In life after co-founding America Online, Steve Case is riding a bus. Or at least he will be in early October, when he and his Revolution Growth investment team visit Denver in search of startups for his Rise of the Rest bus tour.
“Denver is emerging as a great startup city, and I think people in Denver sense that. But most people around the country don’t know that,” Case said in an interview with The Denver Post on Thursday. “We’re hoping with Rise of the Rest, to a large extent, to tell that story nationally and attract more attention to Denver.”
Denver, which is where Case’s father went to law school and had a cafe in Lower Downtown before it was LoDo, is one of five cities Case will visit on the Rise of the Rest bus tour. Eighty cities were nominated online and voted on by the crowd. Case picked the final five. Denver’s stop is Oct. 4.
Case will arrive in Denver by bus, which will serve as transportation and, at times, meeting spot. The tour will host a pitch competition and set up meetings with local entrepreneurs and civic leaders. Case ultimately will decide which startup will get a $100,000 investment. If you’re interested, now’s the time to apply for the chance to pitch Case at f6s.com/ riseofrest/apply.
The man who helped shape America’s first view of the internet has continued to use his wealth to fund technology, including some developed by Denver-bred firms. In return for feedback, GoSpotCheck, a Denver firm that analyzes retail data, was picked to pitch investors at a Google entrepreneur event in 2014. In addition to feedback, Case unexpectedly invested $100,000 in each of the 10 startups.
And if you’re hoping to pitch, Case has some advice.
“They obviously have to have a crisp elevator pitch because they only have a few minutes to convey the idea, what’s important, why it is a breakthrough and what is the battle we’re fighting,” he said. “Two, the team. Can the founding team execute? And three, early evidence of traction.”
Case’s Revolution Growth, which recently closed on a $525 million fund, has invested in at least 44 startups. Some of the big ones include meal-deliverer OrderUp, acquired for $69 million by Groupon last year; hourly car rental service Zipcar, which was acquired by Avis Budget for $491 million; and AddThis, a social sharing technology that was acquired by Oracle for a reported $100 million to $200 million.
But Case said he’s not looking just for technology startups. Revolution has also invested in handcrafted watchmaker Shinola, Denver luxury vacation club Portico (now part of Inspirato by American Express) and Sweetgreen, a chain of organic salad restaurants.
And his focus is outside of Silicon Valley, Boston and New York, the places that draw the most venture capital investment.
“We’re looking for disruptive companies with disruptive business models,” Case said. “It’s fairly broad. But we do have a bias. Our plan is to invest 90 percent plus of our capital in the rest of the cities. We want to focus on the rest of the country.”
The tour will also stop in Omaha on Oct. 3; Salt Lake City on Oct. 5; Albuquerque on Oct. 6; and Phoenix on Oct. 7.