2022 In Review: Bridgit’s Wins, Milestones & Impact

December 14, 2022

It's safe to say that 2022 has been a massive year for Bridgit. 

Over the past 12 months, we’ve grown our headcount by 400% and solidified our spot as one of Australia’s fastest-growing tech companies.

Along the way we’ve achieved some huge milestones, from six consecutive record months to award wins and beyond. We can’t wait to keep growing in 2023 and help more Australian homeowners secure their dream homes on their own terms.

Let’s take a look back at 2022 and share our biggest wins, pinch-us-moments as well as our impact and strides in sustainability. 

Growth

Over the past 12 months, we’ve hit some incredible growth milestones. Not only have we achieved a 200% quarter-on-quarter growth and processed over $1 billion in loan applications but we’ve worked with over 2,500 brokers. 

Along the way, we’ve helped hundreds of Australian homeowners progress in life by giving them access to the finance they need to move fast and capitalise on the best opportunities. We’re proud to be rated 4.6 stars by our customers on Trustpilot and have earned a 74 NPS score.

The Bridgit Brand

Way back in February 2022 we started the year with a bang by rebranding from TechLend to Bridgit. We launched a shiny new website and brand campaign which you might have spotted across TV and radio, helping us to reinvigorate this lending category with a product that’s built for today. 

But that’s not the only time Bridgit made headlines (for all the right reasons) in 2022.

Fundraising 

To help more Australian homeowners buy first and sell later, we were thrilled to secure $7.7 million in funding from OIF Ventures and Perennial Partners to scale our product, grow our team and deepen our impact. 

Employee benefits

In 2022, our team has grown from 5 to 25 people (and we’re not slowing down anytime soon). We’ve even been named on the Hatch Hot List as one of Sydney’s top early career employers. 

Here at Bridgit, building a stand-out employee experience is our top priority. Here are just some of the initiatives, perks and incentives we’ve introduced to ensure our team and new starters are always first on our priority list: 

  • Employee Stock Option Program: we want each and every employee to share in the success of Bridgit.
  • Extra Leave: we offer an additional day of paid leave to be used for life events, celebrations or just a mental health reset.
  • Birthday Leave: we offer an additional day of paid leave in the month of your birthday.
  • Two weeks from anywhere: we encourage employees to work remotely from a location of their choice for two weeks each year.
  • Paid Parental Leave: we offer paid parental leave for primary and secondary carers and support all working parents through their parenting journey.
  • Team Workouts: we supply a free gym membership to Fitness Playground in Surry Hills.
  • Free Breakfast: we have a free breakfast bar at the office.
  • Culture Days: we try to celebrate our diverse team with culture days, showcasing food from different cultures and countries and eating lunch together.
  • Social events: we have a jam-packed social scene, with events throughout the year (from Paint and Sip classes to trips to the Hunter Valley and beyond).
  • Women @ Bridgit: we are committed to supporting and retaining women in the workplace and have a monthly meet-up for all employees that identify as female, focused on learning, networking and maintaining an equal and open workplace.
  • Learning and Development: all employees are encouraged and empowered to engage in professional development including several learning initiatives run internally.
  • Social Corporate Responsibility: we have a range of diversity and inclusion initiatives underway run by our SCR committee and will prioritise this space as the business grows.

Awards

Bridgit’s growth in 2022 has been exponential and we’ve been recognised for it. 

Bridgit was named in Deloitte’s Digitial Fast 50 (commended in the Rising Star category for over 1,000% growth) and we won Finder’s Best Lending Innovation award. Plus, we were named a finalist in the 2022 Finnies Emerging Fintech Organisation of the Year and in the 2022 FinTech Awards for Best Innovation in Proptech

Aaron, our CEO and Co-Founder, was a finalist in the Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards (for the second year in a row), a finalist in the 2022 Emerging FinTech Leader of the Year and a finalist in the 2022 REB Innovator of the Year

In the press

Did you spot us on Realestate.com.au recently? After conducting our own research into the purchasing habits of Aussie homeowners, we discovered this (and wanted to share it with the wider community): 52% of Aussies had to find temporary living arrangements while transitioning from one property to another, costing them an average of $8,300. 

Partnerships

A big goal for us in 2022 has been to expand our reach and work with the best brokers in the industry to provide short-term financing solutions to Australian homeowners.

This year, we’re thrilled to have joined forces with leading aggregators Finsure and Loan Market Australia as well as sub-aggregators Lending Association, Shore Financial and Nectar Mortgages. Plus, we partnered with Real Estate Australia when they launched their new marketplace property.com.au, helping homeowners sell their existing home and buy their next with confidence.

We also appointed our new Head of Distribution, Stephen Doyle who brings over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. With Stephen in our ranks, we look forward to continuing to disrupt the industry and skyrocket our growth.  

Plus, we’ve rapidly expanded our partnerships team to also include Ken Baumli (Partnerships Manager), as well as four new Business Development Representatives: Candice Bernadotte, Lucas Horne, Richard Ledger and Lionel Bustamante.

Sustainability

We’re also committed to making positive strides in sustainability as a business. We teamed up with Ecologi to help them reduce 50% of global C02 emissions by 2040. 

Over the past 12+ months, Bridgit has reduced 147.1 tonnes of carbon, planted 7,209 trees and funded 25 projects like the wind power project in Thailand and protecting the Tambopata-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve in Peru. 

We’ve also added a soft plastic bin in our office to help our team reduce waste, provided each team member a reusable coffee cup to cut down on disposable garbage and we’ve organised an ‘odd bunch’ fruit delivery each week to stop imperfect produce from ending up in the bin. 

After a massive year in 2022, we can’t wait to keep growing in 2023 and help more Aussie homeowners realise their property goals with products that are built for today. We reckon the best is yet to come.

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