This Startup Just Raised Over $65 Million To Make Your Next Home Improvement Project As Quick And Painless As Possible

Porch

Porch, a Seattle-based home improvement startup, just raised more than $65 million to get your next home improvement project finished as painlessly as possible.

Founded in 2012, Porch has raised $100 million so far, with this latest round led by Valor Equity.

Porch lets you browse photos for home improvement inspiration and then find professionals near you that will help you make those visions a reality. It has 1.5 million professionals in its system so far. 

The latest product out of Porch is its booking app that lets users find a vetted professional that’s already signed up to do a job at a pre-negotiated price and schedule an appointment instantaneously.

Right now the booking capabilities are only available in Seattle, but Porch plans to use its new funding to extend that product to other cities. 

Porch CEO Matt Ehrlichman told Business Insider that the Porch booking app saw a big surge before and after Christmas as people used the app to arrange for a pro to come hang their lights outside. His goal is to shorten the time between when people to think of something they want done and when it’s actually completed. 

Porch isn’t the only company focused on home improvement in Seattle. Pro.com, a Jeff Bezos-backed company, also helps connect users with home improvement professionals. Amazon itself launched a service for helping people connect with handymen. 

Porch sees one of its main differentiators, though, as its Porch Home Report. If you’re looking to buy a new home, you can order a free report from Porch that will give you a history of all the home improvement projects done to a particular property, information it gets from its users and from its partnership with realtor.com. 

Ehrlichman sees these reports as helping potential buyers get a much better understanding of their future homes.

“Data is at the core of our business,” he says. 

Here’s what the Porch Booking app interface looks like (so far this service is only available in Seattle):

Here’s what the Concierge app service looks like:

Porch

Here’s what a free home history report looks like:

Porch

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