Revolution made nearly 100 investments in 2019

Last year, Dupont Circle-based Revolution made 97 new and follow-up investments, saw four exits from portfolio companies and raised two new funds.

The investment firm shared a highlights from its work in 2019 in its end-of-year website.

Revolution was founded in 2005 by prominent entrepreneur and tech executive Steve Case. In 2017, the investment firm launched its first Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, which was valued at $150 million and designed to help entrepreneurs in cities outside of large tech hubs like San Francisco, New York and Boston. Due to the success of its first round, Revolution closed a second $150 million Rise of the Rest Seed Fund last October.

This came after the investment firm closed its third Revolution Ventures fund, amounting to $215 million. The capital from this fund is used to invest nationally in early-stage companies focused on multi billion-dollar categories. This $215 million raise was the firm’s highest for the Revolution Ventures fund; the previous two raises amounted to $200 million each.

Revolution also manages another major fund called Revolution Growth, which specifically invests in companies going through a growth period. Revolution Growth is a smaller fund that only makes two to three investments per year in new companies.

Fairfax, Virginia-based Custom Ink, an online retail company for custom apparel, is one of the four Revolution-backed companies that exited this year: Back in April 2019, the company announced that Great Hill Partners would take over as its lead investor. Revolution also exited its stakes in South Carolina-based Engage Talent, which was acquired by Workforce Logiq; North Carolina-based ArchiveSocial, which received a $53 million investment from Level Equity; and LA-based Boundless Mind, which was acquired by Thrive Global.

Last February, Revolution hosted its eighth Rise of the Rest Bus Tour, taking entrepreneurs to Florida and Puerto Rico. For its first stop in a U.S. territory, the tour focused on the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in revitalizing Puerto Rico’s economy in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.