EDCO announces Bend Venture Conference Early Stage finalists

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Economic Development for Central Oregon announces the five finalists advancing in the Early Stage competition for the 19^th annual Bend Venture Conference on Thursday, October 20 - Friday, October 21. These companies will compete for a minimum investment of $30,000 from Portland Seed Fund.

Nine Early Stage companies took the stage both virtually and in-person to pitch during Thursday night’s Central Oregon PubTalk. Community members and investors gathered to vote for which companies should progress to the stage for BVC and the audience favorite, TapeDeck, received a $3,000 cash award, courtesy of Washington Trust Bank.

“This event brings the excitement of live pitching and fast-paced competition, thanks to the talented entrepreneurs who set their sights on Central Oregon and the Bend Venture Conference,” said Angela Jackson, Managing Director and General Partner at Portland Seed Fund. “In addition to our $30,000 cash investment, Portland Seed Fund collaborates with the BVC Funds to connect these companies to local investors and mentoring.”

Jon Stark, CEO at EDCO added, “Startups are a critical component to the regional economy, and we’re excited to provide a platform to inspire, support and build community around entrepreneurship. Congratulations to all the finalists on making it to the ​BVC stage. This year’s collection of companies has been an inspiring mix of ideas and products that we are excited to watch scale.”

In alphabetical order, the Early Stage finalists that will compete at BVC are:

1. DailyChela.com (Portland, OR) - An OTT app for Latinos that solves the problem of the lack of Latino news, opinion and sports on Roku, IOS and Android.
2. Instinct (Hillsboro, OR) - Wireless sensor networks that detect wildfires and bring real-time environmental monitoring to the fingertips of forest and natural resource managers.
3. Osheru (Bend, OR) – A device that simplifies upper eyelid surgery to make this vision and appearance enhancing procedure available to anyone.
4. Range Revolution (Madras, OR) - The world's first leather luggage company using only traceable and regenerative hides.
5. TapeDeck (Tigard, OR) – A mobile app that connects people online through conversation.

BVC Growth and Impact finalists will be announced early next month.  Tickets to the 19^th Annual Bend Venture Conference are on sale now and are available here.

About Bend Venture Conference (BVC)
Now in its 19^th 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 45 companies as a result of the conference. This year’s conference will take place October 20-21, 2022, 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