2013 was a big year for our team here at Revolution. We launched the $200 M Revolution Ventures fund, welcomed five new companies to the Revolution Growth portfolio – CustomInk, Sweetgreen, Lolly Wolly Doodle, Optoro, and BigCommerce – and we helped the DC-metro area reach a monumental milestone – more than $1.5 billion invested across the region in 171 companies (chart).

In early 2013 I predicted that the region would surpass $1 billion, a number that had not been witnessed since 2008. Several critics argued that this was a “bullish” projection, but the investment community proved them wrong.

This week, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) released the 2013 MoneyTree Report on Year-End Venture Capital Investments. The report noted that nationwide, venture capitalists invested $29.4 billion in nearly 4,000 deals over the course of 2013, an increase of seven percent in dollars and four percent in deals over the prior year.

While Silicon Valley remained the heaviest hitter in 2013 with more than $12 billion invested in over 1,200 companies, I continue to maintain that the next decade will see an explosion of innovation and entrepreneurship all across the nation.

Regional hotbeds like Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Durham, Dallas and Raleigh are no longer overlooked and our team is hitting the pavement. My team and I are excited about the entrepreneurs and opportunities coming out of these areas and eager to fulfill our commitment to invest 80 percent of our capital in “Rise of the Rest” regions for 2014 and beyond.