Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest fund now counts Michael Bloomberg, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and former White House chief technology officer Megan Smith among its roster of investors.
The $150 million fund’s first nine investments include startups in Indianapolis, Columbus and Pikeville, Kentucky, among other places. The fund isn’t a lead investor in any of the deals; its goal is to provide a catalyst to draw in other investors.
Case has resisted calling Rise of the Rest an “impact” fund, but a number of the nine startups employ impact strategies beyond local job creation and innovation including AppHarvest, which is building a $60 million high-tech greenhouse; Catalyte, which closed a $27 million round to foster diversity in tech; and ethical outdoor gear brand Cotopaxi.
How will Steve Case know whether the rest are rising with his $150 million fund? (podcast)
The full list (courtesy of Revolution):
AppHarvest (Pikeville, KY) is building and operating large-scale, high-tech greenhouse farms to cut distance from the produce supply chain.
Catalyte (Baltimore, MD) uses artificial intelligence to identify anyone who has the aptitude to become a great software developer, regardless of background.
Cotopaxi (Salt Lake City, UT) designs and produces innovative outdoor gear and apparel. Through its supply chain, retail sales, and experiential offerings, the company helps fund social impact projects.
ENGAGE Talent (Charleston, SC) develops AI recruiting technology for companies to identify and engage with passive candidates.
Losant (Cincinnati, OH) is an IoT enterprise platform that makes creating end-to-end experiences easy.
SafeChain Inc. (Columbus, OH) is creating a 30-second property transaction using blockchain technology.
SEEVA (Seattle, WA) creates visibility systems for vehicle mobility with applications for autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems for passenger and trucking vehicles.
ZenBusiness (Austin, TX) makes it free for anyone to start a business as a LLC or Corporation and ensure it’s easy and affordable to manage it year-round.
Zylo (Indianapolis, IN) is a SaaS optimization platform that enables companies to discover, manage, measure, and optimize cloud subscriptions across the enterprise.
