Changes are coming this year to two big programs aimed at consumer product startups that will take the events outside of Portland for the first time.
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network’s Oregon Angel Food and Built Oregon’s Built Festival both work statewide, making it a natural progression to bring the events to new cities.
Here’s what is changing:
- For OregonAF, the food and beverage event is recruiting founders for the program's education element that will consist of eight online sessions through July and August. This year, the event is not raising a fund for investment. The big finale marketplace is slated for Sept. 23 in Salem.
- For the Built Festival, the two-day event is being held in Bend. Organizers are planning a close collaboration with the groups Cultivate Bend and Bend Outdoor Worx. The group still wants to reach statewide founders. Details are still to come for Built Fest, which is slated for Oct. 17 and Oct. 18.
Why is OregonAF changing?
OregonAF is designed to help food and beverage startups get investment ready and connect founders to consumers, retail buyers and investors. The event has also helped educate would-be angel investors by raising an angel fund.
However, this year the group isn’t raising the fund. It's instead making the public marketplace bigger, said OEN Executive Director Cara Turano, with this year’s marketplace accommodating up to 100 companies, double the size of past events.
“After five years of raising the fund, OEN is taking a break to recruit new investors and companies that are ready to pursue an equity investment,” Turano said. “The current thought is to raise the fund in the spring of 2024 and have two cohorts of food and beverage companies that have gone through the OregonAF investment readiness education series.”
Moving the event to Salem connects the program to the agricultural diversity in the Willamette Valley, she added. OEN is working with longtime partner Strategic Economic Development Corp., or SEDCOR, the Willamette Valley economic development group for the event.
“We envisioned an event to highlight the fact that ingredients can be grown and then food and beverage products created, packaged and distributed globally in a local, regionally centered manner,” Turano said.
Why is Built Fest headed to Bend?
The Built Festival returned in full last year for the first time since 2019. The event features fireside chats between founders across different consumer products industries talking about business and strategies. Last year’s event featured conversations about family business, indigenous entrepreneurship and Latinx brewing and beverage making.
The festival is designed to support consumer products startups across the state. Built Director Mitch Daugherty is a huge advocate for the state to more fully support consumer products companies, an industry sector that has produced such big brands as Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Dutch Bros and Tillamook.
“We have always discussed, prior to Covid, moving the festival around to different parts of the state,” said Daugherty. “Over the past year it’s been great to see community/founder driven organizations like Cultivate Bend spring up being led by amazing people, including folks like Built Accelerator alums Paul (Evers co-founder of Riff) and Thomas (Angel co-founder of Altitude Beverages). In addition, we have always supported and collaborated with Gary (Bracelin) and his vision and work at Bend Outdoor Worx over the years.”
The group intends to bring companies from its Bridges program, which connects BIPOC-owned businesses to retailers, and other statewide founders to the discussions.
“I think the general feeling is that this state has always been super collaborative when it comes to product companies. Success is not defined by one region in Oregon and this is a way to celebrate and amplify that over a couple days in Central Oregon,” he said.
The group is still evaluating if the festival will move to other Oregon cities in future years.
