Tag Archives: Bend Venture

EDCO Announces the BVC 2021 Growth Stage Finalists

EDCO ANNOUNCES THE GROWTH STAGE FINALISTS PRESENTING AT THE BEND VENTURE CONFERENCE OCTOBER 21-22, 2021

BEND, OR – October 7, 2021 – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) announces the Growth Stage finalists presenting at the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) taking place Thursday, October 21 – Friday, October 22, 2021.

The Bend Venture Conference, the largest Angel conference in the West, is an annual celebration of entrepreneurship, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders, both virtually and in-person in Bend, Oregon.

Companies in the Growth Stage have previously won investments ranging from $100,000 to $2,500,000. The below companies join the finalists previously announced in the Impact and Early Stage categories.

In alphabetical order, the five Growth Stage finalists are:

  1. DeepSurface (Portland, OR) – A risk-based predictive vulnerability management platform that contextualizes vulnerabilities within a business’s digital infrastructure.
  2. Lora DiCarlo (Bend, OR) – Sex tech products using advanced technology to mimic human touch and movements.
  3. Portl – (Eugene, OR) An innovative tech platform dedicated to empowering creators with equitable tools for monetizing content and building community.
  4. PupPod – (Hood River, OR) – A multispecies gaming platform that provides dogs with software-driven, positive reinforcement games and humans with a powerful tool to be great pet parents.
  5. The Run Experience (Bend, OR) – A daily fitness app with daily audio runs and training programs designed to build a healthy running habit.

Ticket Sales
Tickets to the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference are on sale now and are available here.

About Bend Venture Conference (BVC)
Now in its 18th year, BVC, hosted by EDCO, is one of the largest angel conferences in the country. Over the past five years, more than $10 million has been invested in 40 companies as a result of the conference. This year’s conference will take place October 21-22, 2021, gathering entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. bendvc.com

About Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO)
EDCO is a non-profit corporation supported by private and public members and stakeholders, whose mission is to create middle-class jobs in Central Oregon by recruiting new employers to move to the region; helping entrepreneurs start new, scalable businesses; and working with businesses that are already here to grow their operations. edcoinfo.com

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EDCO ANNOUNCES THE BVC EARLY STAGE SEMI-FINALISTS

2020 BVC Early stage companies

EDCO ANNOUNCES THE BVC EARLY STAGE SEMI-FINALISTS

Eight companies to present at the September 23rd PubTalk: Road to BVC

BEND, Ore. – September 14, 2021 – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) announced the eight finalist companies advancing in the Early Stage competition for the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) on Thursday, October 21 – Friday, October 22, 2021. This group of companies is one step closer to presenting at BVC.

The following Early Stage semi-finalists will pitch against each other at the September 23rd PubTalk: Road to BVC. This high-energy entrepreneurial event showcases the BVC Early Stage semi-finalists as they deliver fast-paced, three-minute pitches to a live and virtual crowd. The audience, along with an expert panel of judges, will vote to decide which companies advance to present at BVC, competing for a minimum investment of $30,000 from Portland Seed Fund.

In alphabetical order, the BVC Early Stage semi-finalists that will compete at the September 23rd PubTalk are:

  1. cannecht (Bend, OR) – A digital marketplace to help cannabis operators find and secure service contracts with trusted providers.
  2. Field Day (Portland, OR) – An online platform that makes it easy for individuals and organizations to discover and engage with local nonprofits through group volunteer events.
  3. FoxFace Systems (Camas, WA) – Providing an easy and affordable online platform for the affordable housing compliance process.
  4. KinectAir (Vancouver, WA) – Private aviation made public. Affordable, soon-to-be electric, aircraft booked from your smartphone using local community airports.
  5. LifeAir (Portland, OR) – Saving millions of lives by pioneering the first ventilator that eliminates patient-to-patient transmission of diseases, such as pneumonia and COVID.
  6. Radious (Portland, OR) – An online marketplace for rentable home office and meeting space.
  7. Shilling (Portland, OR) – A micro-investing app that bridges the gap between the time you spend on your smartphone (screen time) and investing in the stock market.
  8. Tonsil Tech (Redmond, OR) – At-home handheld device to remove tonsil stones painlessly and effectively.

