AOL’s Steve Case is coming to Florida
An important factor for organic economic growth, especially involving high-tech industries with higher paid jobs, is the availability of venture capital. That’s always something Florida has struggled with, especially compared to our peer populous states, but is top of mind for AOL co-founder Steve Case, who is coming to Florida this week to spend some money.
Since his days with AOL (American Online for those who may have forgotten) Case has been involved in several entrepreneurial adventures. Last December, he launched the venture capital firm Revolution with fellow businessman J.D. Vance. They’re on the road to Florida as part of a “Rise of the Rest” bus tour. The tour features their $150 million venture capital seed fund, to invest in promising startup businesses.
Case will be in Melbourne on tomorrow, April 30 to preside over a pitch contest among 8 startup companies (think Shark Tank, the TV series) with the winning firm gaining $100,000 in seed money. The bus tour will go on to hold similar contests this week in Tampa, Orlando, Miami, and Puerto Rico. It’s visited 38 cities across the country since 2014.
Case noted in this Florida Today story that Florida has tremendous potential, especially Melbourne and the rest of the Space Coast, home to the Kennedy Space Center and legacy aerospace tech firms. Florida, he said, “is the third-largest state, but yet, it gets less than 2 percent of venture capital dollars. By comparison, California gets more than 50 percent of capital venture dollars. There’s a disconnect there.”
LMA Newsletter of 4-29-19
