Nextdoor, the US-headquartered social network operator that counts corporates Comcast, Alphabet and Axel Springer as investors, agreed a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co II yesterday.
The deal will give the merged business a pro forma equity valuation of approximately $4.3bn and involve it taking the listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market acquired by Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co II in a $400m initial public offering in March this year.
The transaction will be boosted by a $270m private placement featuring funds and accounts advised by T Rowe Price in addition to Baron Capital Group, Dragoneer, Soroban Capital, Ion Asset Management, Tiger Global Management, Hedosophia, accounts advised by Ark Invest, Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar and affiliates of Khosla Ventures.
Nextdoor is the owner of a social network intended to connect users who live in the same neighbourhood, allowing them to share information, arrange events or give assistance.
The company was valued at $2.1bn as of a $170m round closed in September 2019 that included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and its two successor firms, Bond and Kleiner Perkins, as well as Tiger Global and Benchmark, bringing Nextdoor’s overall funding to $455m.
Media group Axel Springer was named as a Nextdoor investor in mid-2019, nearly 18 months after it raised $75m from unnamed investors.
Redpoint Ventures and Insight Partners co-led the company’s $110m series D round in 2015, investing alongside Comcast unit Comcast Ventures, KPCB, Benchmark, Tiger Global, Greylock Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, Coatue Management and Shasta Ventures at a $1.1bn valuation.
Nextdoor had previously secured $60m in series C funding from Comcast Ventures, Benchmark, KPCB, Greylock Partners, Tiger Global and Shasta Ventures two years earlier.
GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, had joined Pinnacle Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, Allen & Company and existing backers Greylock, Benchmark, DAG Ventures and Shasta Ventures in Nextdoor’s $21.6m series B round in 2012.
