Outside.In, a Brooklyn, NY-based hyperlocal news and blog aggregator, closed its first round of financing this week—coinciding with its initial launch in 63 U.S. cities. The amount of the funding was $900,000. Union Square Ventures led the round, which included Milestone Venture Partners, Village Ventures, and angel investors Esther Dyson, Marc Andreessen, John Seeley Brown, George Crowley, John Borthwick and Richard Smith. The site is the brainchild of Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter and the co-creator of the defunct online magazine FEED, and John Geraci, who started Pheeder and Foundcity.  Outside.In is currently focused on the U.S., but plans to roll out international neighborhoods over the next several months. Release