Porch.com, the US-based operator of a network for homeowners and professionals, raised more than $65m yesterday in a series B round backed by home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies.
Valor Equity Partners, which led the round, Founders Fund, Battery Ventures, Panorama Point Partners, Capricorn Investment Group and Ty Pennington, formerly the host of television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, also contributed funding.
Founded in 2012, Porch’s network connects homeowners with a base of more than 3.2 million home improvement professionals, and claims to have facilitated more than 130 million projects.
Porch said in a statement its revenues increased more than 1,000% in the past year. The round, which sources told Forbes valued Porch at $500m, will support the scaling of the company’s operations as it continues to develop its platform.
Porch introduced its own specialised app in December 2014 and will shortly implement a national roll-out of Porch Booking, a feature that allows users to book jobs through the app at pre-negotiated prices.
The company has now raised about $100m since it was founded, including $27.6m in a Lowe’s-led series A round in September 2014, and its partnership with the retail chain includes merchandising across its 1,720 stores directing customers to Porch’s website.
Matt Ehrlichman, chief executive of Porch, told the Wall Street Journal: “It has been an important initiative at Lowe’s to build a home improvements partner with customers instead of being just a home retailer.”