PubTalk Agenda

  • 5:00 pm to 5:30 pm Networking, drinks & appetizers
  • 5:30 pm to 7:45 pm Early Stage Company Pitches, Audience Vote, Winner Announcement

PubTalk Cost and Registration

  • In-Person: $26 EDCO & OEN Members (Become a member here.); $36 Non-Members
  • Virtual: $10 EDCO & OEN Members; $15 Non-Members

In-person attendance will take into account COVID19 precautions and includes appetizers and a free beverage (choice of beer, wine, or soda).

Ticket Sales
Tickets to the September 23rd PubTalk are on sale now. Register for in-person ticket here; register for virtual tickets here.
Tickets to the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference are on sale now and are available here.

About Bend Venture Conference (BVC)
Now in its 18th year, BVC, hosted by EDCO, is one of the largest angel conferences in the country. Over the past five years, more than $10 million has been invested in 40 companies as a result of the conference. This year’s conference will take place October 21-22, 2021, gathering entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. bendvc.com

About Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO)
EDCO is a non-profit corporation supported by private and public members and stakeholders, whose mission is to create middle-class jobs in Central Oregon by recruiting new employers to move to the region; helping entrepreneurs start new, scalable businesses; and working with businesses that are already here to grow their operations. edcoinfo.com

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Tickets Now Available for the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference

2021 Bend Venture Conference

IN-PERSON & VIRTUAL TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE 18TH ANNUAL BEND VENTURE CONFERENCE

BEND, OR (September 3, 2021) – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) will host the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) on Thursday, October 21 – Friday, October 22, 2021, both in-person and virtually. Tickets for the 18th Annual Bend Venture Conference are on sale now.

Eighteen years. The Bend Venture Conference has championed entrepreneurs, innovators and rule-breakers across the state and the country for nearly two decades. While 2020 and 2021 have been difficult to say the least, BVC returns to support innovators from across the continent.

Connecting entrepreneurs with investors is what we do best. And even in a challenging landscape, we continue to forge forward to support the next wave of visionaries. Last year, we put on a safe and successful conference that was for the first time ever available virtually. This year we are continuing down that path, offering both in-person and virtual access to one of the most prestigious Angel conferences in the U.S.

What you can expect at BVC 2021:

  • Both in-person and virtual ways to attend
  • Pre-Conference Seminars – learn directly from the experts
  • Office Hours – meet one on one with trusted advisors, on the house
  • BVC Briefs – engaging, digestible keynotes on multiple hot topics
  • Startup Company Pitches in three different categories: Early, Growth and Impact
  • Food & Beverage. And lots of it. You will not go home hungry.
  • Connection – masked, virtually or otherwise. The networking is unbeatable.
  • All taking place in beautiful Bend, Oregon

So mark your calendars and grab your tickets, whether it’s in person or virtually. Secure your spot early so we know whom to expect, and watch closely as we release additional info over the coming weeks.

We’re excited to bring this annual event back for another year. Make sure you’re a part of it by registering below.

Register now for BVC

About Bend Venture Conference (BVC)

Now in its 18th year, BVC, hosted by EDCO, is one of the largest angel conferences in the country. Over the past five years, more than $10 million has been invested in 40 companies as a result of the conference. This year’s conference will take place on October 21-22, 2021, gathering entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. bendvc.com

About Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO)

EDCO is a non-profit corporation supported by private and public members and stakeholders, whose mission is to create middle-class jobs in Central Oregon by recruiting new employers to move to the region; helping entrepreneurs start new, scalable businesses; and working with businesses that are already here to grow their operations. edcoinfo.com

 

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2018 Bend Venture Conference: Keynote Speakers

