New Orleans’ Neighborland

I met Dan Parham and Candy Chang last summer at Launch Pad. It is a familiar scenario for me, Dan had emailed me and asked me if he could come by and tell me about his startup, Neighborland that they were launching in New Orleans. I was excited about the potential real world impact that Neighborland would be able to have in New Orleans. New Orleans has incredibly engaged citizens who care about this city and care about their neighborhoods.So, I invited Dan to speak at TribeCon, our conference about online communities creating offline change. I could sense the audience being moved by the way Neighborland empowers people to take action on the issues that matter to them.A few weeks ago, I decided to try it out myself.I am passionate about the importance of Tulane bringing its CS Department back online so we are graduating talented engineers in New Orleans and building a pipeline of talent. I posted the idea on Neighborland. This activated a conversation around the topic that struck me with the intelligence and civility of the discourse and most importantly the desire of people to take action. It spurred a piece in the local press as well as a meeting with Ram Mettu, a faculty member at Tulane which is spurring some exciting developments that we are hoping to announce at Launch Fest.
Today I’m thrilled to announce that Voodoo Ventures is investing in Neighborland alongside an amazing group of co-investors including The Obvious Corporation, True Ventures, Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, and Crunch Fund. My central thesis with Voodoo Ventures is to “play where web meets world” and Neighborland has the potential for tremendous real-world impact.

Last year at Launch Fest, I focused on the importance of local angels in New Orleans to get engaged in New Orleans startups because we can catalyze deals that result in investment by top-tier VC’s. This deal is evidence that strategy works. Now we’ve all got to keep cranking.

Let’s connect on the issues that matter to us and take action on Neighborland. Together we can make our neighborhood, New Orleans, and the world a better place.