Calling all entrepreneurs! A bus-full of opportunity (and very wealthy investors) is making a stop in Tampa Bay on May 1st for Revolution’s Rise of the Rest bus tour. At the end of the stop, one lucky local startup will receive a $100,000 investment. It's basically the most epic bus stop you’ve ever been to.
This tour is all about growing local passions from the ground up. Revolution aims to “create a more connected community of entrepreneurs and investors in cities outside of Silicon Valley,” the company stated in a press release. Tampa’s booming economic ecosystem is demanding attention from this group of big-name investors, who believe the future is in seed-stage businesses all over America. Jeff Bezos, Ray Dalio and Meg Whitman are among some of the successful figureheads backing the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, which launched in December 2018 with a whopping $150 million.
Since 2014, Revolution has traveled more than 10,000 miles of America. Along the way they’ve scoped out the most passionate entrepreneurs and made at least 20 investments a year. The Rise of the Rest team works closely with these small-business innovators to help them move forward and succeed.
Revolution CEO and AOL founder Steve Case is looking to add four Florida investments to the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund’s ventures. During each bus stop on this year’s tour (there’s four in Florida and one in San Juan, Puerto Rico) the epic team of investors will meet with local businesses and entrepreneurs to have fireside chats and a startup pitch competition, in which various venture partners will help judge and choose a big winner to earn the $100,000 accolade.
The opportunity is there, all you’ve got to do is pitch your startup to a panel of internationally-recognized catalytic capitalists. No pressure! Check out the pitch requirements here. There's no application fee, which means no excuses. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get your startup started.
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Photos courtesy of Revolution