2018 BVC Keynote Speaker

2018 Bend Venture Conference Speaker: Emily Chang

 Anchor & Executive Producer of Bloomberg Technology 

2018 Keynote Speaker

Friday’s keynote, Emily Chang, is the anchor and executive producer of Bloomberg Technology, a daily TV show focused on global technology. She regularly speaks with top tech executives, investors, and entrepreneurs in her podcast, Bloomberg Studio 1.0. The Harvard University graduate has won five regional Emmy awards for her reporting and was previously a CNN correspondent in both Beijing and London. She is also the bestselling author of the groundbreaking book, Brotopia, a look at the world of Silicon Valley and what it is like to navigate the “boys’ club” culture as a woman in tech.

2018 BVC Impact Keynote Speaker

2018 Bend Venture Conference Speaker: Breanna DiGiammarino

Senior Director of Social Innovation at Indiegogo

2018 Impact Speaker

Thursday’s Impact keynote, Breanna DiGiammarino is the Senior Director of Social Innovation at Indiegogo. She actively raises awareness about the value and best practices of crowdfunding for social entrepreneurs, working to empower many of the most impactful campaigners on the site. She’s worked on campaigns such as blogger Humans of New York’s fundraiser to address bonded labor in Pakistan with a $2.3 million raise and the B Corp Cotopaxi’s Allpa Travel bag campaign with a $1.3 million raise. Before Indiegogo, Breanna was the Senior Associate at the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a leading social venture fund and an Associate Consultant at The Bridgespan Group, the non-profit arm of Bain & Company.

bendvc.com

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2011 Bend Venture Conference: Keynote Speaker

Keynote Ted Wheeler

2011 Bend Venture Conference Speaker: Ted Wheeler

Oregon State Treasurer

2011 Keynote Speaker

Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, the 28th State Treasurer of Oregon, was the 2011 keynote speaker.  A former manager at an investment firm and then the elected chief executive of Multnomah County, Wheeler completed the term of former Treasurer Ben Westlund and was then elected in November 2010. Since entering office, Wheeler has directed several efforts to help make the State Treasury a more efficient operation, a more responsible investor and also more relevant to Oregonians. He was appointed by former Gov. John Kitzhaber to help draft new economic development strategies for the state. Wheeler has increased transparency of Treasury data, pushed for money-saving technology changes, strengthened investment travel rules and safeguards, authorized securities fraud lawsuits against firms that misled investors, and announced a revamped 529 college savings plan with lower costs and more options for families.

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2010 Bend Venture Conference: Keynote Speaker

2010 Bend Venture Conference Speaker: Jonathan Heiliger

Vice President of Technical Operations at Facebook

2010 Keynote Speaker

The 2010 keynote speaker was Jonathan Heiliger, then Vice President of Technical Operations at Facebook, where he oversaw global infrastructure and internal technology systems. Prior to Facebook, Heiliger was on the venture capital side of technology. He served as a technology advisor to several early-stage companies in connection with Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital, where he was an advisor to YouTube. Heiliger also formerly led the engineering team at Walmart.com, where he was responsible for infrastructure and building scalable systems. He also spent several years at Loudcloud, which became Opsware and was later acquired by HP, as the Chief Operating Officer.

bendvc.com

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2009 Bend Venture Conference: Keynote Speaker

Paul Kedrosky keynote

2009 Bend Venture Conference Speaker: Dr. Paul Kedrosky

Analyst for CNBC television

2009 Keynote Speaker

The 2009 keynote speaker was Dr. Paul Kedrosky, an analyst for CNBC television; a columnist for TheStreet/RealMoney; and the editor of Infectious Greed, one of the best-known business blogs on the Internet.  Dr. Kedrosky has published more than 300 articles in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. He is a Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, where he focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the future of risk capital. Dr. Kedrosky obtained his undergraduate degree in engineering from Carleton University, his MBA from Queen’s University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.

bendvc.com

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