Nextdoor is expanding outside of the U.S. for the first time

It has formed a new company, called Nextdoor EMEA, to cover its overseas users

(Updated with comment from Nextdoor)

It looks like Nextdoor, the social network built around bringing together people who live in the same neighborhood, is heading overseas.

In an email to its members (of which I am one) on Wednesday night, the company revealed that, at the end of next week, it will be updating its Member Agreement and Privacy Policy. 

"The updates are designed to support improvements in our product, new features, and expansion into additional geographies. Our commitment to you and focus on privacy have not changed," the company wrote.

There's an important part that may be easily overlooked. It's the section about "additional geographies." And when you click on either the new Member Agreement or Privacy Policy, you can see that they now mention a new company, in addition to Nextdoor.com, called Nextdoor EMEA Limited. EMEA stands for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In fact, users in the United States and those in other countries are signing up with different companies.

"If you reside in the United States, your agreement is with Nextdoor.com, Inc.; if you reside outside of the United States, your agreement is with Nextdoor EMEA Limited, an Irish registered company," the Privacy Policy now says.

Though Africa and the Middle East are also possibilites, Europe seems like the most obvious next step for the company, and that move also makes sense since Nextdoor EMEA Limited is registered in Ireland.

This is a big step for the company, which has been growing fast. In March, when it raised $110 million, the company was operating in more than 53,000 neighbors across the United States, and was working with 650 local government agencies, which allow it to keep communities up to date on important information, including local crime and emergencies.

Now it's in more than 86,000 neighbors across the United States, growing by 62 percent, and it works with about 1,400 local government agencies, more than double what it was just earlier this year.

That round in March also gave the company a $1.1 billion valuation, making it a unicorn. 

The San Francisco-based company has raised a total of $210 million.

Launched in October 2011, Nextdoor creates private neighborhood sites, where people in a specific neighborhood can get to know each other and ask each other questions, exchange local advice and recommendations, and organize virtual neighborhood watches to reduce crime.

Each website is password-protected and not accessible by search engines, and each member must verify their address to join so that other members can trust who they are sharing their information with. 

The network has a dedicated section for Crime and Safety, with Urgent Alerts so that time-sensitive notifications will be sent out immediately. The service has also added the ability for police and fire departments to share updates with members.

There is now also a Nearby Neighborhoods feature, which lets members share information with surrounding neighborhoods as well, while still maintaining privacy. This feature can be useful in cases such as break-ins, finding a lost pet or promoting a local garage sale. 

This news was first noticed by Business Insider. 

(Image source: nextdoor.com)