Can Indy Catch Tech’s ‘Third Wave?’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWhen Internet pioneer Steve Case looks to the future of technology, he sees tremendous opportunity in places that have largely been ignored by the tech revolution. Case, in Indianapolis this week on his Rise of the Rest tour, says so-called flyover states like Indiana are fertile ground for tech’s next wave, where the Internet gets more fully-integrated into our daily lives. “We need to tell the stories of the entrepreneurs and the stories of cities like Indianapolis, which is rising,” said Case. “People here know that, but most people around the country don’t know that.”
In an interview at The Speakeasy in Indy’s Broad Ripple neighborhood, Case talked about tech’s changing landscape and how cities like Indianapolis can be a winner.
Case, the co-founder and former chief executive officer of AOL, co-founded investment firm Revolution LLC in 2005. Revolution’s Rise of the Rest is a nationwide effort aimed at connecting with and supporting entrepreneurs and tech ecosystems throughout the U.S., with the notion that ideas and startups don’t have to be exclusive to the coasts.
Indianapolis is part of this year’s five-city tour that also includes Harrisburg, Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Columbus, Ohio and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
As part of the Rise of the Rest visit to Indy, Case wrote a $100,000 check to Indianapolis subscription-based water-testing company 120WaterAudit, for winning a pitch competition featuring some of Indiana’s best-know tech startups.