclosed upon quickly, too. With federal moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures, many investors were asking how quickly their loans would get worked out.
PeerStreet was able to grant borrowers extensions in many cases and the extra time made a big difference. As the world learned to operate through a pandemic and housing prices broadly increased, many projects that had stalled were able to be completed and even turned a profit. That benefited not only borrowers, but also investors.
As we’re two thirds the way through 2021, being recognized as the year’s crowdfunding platform of the year is a huge honor. We’re grateful and humbled. We’re proud that we’ve made progress in a very challenging time, but we also know there’s still a ton of work left to be done.
It’s worth noting that we have won PropTech Breakthrough Awards for other accomplishments in the past, but this is our first time being named their crowdfunding platform of the year. And with a third of 2021 still left to go, we have many more ambitions. We’re looking to improve our platform for investors, lenders, borrowers and our employees.
We’d like to offer a sincere thank you to all who have taken this journey with us, and to everyone who continues to join... Welcome and thank you!