(Winners | Photo courtesy of EDCO)
Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) hosted the 16th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) to a sold-out crowd at the Tower Theatre in Downtown Bend. This August, nearly 100 companies from across the U.S. and Canada applied to the conference in hopes of making it to the Tower Theatre stage. Over the past two days, 14 finalists presented their ideas to nearly 600 attendees.
This year marks the largest fund yet for the BVC, LLC, setting a funding record for the conference. This year’s award breakdown is as follows:
Growth Stage Competition
The Growth Stage Competition, which included companies that have a proven concept and initial revenues, had two different winners.
Winners of BVC, LLC, Investment Awards*:
- Observa (Seattle, Washington) — An AI platform bringing ecommerce-style analytics to brick-and- mortar retail, was awarded $250,000.
- Belmont (Portland, Oregon) — Providing break rooms with coffee, simplified draft beverages and fully-managed pantry service using proprietary technology, was awarded $100,000.
*The investment arm of the conference, BVC, LLC, awarded the Growth Stage investments following considerable due diligence of each of the five presenting finalists. This investment included $75,000 from Business Oregon and $10,000 from Oregon Community Foundation. Investments and follow on deals are still being finalized.
Impact Competition
The Impact Competition, which included for-profit companies with an integrated social or environmental mission, had one winner, awarded by the BVC Impact LLC. This is the fifth award given by the Impact LLC in the past four years.
Winner of the BVC Impact LLC, Investment Award*:
- Riff Cold Brewed (Bend) — Upcycling coffee byproduct into an all-natural energy drink, was awarded $85,000.
*The impact investment arm of the conference awarded an investment following considerable due diligence of each of the four presenting finalists. This investment included $25,000 from Business Oregon and $10,000 from Oregon Community Foundation. Investments are still being finalized.
Early Stage Competition
The Early Stage Competition included companies that are pre-revenue (or very early) and are in the process of testing their product in the market. The three winning Early Stage companies are:
Winners of the Portland Seed Fund Early Stage Competition:
- FleetNurse Inc. (Eugene, Oregon) — An app-based on-demand staffing service for healthcare facility supervisors, was awarded $25,000.
- Steamchain Corp. (Salem, Oregon) — A blockchain company using smart contracts to reduce high currency conversion costs and fluctuation risk in shipping and logistics, was awarded $25,000.
Winner of the Keiretsu Forum Audience Award (awarded at EDCO’s September PubTalk):
- TerrAmor (Corvallis, Oregon) — A low-cost, easy to deploy, organic-certified solution for soft fruit growers to address the spotted wing drosophila problem, won a $3,000 cash
“This year we’ve raised the most money for the BVC LLCs in the history of the conference,” said Brian Vierra, EDCO’s Venture Catalyst. “This continues to show the strong local investor support for both the Conference and our current startup ecosystem. BVC continues to connect Central Oregon entrepreneurs to a broader, national audience.”
