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Key people at Revolution Ventures.
Revolution Ventures operates as a venture-stage fund, strategically investing in a focused portfolio of companies that present substantial ideas within large markets primed for transformation. Its investment thesis extends beyond conventional tech epicenters, identifying and nurturing emerging enterprises across diverse geographies. The firm provides capital alongside critical connections, empowering these ventures to flourish in their local ecosystems.
The overarching entity, Revolution, was established in 2005 by co-founder of AOL, Steve Case. His formative insight recognized that groundbreaking innovation and significant companies are not restricted to established tech hubs but can emerge anywhere. This conviction underpins Revolution Ventures' strategy, with the dedicated early-stage fund being first institutionally backed in 2013, reflecting a commitment to fostering entrepreneurship broadly.
Revolution Ventures primarily serves entrepreneurs and startups demonstrating potential in underserved or overlooked regions. The firm's long-term vision centers on cultivating a national entrepreneurial landscape where economic opportunity is more broadly distributed. It aims to build an economy where a greater diversity of individuals and locations can participate and prosper.
Key people at Revolution Ventures.
# Revolution Ventures: Building Transformative Companies Beyond Coastal Tech Hubs
Revolution Ventures is an early-stage investment fund operated by Revolution LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case[2]. The fund focuses on backing innovative technology companies with seed and early-stage investments typically under $10 million[2]. Revolution Ventures operates with a distinctive mission: to fund entrepreneurs who are transforming legacy industries with innovative products and services, with particular emphasis on companies based outside the traditional coastal tech hubs of San Francisco, New York City, and Boston[2].
The firm's investment philosophy centers on identifying disruptive business models that offer consumers and businesses greater choice, convenience, and control[4]. Through its family of funds—including the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Revolution Ventures, and Revolution Growth—Revolution partners with entrepreneurs across multiple stages of development[3]. With approximately $2.5 billion in assets under management, the firm invests across business services, consumer products, media, software, and life sciences sectors[4]. Revolution's approach is distinctive in that it combines venture capital expertise with operational support from founders and experienced operators who translate their own entrepreneurial experiences into guidance for portfolio companies[3].
Revolution LLC was established in 2005 by Steve Case following his departure from the AOL Time Warner board[2]. Case's background as a co-founder of AOL provided him with deep technology industry experience and an extensive network, which became foundational to Revolution's strategy. The firm emerged during a period when venture capital was heavily concentrated on the coasts, and Case recognized an opportunity to identify and support innovative entrepreneurs operating in underserved geographic markets across America[2].
The evolution of Revolution's focus reflects this geographic thesis. The firm later developed its "Rise of the Rest" platform, which transformed into a comprehensive network of business and civic relationships designed to help Revolution source investments and support portfolio companies as they expand nationally[2]. This initiative attracted prominent co-investors including Jeff Bezos and the Walton family, validating Case's vision that transformative companies could emerge from anywhere in the country[2]. The firm's portfolio history demonstrates this philosophy in action, with notable early successes including Zipcar, LivingSocial, and DraftKings[2].
Revolution's most distinctive characteristic is its deliberate focus on companies outside traditional tech hubs. Through the Rise of the Rest platform, the firm has built a unique network spanning business leaders and civic stakeholders across the country, creating sourcing advantages and support infrastructure that most venture firms cannot replicate[2]. This geographic diversification reduces competition for deal flow and allows Revolution to identify opportunities before they attract coastal venture capital attention.
Rather than specializing in a single investment stage, Revolution operates three complementary funds addressing different company maturity levels. Revolution Ventures handles seed and early-stage investments under $10 million, Revolution Growth manages growth-stage investments of $10 million and above (typically investing in two to three companies annually), and Revolution Places focuses on real estate and hospitality investments between $25 and $50 million[2]. This structure allows the firm to maintain relationships with portfolio companies across their lifecycle and capture value at multiple stages.
The firm's leadership and investment team consist of founders and experienced operators who translate their own entrepreneurial experiences into practical guidance for portfolio companies[3]. This operational lens differentiates Revolution from purely financial investors and enables more sophisticated value-add beyond capital deployment.
Revolution's portfolio includes companies that have achieved significant scale and market impact, including Sweetgreen (consumer technology), Bigcommerce (e-commerce infrastructure), DraftKings (sports technology), and numerous others that have either gone public or achieved substantial valuations[2].
Revolution Ventures operates at the intersection of two major trends reshaping American entrepreneurship: geographic decentralization and the modernization of legacy industries. As remote work and distributed teams have become normalized, the assumption that all venture-backed companies must be headquartered in San Francisco or New York has weakened considerably. Revolution's thesis—that transformative companies can emerge from anywhere—has proven prescient as venture capital has gradually followed this geographic shift.
The firm also represents a broader movement toward "industry-specific" venture capital. Rather than being purely sector-agnostic, Revolution deliberately targets entrepreneurs transforming established industries through technology and innovation. This approach addresses a real market gap: many legacy industries (real estate, hospitality, consumer services) have been underserved by traditional venture capital despite containing enormous opportunities for disruption.
Revolution's influence extends beyond its direct portfolio. By legitimizing non-coastal entrepreneurship and building infrastructure to support it, the firm has influenced how other venture investors evaluate geographic diversity. The firm's success in attracting co-investors like Jeff Bezos and the Walton family signals that geographic diversification is not a constraint but a feature—one that sophisticated capital recognizes as valuable.
Revolution Ventures stands at an inflection point where its original thesis has moved from contrarian to mainstream. The geographic decentralization of tech entrepreneurship will likely accelerate, driven by talent distribution, cost arbitrage, and the maturation of remote collaboration tools. This tailwind should benefit Revolution's sourcing and portfolio company growth prospects.
Looking forward, the firm's influence will likely expand in several directions. First, as portfolio companies mature and achieve scale, they will demonstrate that transformative businesses can be built outside coastal hubs, further validating Revolution's approach and attracting more founders to non-traditional locations. Second, the firm's real estate and hospitality focus through Revolution Places positions it well to capitalize on the intersection of technology and physical spaces—a trend gaining momentum as companies reconsider real estate strategy in a hybrid work era.
The key question for Revolution's future is whether it can maintain its sourcing advantage as geographic arbitrage becomes more widely recognized. As other venture firms adopt similar geographic strategies, Revolution's early-mover advantage in building relationships and infrastructure across America becomes increasingly valuable. The firm's $2.5 billion in assets under management provides substantial dry powder to deploy, but the real competitive advantage lies in its network and operational expertise—assets that only strengthen with time and successful exits.
