Neighborly was a San Francisco–based financial technology startup focused on financing and deploying fiber-optic broadband infrastructure in communities around the U.S. The company aimed to deliver critical fiber broadband infrastructure to communities, and opportunities to investors interested in closing the digital divide. Previous to their broadband endeavors, Neighborly facilitated municipal bond investments to finance community infrastructure, including schools, libraries, bike paths, and parks. Investors included Emerson Collective, 8VC and Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures.

History

Neighborly was founded in July 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri by Jase Wilson, a

civic technologist Civic technology, or civic tech, enhances the relationship between the people and government with software for communications, decision-making, service delivery, and political process. It includes information and communications technology supportin ...

trained in urban planning at the

University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

,. During the company's first two years of operation, Neighborly facilitated donations for 55 community projects that collectively raised over $2,500,000. In July 2013, Neighborly received a $175,000 grant from the Knight Foundation. In April 2014, Neighborly won the 14th Annual Global Technology Symposium, held at

Draper University Draper University, also known as Draper University of Heroes, is a private, for-profit school located in San Mateo, California, United States. Founded by venture capitalist Tim Draper in 2012, Draper University partnered with Arizona State Univers ...

in San Mateo, beating 8 other companies from 7 different countries. In October 2014, Neighborly completed the

500 Startups 500 Global (previously 500 Startups) is an early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator founded in 2010 by Dave McClure and Christine Tsai. The fund admitted a first "class" of twelve startups to its incubator office in Mountain View, Californ ...

Accelerator. In July 2015, Neighborly introduced the concept of ‘civic microbonds’ to lower the minimum denomination required to invest in municipal bonds. In an effort to better raise seed funding, Neighborly's operations were moved from Kansas City to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 2015. The move paid off when, in August 2015, Neighborly secured $5.5M seed financing led by Joe Lonsdale's

Formation 8 Formation 8 was an American venture capital firm founded in 2011 by Joe Lonsdale, Jim Kim and Brian Koo. The company was headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was one of the most successful venture capital firms in the industry bef ...

and

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...

's Sound Ventures. In May 2017 Neighborly announced it raised a $25 million Series A round. The investment was led by Joe Lonsdale at 8VC,

Laurene Powell Jobs Laurene Powell Jobs ( Powell; born November 6, 1963)United States birth records is an American billionaire businesswoman and executive. She is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute. Powell Jobs resides in Palo Alto, Calif ...

at Emerson Collective, with follow-on participation from

at Sound Ventures, Maven Ventures, Bee Partners, and Stanford University. New investors were: Govtech Fund, Abstract.vc, and Fintech Collective. In October 2019, the company defaulted after failing to secure funding.

References

{{Reflist 2012 establishments in California Defunct crowdfunding platforms of the United States