EDCO announces eight Growth Stage semifinalists for upcoming Bend Venture Conference

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Economic Development for Central Oregon is excited to announce the eight semifinalist companies advancing in the Growth Stage Track for the 21^st annual Bend Venture Conference on Thursday, October 17 - Friday, October 18, 2024.

As Central Oregon’s flagship entrepreneurship event, BVC creates an opportunity to connect investors and industry leaders with startups looking to scale. Each year, a new BVC Growth Fund is raised to invest in the most promising growth stage companies that compete in the annual conference. Since applications closed on August 9^th, investors and partners have evaluated each company to identify the most well-positioned startups to compete in each of BVC’s three tracks.

Brian Vierra, EDCO’s Venture Catalyst, explained, “The investors in the Bend Venture Conference Fund are passionate about supporting the growth of the Central Oregon startup ecosystem and bring a wealth of professional experience to evaluating the merits of new innovations. We’re excited to see the growth potential represented in this year’s semifinalist companies, and we look forward to the impact they will have."

In alphabetical order, the semifinalists are:

1. Beginly Health (Portland, OR) – An AI curated job matching platform for healthcare professionals. 
2. Canopii Inc. (Silverton, OR) – A technology company building robotic greenhouse farms to make local food production more viable.
3. Green Canopy NODE (Seattle, WA) – A company that addresses the complex challenges of affordable housing through configurable, prefabricated kits for residential housing.
4. Health Elements AI (Bend, OR) – A technology platform that leverages AI to streamline health data abstraction.
5. ProMedix Inc. (Portland, OR) – A revolutionary, noninvasive wearable sensor for accelerating sepsis detection at the patient bedside.
6. Square Baby (Bend, OR) – Dietician-designed, organic baby and toddler meals customized to age, stage and dietary needs including allergen introduction, vegan and animal proteins.
7. Stiira (Portland, OR) – A specialized SaaS solution designed to help organizations effectively manage the complexities of government-regulated leaves of absence.
8. Trace Biosciences (Portland, OR) – A biotech startup creating agents for surgery that highlight nerves in real time to eliminate surgical nerve damage.

The Bend Venture Conference is the longest standing and largest angel investment conference in the Pacific Northwest. BVC has served as a catalyst to mobilize capital for participating companies and since its inception, investments and awards to participating startups have totaled over $14 million.

Tickets to the 21st annual BVC are on sale now and are available here. Attendees who register before Monday, September 30^th will receive 10% off their order. 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.