Revolution CEO Steve Case Hunting For Innovation Outside Of Silicon Valley

Any tech investor knows Silicon Valley is the hub for technology innovation in America. However, in a new interview with Crunchbase News, AOL co-founder Steve Case discussed all the investment opportunities outside of the Silicon Valley bubble.

Nationwide ‘Revolution’

Case is the chairman and CEO of Revolution, a Washington D.C.-based venture capital firm focused on investing outside of tech hubs Silicon Valley, New York and Boston.

“A majority of venture capital goes to three states. We think that’s crazy,” Case said. “There’s a lot of people and places feeling left out and behind.”

Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund has invested in 116 different companies in 38 different cities across the country. Investors in the $150 million fund include Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN founder Jeff Bezos, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE CEO Meg Whitman.

Better Valuations

Roughly 98.5 percent of Revolution’s investments in the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Revolution Ventures and Revolution Growth Fund have gone to companies located outside of Silicon Valley. The Rise of the Rest Fund is an early-stage investment fund that typically focuses on investments of $1 million or less. Revolution Ventures typically makes investments of $2 million to $10 million, whereas the Revolution Growth Fund typically makes $20 million to $50 million investments in later-stage companies.

“From an investment standpoint, we think certain places like Silicon Valley have tons of great people doing tons of interesting things,” Case said. “It also has tons of VCs. So the valuations are sometimes high. In markets with a different supply-demand dynamic, the valuations tend to be more moderate.”

In April, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest tour is headed to Florida and Puerto Rico to scout for investments. Case will also be speaking about the role technological entrepreneurship should play in social progress at the upcoming SALT Conference in Las Vegas starting on May 7.

Tour Dates

The Rise of the Rest tour’s first Florida stop will be Orlando, but Case said he is also excited to visit more global regions of Miami and Puerto Rico.

“We’re not just inviting people from the area (to the pitch competition),” he said. “We’re inviting anyone with a space-related startup to apply, and are flying the best ones there.”

In 2018, Revolution was most aggressively investing in cities such as Austin, Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans. Revolution had four different exits in its funds last year: Handy, SRS Acquiom, SpareFoot, and Booker.

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Image source: Robert Scoble via Flickr