Join a community of local investors & champion regional deal flow.

INVEST IN BVC

Why BVC?

Central Oregon is growing. Even before it was on the startup map, the region laid down a 10+ year track record of incubating and exiting successful businesses in tech, biomedical, climate resilience, consumer products, and more.

Raised by 60+ venture-backed companies headquartered in the local ecosystem since 2010.

$350 million


#1 in New Business

Bend ranked 1st in the nation in new businesses and in job growth among American mid-sized cities between 2013-2019.


Networking Effects

More than 250 angels have participated in BVC Funds resulting in over $14 million invested in 59 companies over the past two decades.


Meet the Team

  • Jenn Lynch

    BVC LLC Fund Manager

    Jenn Lynch is a managing partner at Portland Seed Fund, an early stage venture capital fund that invests in capital efficient, high-growth companies in Oregon and and around the Pacific Northwest. Since 2010, Jenn has managed venture funds that have invested in more than 100 companies across a variety of sectors, including software, consumer products, cannabis, clean energy technology, biotechnology, biomedical devices and more.

    After finishing her MBA at Columbia Business School, Jenn and her husband relocated to Oregon where she worked at a number of software startups before helping to raise the first fund from which she invested, Upstart Labs. Jenn serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, and she is vice-chair of the Summit West Neighborhood Association. Jenn is a limited partner in the BVC 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 growth funds; and an investor in multiple Cascade Angel Funds. Jenn lives in Bend with her three children, husband, dog and cat, and, when she’s not working, can usually be found in the woods on her gravel bike, logging laps at Juniper or lifting at Boss Sports Performance.

  • Brian Vierra

    Venture Catalyst, Economic Development for Central Oregon‘s (EDCO)

    Brian is a Senior Finance & Operations Leader with over 25 years of global experience developing and leading startup to established midsized organizations within the technology, travel, and tourism arenas. He has deep experience in international operations, with specialties in fundraising and investment opportunities, employing holistic approaches to debt, equity, grant financing, FP&A, and Treasury & FX. He has a reputation for building and leading effective teams and implementing continuous improvement processes across back of the house operations. Most recently, Brian was the VP of Finance and Operations at TrovaTrip, an Oregon-based travel tech startup, from 2021 to 2023. He also ran his own adventure sports outfitter in Southeast Asia for 15 years, prior to moving to Bend.

    The Venture Catalyst program was proposed in 2006 by local business leaders Dan Hobin and Nori Juba and championed by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. With Wyden’s help, a federal appropriations grant was secured in late 2009 for a three-year pilot program to boost the creation of new scalable traded sector businesses in Central Oregon. The Venture Catalyst at EDCO helps promising, scalable, young companies through active coaching and guidance.

Bend Venture Conference cannot guarantee that investments will be made in any specific amount because the final amounts to be awarded are dependent on investment commitments received from third-party investors and the ability of the winning companies and the investors to agree on the terms and conditions of the investment.