Last week 10 concept stage semi-finalists each gave three minute pitches and the audience voted for the five finalists to compete for the $10,000 BendBroadband prize at the 2014 Bend Venture Conference set for October 17. The five winners are Bird Dog Bioventures, Cairn, Free Range Equipment, KidRunner and Volcano Veggies.
The 10 concept stage contenders were:
• Baliggle is a service exchange mobile app ideated at OSU-Cascades’ entrepreneurship class.
• Bird Dog Bioventures is a veterinary/human biology start-up, researching and licensing underserved areas of animal health.
• Cairn introduces outdoor enthusiasts to new brands and products through a monthly box subscription.
• Free Range Equipment manufactures light, durable, simple, functional backpacks for the performance focused athlete.
• FriendlySniff.com is a “lifestyle aid” that organizes and simplifies the pet owner’s life, from adoption, training, housing, shopping, and local services.
• KidRunner is reinventing running and exploring with kids hands and arms free, featuring performance, safety, and beauty.
• Odysys, LLC simplifies direct hotel bookings by reducing guest acquisition costs, increasing revenue, and encouraging repeat guests with one platform.
• Party Gorilla is the ultimate app to nightlife giving users the knowledge to always know where to go and giving bars the tools to get them there.
• Ubimodo, LLC keeps people safe by notifying the authorities when things go wrong. They believe it’s worth a small fee for your loved ones to go from lost to found.
• Volcano Veggies grows organic vegetables and fish indoors with proprietary biotechnology solutions, providing cold-weather communities with fresh, nutritious local food year-round.
Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) will again host the annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) at the iconic Tower Theatre on October 17 with warm-up activities on Thursday, October 16 including seminars, the UnConference and the Broken Top Networking reception.
This year’s event will feature keynote speaker Steve Sliwa, co-founder and former CEO of leading Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) firm, Insitu. Steve grew the company from four employees to over 800, raised venture capital through five separate rounds, and successfully exited with an equity event, selling to Boeing for over $400 million in 2008. In addition to lessons learned, his remarks will address building a successful company in a rural location and how he turned what some might see as challenges into advantages. An engaging and entertaining speaker, Steve will also talk about his current venture relating to big data.
The conference is divided into two categories that consist of five launch and five concept stage companies vying for investment and cash prizes. The concept stage finalists compete for a $10,000 cash prize from BendBroadband while the launch finalist could collect a $250,000+ investment. The 2014 conference will also feature impressive panelists from across the Pacific Northwest representing angel investors, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs will screen the finalists for both stages.
Companies interested in applying to present at the 2014 BVC are urged to complete required materials prior to the August 15th deadline. For more information on applying, please visit the BVC website. Ticket sales for attendance to the conference are now open. Secure early bird pricing by visiting www.bendvc.eventbrite.com.
“We expect the BVC to sell out again this year, with the Tower Theatre being filled to capacity,” noted Brian Vierra, EDCO’s Venture Catalyst. “We also anticipate that the 2014 BVC LLC will set new records in terms of participating investors and total funds invested. The class of companies applying to the conference this year is incredibly strong and represents a broad spectrum of exciting new products and technologies.”
BVC is open to all scalable early stage companies to apply regardless of industry or sector.
Jason Moyer, fund manager for the 2014 BVC LLC, states “BVC continues to raise the bar in terms of applicant quality and investor sophistication – 2014 should be an exciting and compelling year.”
EDCO www.edcoinfo.com
Bend Venture Conference www.bendvc.com
