Porch today debuted two new products to help home service professionals, including an enterprise integration tool and a rewards program called Porch Perks.
The Seattle-based home services platform, which connects customers with home improvement professionals, rolled out the new features as project request volume from homeowners has “exploded” over the past year, according to CEO Matt Ehrlichman.
Here’s a quick rundown of the announcement:
- Enterprise Direct Connect allows larger companies to integrate Porch’s platform into their CRM systems, making it easier to surface requests from homeowners. There are already “hundreds” of companies using this, Porch said.
- “Pay As You Go” lets service providers who don’t want up-front commitment to browse through projects that in a specific area and then choose who to connect with.
- Service providers can also now filter projects based on type of work and monthly budget, and when a project meets their filters, it automatically is “reserved” each month.
“With our new offerings, Porch caters to every home service professional across the country, big or small, by providing features that are tailored to their business. for homeowner demand,” Ehrlichman said in a statement. “Over the past year, project request volume on Porch from homeowners has exploded so now is the right time to accelerate the connection with all types of quality professionals.”
Porch also today announced Porch Perks, which gives service providers on the Porch platform discounts and deals at a handful of retailers, including existing partners like Lowe’s and Wayfair, along with others like tax software-maker Intuit and legal advice company Avvo.
Porch told GeekWire today it is “actively engaged” with approximately 141,000 professionals, while there is a directory of more than three million professionals on the site. Project request volume spiked nearly 100 percent from January to June of this year, mainly because the startup cut its unit acquisition expense in half.
Porch has raised $100 million to date and employs 300 people, which is down from 400 people this past October. That’s when it laid off 90 employees, including key executives, as the Seattle company went through a strategic shift.
Porch offers free home-improvement data to homeowners, including detailed information about projects in their neighborhood. The company, founded in 2012, makes money from its relationships with home-improvement pros, charging them for market insights and promotional exposure.
