#20 Anna Mason, Partner at Rise of the Rest

You’ve heard us talk about the daunting statistic that almost 80% of all venture capital is spent on three coastal states. And while there are plenty of investors arguing why this trend will continue, there are contrarian investors looking beyond the coasts for their next homerun.

Steve Case, Co-founder of AOL, is one of those investors. Steve co-founded Revolution, an investment firm that houses multiple funds. One of those funds is the Rise of the Rest seed fund which made its debut in 2014 to invest in startups located outside traditional tech hubs. Since, Steve has raised a second fund backed by high profile individuals like Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, and Ray Dalio.

As part of their efforts, the Rise of the Rest Team hosts other investors, and first-tier national media on a bus tour every year making one-day stops in five different cities. The goal of the tour is to highlight the innovation happening across the nation. The team also invests in at least one startup per stop. This year, as part of their tour, they will be making a stop in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Although it will be their first bus tour through Oklahoma, the Rise of the Rest Team is already familiar with the startup community in the state. Last year, the fund made their first investment in Oklahoma when they participated in Zero Card’s Series A round which closed at $7 million.

Join us as we talk to Anna Mason, Partner of the Rise of the Rest and find out more about their investment thesis and get a behind the scenes breakdown of the tour and pitch competition.