US Midwest luring tech investors away from Valley

Columbus, Ohio

THEY seem an odd couple: J D Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, his best-selling memoir of growing up in the post-industrial Midwest and his journey of escape; and Steve Case, the billionaire co-founder of America Online.

But Mr Vance joined Mr Case's investment firm this year to scour the Midwest for small yet promising startups, particularly for a new seed fund. The firm, Revolution, plans to raise up to US$100 million for that fund's investments, it disclosed in a filing last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission.