EY Announces Ben Kinney and Chris Suarez of PLACE as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Mountain West Award Winners

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are building a better world.

BELLINGHAM, Wash., June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) recently announced that Ben Kinney and Chris Suarez, co-founders of PLACE, were named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Mountain West Award winner. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Ben Kinney and Chris Suarez were selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, investors, and other regional business leaders. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

"We are honored to be recognized as entrepreneurs doing meaningful work. Our entire business model is built to enable other entrepreneurs to grow and succeed, so they can deliver the dream of homeownership everywhere," said Ben Kinney, co-founder of PLACE. "It is a privilege to be awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year® 2023 Mountain West Award by Ernst & Young along with such an amazing group of business leaders."

PLACE is the industry's only real estate technology and services platform designed for top teams, regardless of brokerage. PLACE technology, services, and proven systems enable agents to deliver a superior consumer experience while improving productivity and profitability.

Real estate agents and business owners themselves, Kinney and Suarez identified a gap in the industry: top real estate teams need an end-to-end system that allows for "big-company scale" while thriving as independent businesses. In late 2021, PLACE closed its series A round led by Goldman Sachs with participation from 3L Capital and Viewpoint Ventures for $100 million, yielding a $1 billion valuation. The organization has since developed partnerships with leading teams across 44 US states and Canada, and its partners collectively lead the nation in both productivity (transaction sides) and sales volume.

Today at PLACE, Ben and Chris are tackling the biggest problem in real estate – simplifying a notoriously complex process by making home buying, selling, and maintenance easier for consumers, and in parallel, providing the tools, training, and insights that will build better real estate agents.

"The Entrepreneur of the Year awards represent an impressive community of visionaries who are transforming a variety of industries, which is exactly what we aim to do at PLACE," added Chris Suarez, co-founder of PLACE. "We firmly believe that entrepreneurship, vision, and collaboration drives transformative change and lasting value, and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to EY for recognizing the positive force of PLACE."

As Mountain West award winners, Ben Kinney and Chris Suarez are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 National Awards. The National Award winners including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award in June 2024.

About PLACE
PLACE is the real estate industry's only all-in-one services and technology platform that enables top teams at any brokerage to provide a superior consumer experience while driving productivity and profitability. PLACE is valued at over $1B, thanks to a $100 million investment from Goldman Sachs, with participation from 3L Capital and Viewpoint Ventures, just two years after launching the industry's only brokerage-agnostic platform of its kind in 2020. For more information, please visit place.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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 Award winners go on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

Media Contact

Jen Zureikat, PLACE, 3128741996, hype@place.com

SOURCE PLACE