Five startups spanning sustainability, edtech and health care won the 2023 Beaverton Startup Challenge.
This westside program is run by the Oregon Startup Center (formerly Oregon Technology Business Center) and awards funding and services to the winners. The five companies will split $125,000.
“This new cohort represents a diverse mix of entrepreneurs and industries, and we are looking forward to helping grow these companies in the years ahead,” said OSC Director Jim McCreight in a written statement.
Here are the participants:
- Finnegan the Dragon, which is developing an online gaming system to support language and literacy development for Pre-K students.
- Humankind Homes, which designs and builds affordable homes using interlocking bricks made from sustainable geopolymer concrete.
- Keliomics, which offers personalized treatment testing for patients with solid cancers such as breast, prostate or ovarian.
- My Fertility Health: Navie, which is developing a software platform to help navigate reproductive health and fertility.
- RUTE Foundation Systems/Suntracker, which provides elevated solar panel systems to farms, allowing the land to accommodate dual uses.
The program is sponsored by the city of Beaverton and funding comes from the Westside Startup Fund. This year’s fund consists of 19 investors.
“Beaverton is full of creative entrepreneurs,” said Mayor Lacey Beaty. In a written statement “I’m excited for these five businesses who are doing such meaningful and important work. The impact and benefit of their innovative solutions will reach through and far beyond our city’s boundaries.”
Participants receive in-kind business support and mentoring at the OSC as well as office space.
Companies participating in the seven-year-old Beaverton Startup Challenge have subsequently raised more than $100 million in additional investment. Program alums include identity authentication startup Cozera, children’s apparel maker GoumiKids, travel startup TrovaTrip and materials startup Liquid Wire.
