The Home-Improvement startup Porch.com Inc was said to have been valued at $500 million by investors, making them a top competitor next to Houzz Inc. and Thumbtack Inc. Porch.com launched in 2013 in Seattle and is now building its service faster nationwide and it’s free to homeowners.
Compared to Houzz Inc, which has raised most of its funding from private investors by $200 million, Porch.com also give homeowners the ability to connect with contractors and other home-repair professionals. Anyone from an electrician, landscaper, or plumber near you can be found on Porch.com.
Home-Improvement service professionals can either list themselves for free or pay a $100+ monthly fee. The premium professionals are more likely to be highlighted according to data-based search results, including the Advice page. Porch not only generates revenue from professionals paying to be featured, but also for the booking fee that connects professionals to homeowners on the Porch mobile app. The mobile app is only available in Seattle but will expand nationwide.
The app and Porch’s business focus on only linking homeowners to service professionals has differentiated their company from competitors, as well as a service that provides records on homes. The service is similar to Carfax, which gives homeowners a chance to see a list of projects and repairs that have ever been made on a home.
Since Porch closed a round with Lowe’s in 2013, the startup has actually doubled the number of professionals on Porch.com and they have raised more than $35 million.
Porch Inc. serves as a beneficial service for homeowners looking to fulfill their home-improvement projects, but it also benefits service professionals in construction profoundly with the Porch.com search optimization feature. Paying the fee that comes with being a promoted service professional will guarantee more business for your company, especially with the number of homeowners using Porch.com.
via Wall Street Journal, Home-Repair Startup Gets Funding
Its really much easier for homeowners to do renovation jobs with such tools like Porch. I’ve personally searched for home contractors in my city with this tool.