On December 1, 2011, Steve Case, Donn Davis and Ted Leonsis announced the close of the $450 million Revolution Growth fund. The Revolution Growth fund will invest in “speed-ups” –helping companies take ideas from niche to mass and scale to capitalize on significant market opportunities. Below are excerpts of some of the press coverage the launch of the fund received:
Introducing the Revolution Growth fund
Case and Leonsis said they hope their new fund will disrupt the trend of technology start-ups turning to Silicon Valley.
“We want to make it easy for companies to get started here, and particularly to stay and expand and grow while being headquartered here,” Case said in an interview, adding that the fund will look for prospective investments up and down the East Coast.
Case and Leonsis, along with a third partner, Donn Davis…said they will target a new category that they call “speed-up capital,” which is designed to expand companies worth $100 million into ones worth $1 billion or more.
“The team will focus on start-ups that have some revenue but have not reached mainstream adoption. Although the fund plans to concentrate its capital “east of the Mississippi River,” Mr. Case says it is still open to investments across the country, including Silicon Valley. He says he believes there is more opportunity in places like New York, however, because California attracts so much capital and investor competition.
“Revolution Growth will seek companies valued around $100 million and needing “late venture” or “speed-up” capital, Case said. The first investment will be made early next year…
Case, Leonsis and Davis plan to back two or three companies a year to allow them to offer hands-on help, expertise and connections, Case said.
“It’s almost a throwback to the first generation of venture capital firms in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Case said. “They typically were small funds launched by former CEOs to help the next generation of entrepreneurs, and they typically did a small number of deals and spent a lot of time with each company, nurturing them.”
“CNBC:
Revolution LLC’s $450 million venture fund will focus on East Coast consumer technology “speedups,” companies that “already have some traction” but have not “broken through to the big time,” CEO Steve Case told CNBC Friday. “There’s a lot of capital focused on Silicon Valley, a lot of great companies being formed in Silicon Valley. But not all great companies are formed in Silicon Valley,” said Case…
“You can also read more about the Revolution Growth fund from Steve, Ted and Donn in their introduction letter to the fund.
