Seven companies walked away with checks totaling $665,000 from this year’s Bend Venture Conference.
A big winner from the two-day investment conference was Portland-based Photon Marine, which collected $235,000. The company won one of the conference investments under the impact category snagging $45,000 from the BVC Impact LLC. It also landed a $150,000 investment from Elevate Capital and its Innovation Gap Fund II and $40,000 from Portland Seed Fund.
Photon Marine is the latest company from Portland entrepreneur Marcelino Alvarez, who is working with co-founders Tara Russell, Nick Schoeps and Charles Steinback to build high-powered electric outboard motors for commercial boats.
The Bend Venture Conference gathers founders, investors and others to the Central Oregon city each year to network and make deals. Two conference investment vehicles are raised and investments are made in growth stage and impact competitions. Along the way, other investors also make deals with companies that are participating.
Here’s the growth stage winners:
- Seattle-based Minnow Technologies landed $185,000 from the BVC LLC. The company created a cloud-connected delivery hub designed to make food delivery more efficient.
- Sun Valley, Idaho-based Wild Rye landed $65,000 from the BVC LLC. The company is a women’s outdoor apparel brand for technical mountain apparel.
The BVC Impact competition is aimed at for-profit companies that have social or environmental missions. In addition to Photon Marine here’s the other Impact winner:
- Ethicann Pharmaceuticals, a Bethesda, Maryland-based company developing cannabinoid-based drug therapies by reformulating approved drugs landed $60,000 from the BVC Impact LLC.
“After months of meetings between our companies and investors, it is hugely rewarding to see the response. Companies and investors from around the country have been exposed to Bend and we’ll continue to foster these relationships and offer resources and support,” said Deanne Buck, EDCO’s Venture Catalyst. The event is organized by the group Economic Development for Central Oregon.
In addition to Photon, three other startups received early stage funding from Portland Seed Fund as part of the Early Stage competition. These three winners each landed $40,000 from PSF:
- DailyChela.com, a Portland-based digital news, opinion and sports outlet targeting Latino viewers online and on streaming devices like Roku.
- Osheru, a Bend-based company that created a device to simplify upper eyelid surgery.
- Range Revolution, a Madras-based company that makes sustainable leather luggage.
PSF has been meeting with founders in this category for months. The Portland-based investor commits to writing at least one check of $30,000 at the competition.
“We were blown away (by the finalists),” said PSF Managing Director Angela Jackson in a written statement. “The quality gets better each and every year. In the end we ended up writing four $40,000 checks.”
