Five startups walked away with a total of $870,000 in investments from Pitch Oregon 2023.
Twelve companies competed in the annual event across four different categories. The big winner of the day was Ren Energy, which landed $350,000 in investments in the Clean Tech/Sustainability category as well as investment from Elevate Capital Innovation Gap Fund II, which is funded by the state.
Here’s a breakdown of the winners:
Early/Pre-Seed: LeapFrog Design, a Bend-based company developing natural water treatment and reuse systems for homes, landed $20,000. Company CEO Adam DeHeer said the win was a vote of confidence as the startup kicks off its first financing round.
Life Science: VitalFlo, which has offices in Portland and North Carolina, created a remote respiratory monitoring system. It landed $100,000 investment from the competition. Additionally, Myohealth Technologies Inc., a Portland-based company that makes the Myoaligner, a jaw aligner designed to treat TMJ, secured a $200,000 investment from the Elevate Capital Innovation Gap Fund II. This fund is managed by investment firm Elevate Capital and includes funding from the state that is designed to invest in early stage, science-based startups.
Software/Tech: Phosio Corp., a Corvallis-based materials science company developing optical coatings for use in augmented reality hardware, Lidar sensors and LEDs, landed $100,000. It received an additional $100,000 investment from the Elevate Capital Innovation Gap Fund II.
Clean Tech: Ren Energy, a Portland-based company developing tools to help customers decarbonize supply chains, landed $100,000 from the main competition. It received an additional $250,000 investment from the Elevate Capital Innovation Gap Fund II.
Pitch Oregon is an annual event organized by the entrepreneurial group TiE Oregon. The group has a robust network of angel investors as well as training and education for founders. The group’s angel investor network, called TiE Oregon Angels, has been around for 11 years. It has funded 84 companies and seen 13 exits. The group has an internal rate of return of 21%, according to organizers.
The angel network has more than 50 local investors.
