Revolution’s first fund aimed at early-stage investments – the Revolution Ventures fund – announced that it expects to close on $200 million in commitments later today, surpassing the fund’s target of $150 million set earlier this year. Steve Case, Tige Savage, and David Golden will lead the Revolution Ventures fund, which is believed to be the largest first-time venture fund launched outside of Silicon Valley since the 2008 financial crisis. Ted Leonsis is also backing the fund, both contributing his early-stage deal flow to it, and acting as an investor. The Fund was raised in just eight months, much faster than the industry’s typical 18-24 month cycle.
The Revolution Ventures fund will invest in innovative, technology-enabled companies that are seeking to disrupt significant markets. The Fund will be based in Washington, DC, but will also maintain a presence on the West Coast, with an office in San Francisco. Revolution Ventures expects to make roughly 20 investments over a three to four year period.
“While we’re big fans of Silicon Valley, we’ve long believed that a lot of great entrepreneurs and great young companies can also be found outside of Silicon Valley,” said Steve Case. “With the launch of the Revolution Ventures fund, we’ll be able to deploy early stage capital to help entrepreneurs build great companies in promising new regions that are overlooked by most venture capitalists.”
Four investments previously made by Revolution LLC will become the founding investments of the Revolution Ventures fund: BenchPrep (based in Chicago), an online test prep and interactive courses innovator; Booker Software Inc. (based in New York), which manages the way service businesses are run and marketed to consumers; Homesnap (based in Washington, DC), the leading independent mobile residential real estate application; and RunKeeper (based in Boston), the #1 free health and fitness application on iTunes.
David York, Managing Director at Top Tier Capital Partners, a founding limited partner in the Fund, said: “We have a long-standing relationship with the Revolution team, and have witnessed first-hand their impressive track record of helping start-ups grow into world-class brands. Top Tier Capital is very excited to be a Limited Partner in the Revolution Ventures fund.” Revolution Ventures is the latest fund, and first early-stage fund, to launch out of Revolution LLC, a Washington, DC-based investment firm founded in 2005. In December of 2011, Revolution LLC launched the $450M Revolution Growth fund, led by Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis, focused on later stage, speed-up investments.
For more information please contact Allyson Burns at (202) 467-2059 or allyson.burns@revolution.com
About Revolution Ventures
Revolution Ventures, led by Steve Case, Tige Savage and David Golden, invests in start-ups and early-stage technology companies founded and led by passionate entrepreneurs seeking to empower consumers and disrupt existing, multi-billion dollar industries. Revolution Ventures is headquartered in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.revolution.com/ventures.
