SEATTLE, Jan. 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Porch.com ( http://porch.com ), the home network for homeowners and home professionals, announced today it has raised over $65 million with investments from Valor Equity Partners, Lowe's Companies, Inc., Founders Fund, Battery Ventures, Panorama Point Partners, Capricorn Investment Group, and others including home improvement expert Ty Pennington.
In two years Porch has raised $100 million in total funding.
Porch will use the funds to continue its explosive growth in 2015, developing innovative products for the home improvement, home maintenance, and home buying industry in addition to scaling its operations infrastructure to meet growing demand from homeowners and professionals.
Specifically, Porch will begin rolling out nationally the ability for homeowners to book the best professionals at pre-negotiated prices through Porch Booking, a feature of the Porch App. With this offering Porch will provide an end-to-end marketplace where Porch processes the transaction and guarantees the services behind the best professionals who have been thoroughly vetted in each city.
After receiving interest from several interested firms, Valor Equity Partners was selected to lead the round given their experience and expertise in operational excellence and world-class support.
"The last year has been one of tremendous growth for Porch," said Matt Ehrlichman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Porch. "We are thrilled that investors with a high caliber of operational excellence like Valor Equity Partners share our passion and vision to help people everywhere love their homes by replacing the hassle, pain, and complexity that exists today with trust, information, and delight. We are eager to make 2015 a huge year for our customers by fundamentally changing the way people care for their homes. You will see this reflected in our suite of products that will sweep the US over the next 365 days."
Valor Equity Partners is leading this round and its CEO Antonio Gracias will join Porch's Board of Directors (Mr. Gracias already sits on the Board of Directors for Tesla and SpaceX). Alongside Valor, new investors include Founders Fund, Battery Ventures, Panorama Point Partners, and individual investors that include home improvement expert Ty Pennington.
Existing investors including Lowe's Companies, Inc. and Capricorn Investment Group also participated in the financing.
"We are extraordinarily excited to partner with Matt Ehrlichman and the entire Porch team in this investment. As one of the fastest growing companies in the industry, Porch is leading in defining the very best customer and contractor experience," said Antonio Gracias, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Investment Officer for Valor Equity Partners. "While their growth over the past 12 months has been remarkable, what really sets them apart is their dedication to operational excellence, delighting customers, and solving problems that exist for every homeowner through product innovation. As strong as the last year has been, the best is yet to come. We look forward to working with the Porch team to help make home ownership a friction-free experience."
Over the past year, Porch has experienced explosive growth. Highlights include:
Overall Business Growth: Over the last 12 months Porch has seen revenues increase over 1,000 percent and members have increased over 1,000 percent.
Development of the Home Network: Throughout 2014 Porch continued to extend the breadth of the home network growing from 1.5 million professionals to over 3.2 million with project insights growing from 90 million to over 130 million representing over $2.5 trillion in home improvement spend.
Launch of Porch App & Porch Booking Beta: In December 2014 Porch announced the national release of the Porch App ( http://porch.com/app ), a first of its kind app available for iOS that gives homeowners direct access to a personal Porch Concierge to help find the best professionals for any home project. The app also marked the launch of the Porch Booking Beta in Seattle. With Porch Booking, homeowners will find the most convenient way to get small maintenance projects done at a pre-negotiated rates by Porch Certified Professionals that are background check, licensed, insured & bonded professionals. To date, Certified Professionals through Porch are averaging a 4.8 out of 5 star rating.
Strategic Partnership with Lowe's: In January 2014 Porch announced a strategic partnership with Lowe's that would see the home improvement retailer use Porch as their in-store resource to help homeowners find the right home improvement professionals for nearly any project outside of Lowe's current installation services. By May Porch was available in every Lowe's store in the country (over 1,700) and over 250,000 associates have been trained on how to use Porch.
Porch Home Report and Partnership with realtor.com: In March 2014 Porch entered the real estate space through the release of the groundbreaking Porch Home Report and a partnership with realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). The Porch Home Report includes home improvement project history, the cost and details of remodels and projects, and background information for professionals that have previously worked on the home.
About Porch
Porch is the home network, free for homeowners and home professionals. With over 3.2 million professionals and over 130 million projects, Porch enables homeowners to make smart home improvement decisions by giving them the information they need to find the right professionals, get inspiration, and manage their home. The Porch App, a first of its kind app available for iOS gives homeowners direct access to a personal Porch Concierge to help find the best professionals for your home. For more information about Porch, visit http://porch.com and to download the Porch App at http://porch.com/app
Press Assets: porch.com/about/press
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CONTACT: Craig Cincotta VP of Communications craig@porch.com 425-753-0156
