Nominations for 2026 Inman Innovator Awards are now open, May 18 - June 26th.  Real estate is evolving. Who's leading the way? Nominate them today.

Inman Innovators include entrepreneurs pushing the old ways aside, data scientists discovering new ways to examine behavior, marketers reimagining how to showcase properties, teams reinventing how to communicate with clients, companies building advanced technologies and brokerages and teams creating groundbreaking business models.

2025 Inman Innovator Awards

Innovator of the Year (individual or individuals)

Winners: Kenya Burrell Van-Wormer & Katherine Winston, Equity Angels 

Damian Eales, Realtor.com 

Andy Florance, CoStar

Josh Jensen, Inspectify 

Shayan Hamidi, Rechat 

Stella Han & Carlos Trevino, Fractional 

Varun Krishna, Rocket Companies  

Terrence Nickelson, Goby Homes

Ryan Serhant, SERHANT 

Joe Skousen, Inside Real Estate

 

Company of the Year

Winner: Rechat 

Anyone 

CoStar Group 

Elite Real Estate Systems 

LPT Holdings 

PLACE

The Real Brokerage

Rayse

Rocket Companies

Zillow 

 

Most Innovative Agent or Team

Winner: Kenny Klaus, the Klaus Team

The Ashton Real Estate Group, RE/MAX Advantage

Jimmy Burgess, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Caine Luxury Team, Keller Williams 

Will Grimes, Aperture Global 

The Haskell Group 

Daniel Heider, The Heider Team 

Tiffany McQuaid, SERHANT. 

Keegan Siegfried, Paramount Home Group

 

Most Innovative Brokerage

Winner: SERHANT.

The Agency 

@properties Christie’s International Real Estate

Ensemble 

eXp

NextHome 

The Real Brokerage

Sotheby’s International Realty 

Windermere 

 

Most Innovative Marketing or Branding Campaign

Winner: “Never Become a Former New Yorker” campaign, StreetEasy

Rebranding/Introducing: Intelligence Beyond Bounds, Cotality

“Everything you need. All under one roof” campaign, William Raveis

Family Reunion 2025, Keller Williams 

“Joy of Home” global campaign, Century 21 Real Estate 

“Let America Build” campaign, Realtor.com  

“Perfect Strangers” commercial, Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors 

“The Perfect Setting” global campaign, The Agency 

Post-NAR settlement marketing and branding campaign, Stellar MLS 

30 Day Listing Challenge, Fello 

 

Most Innovative Use of Video 

Winner: Aperture Global Launch Video 

The Haskell Group 

OnTrack Agent

Sotheby’s Video Studio 

Michele Sullivan, MS Luxury Homes 

 

Most Innovative Lead Servicing Solution

Winner: Lone Wolf Relationships 

BoldTrail

Happy Grasshopper 

Lofty

PropStream

Percy

Realeflow

 

Most Innovative Marketing Solution

Winner: Giraffe360

CallAction

MAXA Designs 

Rayse

RealForce

Rechat

 

Most Innovative Client Experience Solution

Winner: Compass One

Anyone

Goby Homes

HouseAmp

ListedKit

Notable

Restb.ai

Rayse


Most Innovative Use of AI

Winner: HappyCO

Better.com’s AI agent, Betsy™ 

Cloze

Eden

Entrata

Epique Realty 

ListAssist (by Inside Real Estate)

Lundy

Matterport

MaverickRE

Rechat

Shay

Zillow/Follow Up Boss 

 

Most Innovative Industry Podcast

Winner: Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered, James Dwiggins and Keith Robinson

Glitter and Gay, Glennda Baker and Tyler 

Industry Relations, Rob Hahn and Greg Robertson

InsideABODE, Dave Jones 

The Katie Lance Podcast, Katie Lance

Listing Bits, Greg Robertson

Motivational Monday, LPT Realty 

The Presence Podcast, Luxury Presence 

Proptech Pulse Podcast, Lone Wolf Technologies 

 

Most Innovative Organization/MLS

Winner: NWMLS

Austin Board of Realtors/UnlockMLS

Broker Public Portal 

Bright MLS

Houston Association of Realtors

The MLS 

MetroTex Association of REALTORS 

Stellar MLS 

UtahRealEstate.com 

What Moves Her, Anywhere

The Nate Ellis Award (for giving back to the community)

Bob Hale, Houston Association of REALTORS

 

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