Meet the Team
BVC, Growth & Impact Fund Manager, Jenn Lynch
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 or logging laps at Juniper or lifting at Boss Sports Performance.
EDCO’s Venture Catalyst, Deanne Buck
Economic Development for Central Oregon
‘s (EDCO) 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 $232,750 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, Deanne Buck helps promising, scalable young companies through active coaching and guidance. A ‘Stable of Experts’ database extends that activity by pairing early-stage companies with local volunteer technical, legal, financial, managerial, and other talents.
* 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.