The Smart50 2024 Resilience Award winner: Bridgit
In 2023, bridging finance company Bridgit was forced to negotiate a challenging interest-rate environment last year, testing its resilience.
Thirteen consecutive interest rate rises in 2023 certainly took a toll on a lot of Australians, but businesses dealing with home loans and property access may have taken a harder hit than many.
With that in mind, it’s only fitting that bridging finance company Bridgit, which had to negotiate a challenging interest-rate environment last year, received the 2024 Smart50 Resilience Award.
As the economy nudged perilously close to recession, Bridgit navigated an uncertain market to grow the business sustainably while maintaining staff headcount.
“We had to navigate a vastly different market from 2022 and adjust our approach to ensure we did not place financial strain on the business, as we witnessed other early-stage companies unfortunately had to close their doors,” says Bridgit CEO Aaron Bassin.
While it was focusing on the company’s fundamentals – delivering exceptional customer experience and helping homeowners make progress – that helped Bridgit stay the course, the team also developed technology to drive operational efficiency, which ultimately provided the capacity for growth.
Within six months, Bridgit achieved record growth quarter-on-quarter, expanded its headcount, doubled revenue, and increased its trust rating to 4.8 out of 5.
“This experience highlighted the importance of adaptability, resilience and focusing on your core purpose,” says Bassin.
“The team’s commitment to the company’s purpose and prioritising customer outcomes was crucial in overcoming the market’s challenges.”
Bridgit placed 14th on this year’s Smart50 list.
