Blend (NYSE: BLND), the leading origination platform for digital banking solutions, announced today that Erik Wrobel, Blend’s Head of Product, was recognized as a 2024 HW Tech Trendsetter by HousingWire. In its sixth year, the list identifies the most impactful and innovative technology leaders serving the housing economy.

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Blend Head of Product Erik Wrobel (Photo: Business Wire)

“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of Blend, as it truly reflects our dedication to bringing simplicity and transparency to financial services,” said Erik Wrobel, Blend’s Head of Product. “In a year marked by intense competition and affordability challenges, I’m proud of the strides we’ve made to strengthen our customers’ bottom lines while enhancing their borrower experience. Our customers trust us to continue innovating in ways that advance their goals, and they’re increasingly turning to Blend for the latest technologies needed to address their most urgent needs.”

Under Erik’s leadership, Blend has launched several groundbreaking experiences that have significantly accelerated and streamlined the home lending process by bringing advanced personalization, simplification, and rapid iteration into the product. Among the newer solutions Erik helped build include Blend Rapid Refi, a product focused on helping customers refinance in an automated, streamlined way; a real-time home equity product allowing borrowers to quickly tap into the equity in their homes; and adding other new features to the Blend platform that leverage recent advancements in AI.

“Modern experiences like our AI integrations and the ability to deliver a real time home equity experience have all been made possible by the flexible platform and diverse ecosystem of integrations that we’ve been hard at work building for the past four years,” shared Erik Wrobel. “This new evolution of the way we build our technology is resonating, and lenders are bringing more ideas for how to apply our solution to their own businesses in new and compelling ways.”

An independent study in 2024 further underscores Blend’s impact. Financial institutions using Blend’s mortgage suite reported an average 53% increase in transaction speed, $650 in savings per loan, and a reduction of over 9 days from the loan cycle. These metrics highlight Blend's effectiveness in driving efficiency and cost savings, contributing to a faster, more streamlined and responsive origination process.

Profiles of the 2024 HousingWire Tech Trendsetters honorees can be found here.

About Blend

Blend (NYSE: BLND) is the leading origination platform for digital banking solutions. Financial providers— from large banks, fintechs, and credit unions to community and independent mortgage banks—use Blend’s platform to transform banking experiences for their customers. Blend powers billions of dollars in financial transactions every day. To learn more, visit blend.com.

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This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements generally relate to future events, future performance or expectations and involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, but are not limited to, our expectations regarding our product roadmap, future products/features, the timing of new product/feature introductions, market size and growth opportunities, macroeconomics and industry conditions, capital expenditures, plans for future operations, competitive position, technological capabilities and strategic relationships, as well as assumptions relating to the foregoing. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from the outcomes predicted. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “would,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology that concern Blend’s expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. Further information on these risks and uncertainties are set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Blend and assumptions and beliefs as of the date hereof. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Except as required by law, Blend does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.

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