The Porch Group, a home services search platform, has made its Nasdaq debut just in time for Christmas.
The stock, which went public through a deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) PropTech Acquisition Corporation, was down slightly after a short day of trading on Thursday, closing at $15.03 after starting the day at $15.50. Porch Group, Inc. is the name of the newly combined venture between PropTech and Porch.com.
Porch.com first announced plans to go public this past summer when it was valued at $523 million, due in part to a bounceback in demand for home services.
"Back in mid-March, it was hit hard like so many businesses. People stopped moving, people stopped doing projects in their homes, and that's what drives our business. Fortunately for us, starting mid-April, things really rebounded way better than we ever could have anticipated at that point in time," Matt Ehrlichman, Porch Group CEO, told Cheddar.
The free service is essentially a marketplace for homeowners looking to hire local contractors to complete a variety of projects ranging from in-house tech upgrades to cleaning gutters. While the company is based in Seattle, its services are available in all 50 states.
The company has been able to help a quarter of all U.S. homebuyers each month, he added. While Porch had been planning before the onset of the pandemic to go public, Ehrlichman said the SPAC deal allowed the company to fast-track that process.
"Given where Porch is, the business is just growing incredibly quickly. And given how much opportunity there is, getting public a year earlier allows us to be able to go do certain key acquisitions that will just continue to accelerate our growth," he continued.
Expansion efforts for Porch are already underway. Months after its launch in 2013, the company linked with Lowe's to provide customers that were already working on projects a chance to bring in the professionals. The company recently added licensed insurance agencies to its repertoire as well.
"What we're bringing to life for people who are moving is it should feel like it does to a CEO, where you're getting a corporate relocation and everything is handled for you and it's simple," Ehrlichman said.
