(Photo by Stark Photography)
BVC, or the Bend Venture Conference, was held at Downtown Bend’s Tower Theater on October 16 and 17. The event is the largest gathering of angel investors in the Pacific Northwest, providing ample opportunity for small businesses and startups to gain that extra push they need to find long-term success. The event is put on by EDCO, as just one of many ways they help build up the future of the Central Oregon economy.
For over two decades, BVC has served as a pillar of Central Oregon’s robust entrepreneurial culture that has transformed this small timber community into a mecca for startups. Throughout the conference, attendees hear company pitches, participate in multiple networking activities and listen to inspiring presenters from across the United States.
This year, speakers provided insights into Central Oregon’s economic future, the effects of tariffs on multiple different industries, cybersecurity for you and your business, the looming and potentially massive impact that AI will have on our lives, and more.
The pitches given by business leaders were full of hope and inspiration. From startups focused on providing clean water to developing or otherwise at-risk communities to AI driven optimization of audit systems, every pitch was given with passion from someone who has dedicated a chunk of their life to seeing a certain pursuit exceed. With all that energy and brain-power in one room, it was difficult to guess which businesses would be declared winners.
In the end, the early stage winners were Toast Wear Inc., Yak Incorporated and SokoLife, while the growth stage winners were Rapta, Photon Marine, Bold Reuse and MarineSitu. Aside from MarineSitu, every business was based in Oregon, with one (Toast Wear Inc.) hailing from Bend. Photon Marine made BVC history as the first company to win twice; once as an early stage winner years ago, and now as a growth stage winner in 2025.
It was just such a fun, joyous event,” said Ellen Wayte, the director of marketing and communications for EDCO. “It’s always great to see a celebration of our entrepreneurial ecosystem, and celebrate the success stories.”
Overall, this year was a major success. Six companies received just under $300,000 in investment funds. The high school pitches were brought back, and Caldera High School’s Levi Waters, founder of ClimbGrade, walked away with a $700 cash reward. “We hope his example inspires other students across Central Oregon to get involved and encourages even more participation from area high schools in future years,” said Wayte.
EDCO has maintained their effort in keeping as local-a-focus as possible on the BVC stage; both in their presenting businesses, and in the investors themselves. “We’re making a renewed effort to get more CO-based companies on stage. We have a continued commitment to funding and supporting these startups. Prize money for these companies is secured for future years,” said Wayte. “We saw more individual investor commitments from Central Oregon this year — over $300k — an encouraging sign of growing local participation. We are constantly striving to activate local capital. The new structure makes it easier for local investors to get involved and stay engaged. It’s working well, and we’re looking forward to expanding on it in future years.”
Wayte says that EDCO feels successful regarding this year’s BVC, but that doesn’t always mean next year can operate the same way this year did. EDCO is constantly watching several factors that all affect how BVC is run, and always looking for new ways to add innovation.
“The structure of the Bend Venture Conference changes nearly every year,” she said. “It evolves based on market conditions, investor interests and what’s happening across our entrepreneurial ecosystem. Specifically, we will monitor the venture capital climate for trends in national and regional venture funding, which directly affects investor appetite and startup fundraising as well as how investors allocate capital and how risk-tolerant they may feel. We will also continue to monitor startup activity in Central Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, adjusting our programming to match the strength and stage of the local pipeline.”
Looking forward, EDCO is focused on their upcoming events, like the next Pub Talk on November 20 at Worthy Brewing in Bend. Two companies will be represented and providing pitches at this talk: Uriel Fox, founder of NEO’PROS, and Rose Etherington, founder of Possum Fox.
