Revolution Ventures
Revolution Ventures is the early-stage venture capital arm of Revolution LLC, investing in U.S. founders outside Silicon Valley across 100+ cities and 40+ states through multiple funds (Ventures, Growth, Rise of the Rest seed, and real estate vehicles).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Revolution Ventures does
Revolution Ventures is the early-stage venture capital arm of Revolution LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm founded in 2003 (with the Ventures entity dating to 2013). The firm invests across the startup lifecycle through multiple wholly-owned strategies: Revolution Ventures (early stage), Revolution Growth (growth stage), Rise of the Rest (a $150M seed fund launched in 2017 with a second $150M fund in 2019), Rise of the Rest Real Estate, and Revolution Places. Its core proposition is geographic: 99% of capital is deployed outside Silicon Valley, across 200+ portfolio companies in 100+ cities and 40+ U.S. states, sourced in part through the Rise of the Rest bus tours, founder fly-ins, and pitch competitions.
The firm has no proprietary technology product; its offering is capital plus operating support, board participation, and ecosystem connectivity. Revenue is generated through fund management fees on disclosed announced capital of ~$515M (across the three core funds) and through carried interest on exits, which include Tempus (Nasdaq: TEM, 2024 IPO), CAVA (NYSE: CAVA, 2023 IPO), Homesnap (sold to CoStar for $250M in 2020), and SRS Acquiom. Customer segments span early- and growth-stage founders, real estate developers in emerging innovation districts, and ecosystem stakeholders (cities, universities, policy organizations). The investment committee is anchored by Chairman & CEO Steve Case (AOL co-founder), Co-founder Tige Savage, Founder & Partner Ted Leonsis, and managing partners David Golden (Ventures), Todd Klein (Growth), David Hall (Rise of the Rest), and Starling Cousley (Rise of the Rest Real Estate).
Revolution Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Revolution Ventures
- Legal name
- Revolution LLC
- Website
- https://revolution.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Revolution Ventures is the early-stage venture capital arm of Revolution LLC, investing in U.S. founders outside Silicon Valley across 100+ cities and 40+ states through multiple funds (Ventures, Growth, Rise of the Rest seed, and real estate vehicles).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Revolution Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Technology & Software Growth Equity (FSANACAA), Real Estate / PropTech Growth Equity (FSANACAH), Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)
Keywords
Where Revolution Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Revolution Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Fund Management Fees: Revolution manages multiple investment funds including Revolution Ventures, Revolution Growth, and Rise of the Rest seed fund, generating management fees based on assets under management.
- Carried Interest: VC returns generated through exits of portfolio companies via IPOs and acquisitions. Notable exits include Tempus (NASDAQ: TEM), CAVA (NYSE: CAVA), SRS Acquiom, and Homesnap (acquired by CoStar for $250M).
- Real Estate Investment Returns: Revolution Places and Rise of the Rest Real Estate generate returns through property development and hospitality investments in emerging startup ecosystems.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Revolution Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Revolution Ventures is the early-stage venture capital fund within Revolution's investment platform, deploying equity capital into startup founders across the United States, with a deliberate focus on companies building outside of Silicon Valley. The firm manages multiple investment strategies — including Revolution Ventures (early-stage), Revolution Growth (growth-stage), Rise of the Rest (seed fund), Rise of the Rest Real Estate, and Revolution Places — and supplements capital with board participation, strategic introductions, and operational support to portfolio companies. The firm does not develop or sell technology products; its offering is investment capital plus portfolio support services.
Product overview
Revolution Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage and growth-stage companies across multiple sectors. Rather than offering a single unified product or platform, Revolution operates several distinct investment strategies: Revolution Ventures (early-stage), Revolution Growth (growth-stage), Rise of the Rest (seed fund focused on startups outside Silicon Valley), Rise of the Rest Real Estate (real estate and hospitality investments), and Revolution Places. The firm does not develop or sell technology products directly; its offerings consist of investment capital, mentorship, and strategic support to portfolio companies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Revolution Ventures Fund Early-stage venture capital fund providing equity capital to startup founders building transformative companies across the United States, with a deliberate focus on companies outside Silicon Valley. The fund supplements capital with board participation, strategic introductions, and operational support.
- Rise of the Rest Seed Fund (First) $150M seed fund investing in startups based outside traditional tech hubs, with the explicit mission to back entrepreneurs across the U.S. outside of Silicon Valley. Supports seed-stage founders with capital, bus tours, founder fly-ins, and pitch competitions to create visibility and deal flow in middle America.
- Rise of the Rest Seed Fund (Second) Second $150M seed fund continuing the Rise of the Rest mission to back entrepreneurs across the U.S. outside Silicon Valley. Represents the firm's expanded commitment to seed-stage investing in emerging startup ecosystems.
- Revolution Growth Growth-stage venture capital fund providing later-stage equity capital to scaling companies, led by Founder & Partner Ted Leonsis and Managing Partner Todd Klein. Portfolio includes companies such as Anduril, DraftKings, BigCommerce, Sweetgreen, Scopely, Stord, and Tala.
- Revolution Places Real estate and hospitality investments in emerging startup ecosystems, led by President John Sabin. Invests in destinations that strengthen the fabric of growing communities and innovation hubs outside traditional tech centers.
- Rise of the Rest Real Estate Real estate investment strategy investing in destinations that strengthen the fabric of growing communities, led by Managing Partner Starling Cousley alongside Partners Tom Danilek and Clint Myers.
- Rise of the Rest Platform Event-driven ecosystem platform including signature bus tours visiting cities across America, founder fly-ins for portfolio company networking (e.g., Denver Founder Fly-In), and pitch competitions that source deal flow and create visibility for startups outside Silicon Valley.
Quantifiable outcome
- 200+ portfolio companies invested since founding
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Revolution Ventures
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Revolution Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Revolution Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- ForbesminorForbes partnered with Revolution's Rise of the Rest platform to release lists of top rising cities for startups, including 'The Top 10 Rising Cities For Startups' in July 2018.
- Morgan Stanley's Multicultural Innovation LabminorRise of the Rest Virtual Tour: Equity Edition partnered with Morgan Stanley's Multicultural Innovation Lab to support underrepresented founders.
- Opportunity HubminorCo-partner in Rise of the Rest Virtual Tour: Equity Edition initiative.
- 100 Black Angels & AlliesminorCo-partner in Rise of the Rest Virtual Tour: Equity Edition initiative supporting Black entrepreneurs.
- Broker Public PortalminorHomesnap was selected as exclusive technology partner for Broker Public Portal in 2016.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Revolution Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Techstars: Global accelerator and venture investor with a footprint across US cities including middle-America hubs. Direct overlap with Revolution's 'Rise of the Rest' mission of sourcing founders outside Silicon Valley, though Techstars emphasizes accelerator cohorts versus Revolution's fund-led model.
- Costanoa Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing across enterprise, consumer, and PropTech. Comparable as an early-stage fund with similar Series A/B check sizes and a sector mix that overlaps Revolution Ventures' enterprise and real estate adjacencies.
Direct peers
- Drive Capital: Drive Capital is the closest direct peer: a US venture firm founded by former Sequoia partners explicitly focused on investing in companies outside Silicon Valley, with concentrated bets in the Midwest. Its thesis and LP pitch closely mirror Revolution Ventures' Rise of the Rest narrative.
- Foundry Group: Boulder-based early-stage VC running multiple fund vehicles (including a Byers/Bradford follow-on ecosystem). Compares directly to Revolution Ventures on multi-fund structure, early-stage focus, and willingness to lead Series A/B rounds.
- Greycroft: Early-to-growth venture firm with offices in NYC and LA investing across consumer, enterprise, and digital health. Closely comparable in check size, stage mix, and consumer/enterprise portfolio overlap with Revolution Ventures.
Broad incumbents
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Large multi-stage venture platform that, like Revolution, runs separate early, growth, and bio/infra vehicles under one brand. Relevant incumbent peer given the parallel 'platform' operating model and brand-led LP marketing, though a16z is much larger and Silicon-Valley concentrated.
- Lightspeed Venture Partners: Multi-stage, multi-vehicle VC with US, India, and Israel strategies. Compares on multi-fund platform structure and ability to back companies from seed through growth, though with broader geographic and sector mandate than Revolution.
- General Catalyst: Multi-stage venture firm with a 'venture studio' and growth operations layer; operates a Founder Factory program analogous to Revolution's Rise of the Rest. Direct comparator on early-to-growth strategy and platform-style value add.
- Kleiner Perkins: Heritage multi-stage venture firm with both early and growth vehicles. Comparable as a brand-led platform investor across consumer, enterprise, and healthcare, all of which appear in Revolution's portfolio.
- NEA (New Enterprise Associates): One of the largest US venture firms, with broad early-to-growth stage activity across sectors and geographies. Comparable on multi-strategy platform and ability to write checks from seed through late stage.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Revolution Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceRevolution Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Revolution Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles29 records
Revolution Ventures subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries5 records
Revolution Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Revolution Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments53 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Revolution Ventures
What does Revolution Ventures do?
Revolution Ventures is the early-stage venture capital fund within Revolution's investment platform, deploying equity capital into startup founders across the United States, with a deliberate focus on companies building outside of Silicon Valley. The firm manages multiple investment strategies — including Revolution Ventures (early-stage), Revolution Growth (growth-stage), Rise of the Rest (seed fund), Rise of the Rest Real Estate, and Revolution Places — and supplements capital with board participation, strategic introductions, and operational support to portfolio companies. The firm does not develop or sell technology products; its offering is investment capital plus portfolio support services.
Is Revolution Ventures a public or private company?
Revolution Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Revolution Ventures founded?
Revolution Ventures was founded in 2003. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Revolution Ventures based?
Revolution Ventures is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Revolution Ventures make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Fund Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest and real Estate Investment Returns.
Who are Revolution Ventures's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Techstars and Costanoa Ventures. Direct peers are Drive Capital, Foundry Group and Greycroft. Broad incumbents are Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins and NEA (New Enterprise Associates).
Does Revolution Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Revolution Ventures.
What industry is Revolution Ventures in?
Revolution Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B), with a secondary code of FSANACAA, Technology & Software Growth Equity. Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.