Steve Case announces Rise of the Rest 5.0 lineup

AOL founder and Revolution CEO Steve Case is all about spreading the VC wealth outside of the country’s major tech hubs. Hence his “Rise of the Rest” tour, during which he travels to various regions to “shine a spotlight on great entrepreneurs building great companies all across the nation, not just in Silicon Valley.”

Did you hear? We’re announcing the next #riseofrest cities today! Stay tuned for the big announcement shortly! pic.twitter.com/t7vxZjg7Jz

— Rise of the Rest (@RiseOfRest) July 28, 2016

Case has embarked upon four Rise of the Rest tours since 2014, visiting regions like the South and Northeast. On Thursday, Case announced the five cities that will make up Rise of the Rest’s tour of the West — Omaha and Lincoln, Neb., Denver, Colo., Salt Lake City, Utah, Albuquerque, N.M, and Phoenix, Ariz. The tour will take place Oct. 3-7.
“The rest is rising and I am excited to hit the road once again on a quest to find the best entrepreneurs all across America,” Case said in a statement. Each city visited will see a series of meetings, public events and a pitch competition with $100,000 on the line. Startups in any of the cities above who wish to apply to pitch can do so here before Sept. 7.
Previous winners of the Rise of the Rest $100K include Sisu Global Health in Baltimore and Scholly in Philadelphia.
Rise of the Rest also recently hired a new director of investments — Anna Kohanski Mason. Kohanski Mason, who cofounded fitness app BurnThis (acquired by Beachbody in 2015) and is currently the co-director of the Vinetta Project in D.C., told Technical.ly she’s excited to be working with the “extraordinary group of people” at Revolution and Rise of the Rest.