Porch, a Seattle, Washington-based home services marketplace, has made what appears to be its fourth acquisition, snapping up moving concierge company Kandela.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Porch CEO Matt Ehrlichman said in a statement that Kendela’s services are “a natural extension of the work Porch is already undertaking.”
“Porch does a great job of tackling home improvement jobs once people are settled into their new home,” he said. “With the addition of Kandela, we can help make that initial transition period as seamless as possible while helping make people’s houses feel like home.”
Porch hosts a network of 250,000 active professionals. Consumers can use the site to hire them to perform an array of tasks. The company has partnered with some big-box retailers including eBay, Overstock and Pottery Barn.
It claims to have “facilitated” more than 2 million home projects that generated nearly $1 billion in revenue for small businesses covering services including plumbing, roofing, electrical and carpentry companies.
Kandela coordinates the set up of home services such as TV, internet, home warranty and security through partnerships with utilities that cover more than 12 million households, according to Kandela. It’s purportedly helped hundreds of thousands of people with their homes.
Porch’s buyout of Kandela appears to mark the home services site’s fourth acquisition since launching in 2013. In August, GeekWire reported that Porch had snapped up Serviz, a smaller competitor. In the previous two years, it reportedly had purchased another competitor Done.com and Robin Lawncare, a lawn service startup.
Porch has been through a rollercoaster ride. It raised $100 million in funding in less than two years after officially launching in 2013. Its employee count quickly rose to nearly 500, fell to about 250 by late October 2016 and had rocketed back to over 450 by April 2018 — when Porch emerged after a “two year quiet period,” according to GeekWire.
Kendela’s more than 100 employees will remain at the company’s office in Los Angeles.
Porch’s current user experience centers around what looks like an artificial intelligence-powered “Home Assistant.” Users answer questions on the site about their desired project and then are matched with service professionals.
