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.
Stephen Kates, Financial Analyst at Bankrate, joins to discuss the Fed’s 25-basis-point rate cut, inflation risks, and what it all means for consumers and marke
Big tech earnings take center stage as investors digest results from Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, with insights from Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC. That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived. In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to the company’s own platforms, which come with their own price tags.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
