# Best in Class Awards 2026: StarRez takes the PropTech prize from a field of eight, judged 85% by jury - Published: 2026-11-10 - Author: [Award News](https://awardnews.net/author/awardnews-net.md) - Topics: [News](https://awardnews.net/news.md) - About: [Best in Class Awards 2026](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026), [StarRez](https://www.starrez.com/) - Based on: [StarRez wins Best PropTech Solution at the Class Foundation's 2026 awards](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399177/0/en/starrez-named-best-proptech-solution-by-class-foundation-for-advancing-student-accommodation-operations-and-resident-experience.html), GlobeNewswire, 2026-11-10 - Based on: [Best in Class Awards 2026](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026), The Class Foundation - Based on: [Best in Class Awards 2025](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2025), The Class Foundation - Based on: [About The Class Foundation](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/about), The Class Foundation - Based on: [StarRez's 2026 State of the Student Housing Industry Report](https://www.starrez.com/news/starrezs-2026-state-of-the-student-housing-industry-report-finds-student-housing-shifts-toward-a-more-strategic-connected-model), StarRez - Source: https://awardnews.net/news/best-in-class-awards-2026-proptech-starrez/ - Publication: Award News - Publisher: Connectively (Terkel, Inc.) - Editorial policy: https://awardnews.net/editorial-policy/ - AI use: Connectively's automated system wrote this article with AI from a press release issued by StarRez on November 10, 2026, linked under Sources. Statements about the product are the company's. The illustration was generated with AI. The article was assembled and published automatically, without an editor's review. Report errors to corrections@connectively.us. The Best in Class Awards 2026 PropTech prize went to StarRez, a Colorado maker of student housing software, at The Class Foundation's ceremony in Amsterdam on November 4. It beat seven other finalists in a vote weighted 85% to an industry jury and 15% to the public, under the [organisers' rules](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026). ## Key points - StarRez won Best PropTech Solution at The Class Foundation's Best in Class Awards 2026, announced November 4, 2026, at ARTIS Royal Zoo in Amsterdam. - The eight finalists were Prefect Controls, Lavanda, Kinetic, Abodus Student Living, iqbi, ASK4, VerbaFlo and StarRez, according to the [awards page](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026). - Jury scores counted for 85% of the result and an online public vote, open October 5 to 16, for 15%, according to the [organisers](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026). - StarRez entered its Rez 360 platform and cites Trinity College, Oxford, where it says check-in times fell by up to 95%. - The 2025 winner of the same category was Tenext with iqbi, which was a finalist again in 2026, according to the [2025 awards page](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2025). ## How were the Best in Class Awards 2026 PropTech winners judged? By a three-stage process the [organisers publish in full](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026). Applications opened April 30 and closed September 25; Class Foundation staff scored them separately and picked finalists on September 30. The finalists' entries then went to a seven-member jury drawn from investors, operators, a technology firm, academia and the Portuguese Parliament, whose scores make up 85% of the result, with the public vote adding the rest. Entrants answer three questions, each scored on a five-point scale with a 2,000-character limit: what the technology is and how it changed student living, how it helps engagement and operations, and what evidence shows it works. Student housing operators and service providers can both apply. The awards page lists no entry fee. One detail the announcement leaves out: the jury includes Timothy Stephen, Head of Europe at VerbaFlo, which was itself a finalist in the PropTech category. The awards page does not say whether jurors stepped aside from categories involving their employers. ## What did StarRez win with? Rez 360, which StarRez describes as giving housing and residence life teams a single record of each resident: housing records, messages, engagement history and support contacts. The company says this lets staff spot problems sooner and spend less time switching between systems. > Being honored by The Class Foundation is especially meaningful because this award celebrates technology that's making a measurable difference in the quality of student housing. > > — Jason Day, CEO, StarRez Its showcase is Trinity College, Oxford, where StarRez says one administrator runs housing for about 450 residents. According to the company, after the switch every resident signed a housing agreement for the first time in the college's history, check-in took up to 95% less time, and moving a student to a new room dropped from two weeks to 20 minutes. Those are StarRez's figures; neither the college nor the organisers have published them. The case for the product leans on StarRez's own research. Its [2026 State of the Student Housing Industry Report](https://www.starrez.com/news/starrezs-2026-state-of-the-student-housing-industry-report-finds-student-housing-shifts-toward-a-more-strategic-connected-model), drawn from 363 institutions, found 88% think earlier sight of student wellbeing would improve outcomes but only 23% use automated alerts or dashboards to flag students at risk. ## What does the win tell people entering industry awards? Our analysis: the third application question asks for evidence, and StarRez's announcement leads with hard numbers from a named customer rather than adjectives. That matches what [gathering supporting materials for nominations](https://awardnews.net/qa/5-tips-for-gathering-supporting-materials-for-nominations/) usually comes down to: a named client, a before and after, and a figure a jury can weigh. The [85/15 split](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026) also matters. A public vote rewards whoever mobilises their network, so capping it at 15% keeps an expert jury in control, one of the trade-offs covered in our look at [award voting systems](https://awardnews.net/insight/insights-on-award-voting-systems/). The announcement does not say how StarRez scored on either part, or by what margin it won. ## Who runs the Best in Class Awards? The Class Foundation, which says it was registered as a non-profit foundation in Amsterdam in 2012 and began as a response to the Netherlands' student housing shortage. It set up the awards in 2016 and also runs forums and an annual conference for the European student living sector. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who won Best PropTech Solution at the Best in Class Awards 2026? StarRez won, for its Rez 360 resident platform, at a ceremony at ARTIS Royal Zoo in Amsterdam on November 4, 2026. ### Who were the 2026 Best PropTech Solution finalists? Prefect Controls, Lavanda, Kinetic, Abodus Student Living, iqbi, ASK4, VerbaFlo and StarRez. ### How are the Best in Class Awards judged? Class Foundation staff shortlist the applications, a jury's scores count for 85% of the final result and an online public vote counts for 15%, according to the [2026 awards page](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026). ### Does it cost to enter the Best in Class Awards? The 2026 awards page lists no entry fee; it links to an application form and separately sells tickets to the ceremony. ### Who won Best PropTech Solution in 2025? Tenext with iqbi, according to The Class Foundation's [2025 awards page](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2025). ## Sources - [StarRez award announcement on GlobeNewswire](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/10/3399177/0/en/starrez-named-best-proptech-solution-by-class-foundation-for-advancing-student-accommodation-operations-and-resident-experience.html): press release from StarRez via GlobeNewswire, 10 November 2026. - [Best in Class Awards 2026](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2026): The Class Foundation's page with the timeline, judging process, jury, finalists and winners. - [Best in Class Awards 2025](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/best-in-class-awards/2025): the organisers' 2025 results. - [About The Class Foundation](https://www.theclassfoundation.com/about): the organisers' history and non-profit status. - [StarRez's 2026 State of the Student Housing Industry Report](https://www.starrez.com/news/starrezs-2026-state-of-the-student-housing-industry-report-finds-student-housing-shifts-toward-a-more-strategic-connected-model): StarRez's announcement of its survey of 363 institutions.