Revolution, the investment company headquartered in Washington, D.C. and established by AOL’s co-founder and former CEO Steve Case alongside former AOL senior executive Ted Leonsis, is currently securing $500 million for its fourth investment fund, as indicated in a recent SEC filing.

When contacted for comment regarding this fundraising initiative earlier today, the firm – which is preparing for the departure of one of its leaders to a position within the White House – chose not to provide a statement.

The launch of this new fund was anticipated. Over four years have passed since Revolution announced its third growth fund, which successfully secured $525 million in capital commitments. This represents a longer interval between fund launches than is currently typical within the venture capital sector, where firms often raise new funds approximately every two years. However, Revolution’s timeline may be linked to its core investment strategy. The firm generally focuses on investing in cities outside of traditional tech hubs, often referred to as “rise of the rest” locations, where living costs and talent acquisition are more manageable, and investment capital yields greater impact.

The company also manages investments through multiple funds concurrently. In recent years, it established a seed investment division and has since launched two Rise of the Rest seed funds, the latest of which closed last year with $150 million in capital commitments.

The firm’s investors have likely been encouraged by recent successful exits from Revolution’s portfolio companies. Earlier this year, DraftKings, a Boston-based portfolio company, completed a merger and began trading on the Nasdaq exchange. Additionally, BigCommerce, an Austin-based SaaS company specializing in online store creation, management, and marketing, went public through a traditional initial public offering (IPO) in early August and currently has a market capitalization of $4.2 billion. (Revolution initially invested in BigCommerce’s Series C funding round in 2013 and continued to participate in subsequent funding rounds.)

Other prominent investments made by Revolution include Orchard, a technology platform facilitating simultaneous home buying and selling, which secured $69 million in Series C funding led by Revolution in September; TemperPack, a manufacturer of thermal liners designed to reduce plastic waste, which raised $31 million in Series C funding this past summer, including additional investment from Revolution; and sweetgreen, a fast-casual restaurant chain that has navigated challenges during the pandemic but secured $150 million in funding a year ago, with initial backing from Revolution dating back to 2013.

Last month, we engaged in an extensive conversation with Case, including a discussion about his involvement in the creation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a pivotal law that contributed to the development of today’s major internet companies.

During that conversation, we also explored whether the COVID-19 pandemic might diminish Silicon Valley’s dominance. Case shared the following previously unpublished comments at the time:

We also discussed with Case data indicating that founders who are women or from underrepresented groups, and who lack access to the established networks of traditional venture firms, may be disadvantaged in securing funding as deals are increasingly conducted remotely. He expressed surprise upon reviewing this data, stating:

Case also revealed, prior to the U.S. presidential election, his long-standing friendship with then-candidate Joseph Biden. Case is not the only member of the Revolution team with connections to Biden. Ron Klain, an executive vice president at Revolution, previously served as Biden’s chief of staff during his time as vice president and, as announced last week, is returning to public service as the incoming White House chief of staff.

Case shared his assessment of Klain with the New York Times, stating: “He can process a lot of information, focus on the things that matter and balance a lot of balls.”