Houzz (PRIVATE: HOUZZ) is the next unicorn to fall in love with. While the house decoration site has been around for more than a decade, its community around home improvement, design, landscaping, interior decoration, and architecture is finally making a name for itself.
Houzz is an intriguing comapny to examine because of its alternative data, and the fact that they're reportedly gearing up for an IPO in the near future (according to CNBC and others).
Co-founders Alon Cohen and Adi Tatarko turned their idea into a $4 billion dollar valuation, with no signs of slowing down. The company is growing, and it's hard to see that stopping any time soon.
Word of mouth on social media also is trending in the right direction. With more people talking about the website and app, the more likely they are to use it and love it. If you nail a home improvement project, you'll want to brag about it, surely.
Houzz more than doubled its Facebook followers in only a few short years, which is impressive in its own right.
And the final piece of the puzzle: Google ($GOOG) Play App Store user reviews and feedback. The numbers speak for themselves, we haven't seen ratings this high in a long time. Near 5.0 across the board, and customers are more than happy to share their thoughts on Houzz.
Thinknum is located in the heart of Manhattan, so we here don't own houses. But if we did, Houzz would be a great platform to use.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Cloudflare's IPO is coming - here is where the web infrastructure company is planning growth
- WeWork's alternative data reflects mega-growth - but poor app ratings
- SmileDirect is headed directly to public markets with an IPO this fall