Venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and investment firm Tiger Global Management co-led rising $60 million for Nextdoor, a private social network company valued at approximately $600 million.
Becoming a favorite with money-hungry types anticipating a boom on its valuable real estate, Nextdoor is social network for people living in specific neighborhoods. Members make Facebook-style postings giving and searching recommendations for services such as plumbing, electricians and babysitters. Users join only after verifying their home address through credit card or home and mobile phone number.
Founder and CEO Nirav Tolia told Venture Beat that the reason for starting Nextdoor was to strengthen and help secure neighborhoods across America.
"Unfortunately, in America we have lost touch of our neighborhoods," said Tolia. "Everyone lives in a neighborhood and wants to be stronger. Safety is a universal concern."
Over the past two years, the company has experienced phenomenal growth and now claims to be active in 22,500 neighborhoods domestically which amounts to one out of every seven. The most active neighborhoods see about 50 to 100 post per day and 150,000 classified ads are posted on Nextdoor, each day.
"The more users communicate using online mechanisms, the more likely they are to communicate in person," said Tolia. "If you use Nextdoor to get to know your neighbors, you are way more likely to walk outside the door and meet them in person."
Though the company does not make money and has less than 10 million members, the half-a-billion-dollar-plus valuation doesn't make sense until one considers that small startups are benefiting from opportunistic financing climate thanks to the success of Facebook. Over time, the company hopes to earn money through ads. Similar to the beginning stages of Facebook and Twitter.
"If we look at the great companies at this stage, none of them started to monetize this early in their evolution," Tolia said. "It's all about getting the product right."
Nextdoor hopes to expand internationally over the years and has set its sight on Canada.
