It was just a little more than a year ago that Steve Case, David Golden, and Tige Savage announced the close of the $200 million Revolution Ventures fund, dedicated to investing in high-growth potential early-stage companies. Fast forward to today, and our portfolio consists of several exciting young companies working to disrupt significant markets, from travel to financial services, real estate, and e-commerce.

We are excited about the new investments we announced this year, along with the milestones and recognitions achieved by our portfolio as the companies continue to grow and evolve.

NEW INVESTMENTS:

Busbud: Launched in 2011, the Montreal-based startup announced a $9 million Series A investment co-led by Revolution Ventures and OMERS Ventures earlier this year. Busbud is transforming the growing global bus travel industry into a modern marketplace and solving a real problem for travelers looking to find the best way to get from point A to B. The business and its global footprint continue to scale:

• Announced a strategic partnership with Greyhound, the largest provider of intercity bus transportation in North America, adding 3,800 routes to the platform.
• Named one of the ‘5 Montreal Startups to Watch’ in TechCocktail.
• Founder and CEO LP Maurice named to the list of 2014 NYC Venture Fellows, a program designed to help mentor high-potential entrepreneurs scale their ventures in New York City.

OrderUp: This startup truly embodies our belief in the “Rise of the Rest.” This year the Baltimore-based online and mobile food ordering and delivery service announced it raised $9 million in Series A venture funding led by Revolution Ventures with participation from Tim O’Shaughnessy, co-founder of LivingSocial. The company operates its on-demand food ordering and delivery service in hometowns around the U.S. They operate in 37 markets, 22 states, and fulfill tens of thousands of food deliveries per week.

• OrderUp has scaled quickly, adding several new staff members including former AOL executive Michael Smith and former GolfNow executive Jonathan Vassil.
• The Baltimore Business Journal named co-founder and CEO Chris Jeffery a ‘40 Under 40 CEO’ and OrderUp a 2014 ‘Best Place to Work.’
• The company acquired Back Forty, a Baltimore-based Rails, iOS, and interface design consultancy, further adding to the technical team depth.

Framebridge: Founder and CEO SusanTynan launched Framebridge in the D.C. area in August. The company uses technology to make the otherwise cumbersome and expensive process of purchasing a custom picture frame easier, and more economical for consumers, by attacking its inefficiencies and high margins. Since launch it has raised $3.75 million in a financing co-led by Revolution Ventures and NEA, with participation from local D.C. angels, including former LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy.

• The company continues to hit double-digit growth in month-over-month orders and doubled the size of their staff.
• Framebridge was featured in InStyle magazine, Architecture Digest, and secret shopped by Matt McFarland at The Washington Post who learned that picture framing doesn’t have to be a nightmare.

Insikt: One of the newest additions to the Revolution Ventures portfolio, Insikt, was founded by former Progreso Financiero CEO, James Gutierrez, and establishes a credit marketplace that allows consumer-facing brands to offer small loans to their customers. The company operates under the belief that all people deserve access to affordable loans based on more than a credit score and banking relationship.

RECOGNITIONS AND MILESTONES:

• Homesnap announced their real estate agent only app – Homesnap Pro – and cut deals with some of the largest MLSs in the country. They also released their Android Wear app for agents on the go.
• Booker announced a deal with online guidebook Yelp to allow spas and salons to integrate an appointment-booking feature onto their Yelp pages.
• RunKeeper was named ‘Top Places to Work’ in 2014 by The Boston Globe in the Small Business category. When Samsung announced its Galaxy Gear smartwatch they included RunKeeper as a native app to allow users to instantly track fitness and nutrition.
• Benchprep was selected to participate at Mobile World Congress this year and profiled as one of the “best GRE prep courses.”  The company continues to be cited by major news outlets like Fox Business for their innovative approach to taking test prep mobile.

We are proud of our companies and the entrepreneurs behind them and are looking forward to what the New Year brings.