OEN Member NewsPress Release: EDCO Announces 2018 BVC Semi-Finalists for Impact and Growth Categories

BEND, Ore. – September 13, 2018 – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) announced the semi-finalist companies to advance in the Growth and Impact Categories for the 15th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) to be held Thursday, October 18 – Friday, October 19, 2018. This group of companies is one step closer to presenting on the historic Tower Theatre stage in Downtown Bend. Last year, companies in the Growth Stage category won prizes ranging from $25,000 to $485,000, while the Impact Category winner walked away with $110,000.

With multiple industries represented (software, cleantech, real estate, consumer products) from across the United States (as far east as New York and as far south as Arizona), the Bend Venture Conference has become a truly national competition.

In alphabetical order, the 10 Growth Stage semi-finalists that will compete to make it through the next round of cuts are:

1. BAKERpedia (Portland, Ore.) – An encyclopedia built for industrial bakers that helps to make informed decisions on formulations and processes.
2. Caligoo (Bend, Ore.) – A mobile customer journey software platform providing predictive and personalized experiences that sense, learn, reason, and react in real-time to target customers and reach applications goals.
3. CommLoan, Inc. (Scottsdale, AZ) – A commercial real estate finance marketplace reducing the cost and time it takes to secure a commercial real estate loan.
4. krowdsourced, LLC (Portland, Ore.) – Modernizes architectural material sourcing by centralizing samples and information for firms seeking a better way of selecting products.
5. Liquid Wire (Beaverton, Ore.) – Allows electronics to be worn on a range of fabrics by printing them with MetalGel, enabling circuits to stretch.
6. Stabilitas (Seattle, WA) – An AI engine designed for security teams that allows us to do the work of 1,000 human analysts in real-time.
7. Tali (Portland, Ore.) – A voice-driven, hands-free productivity assistant powered by artificial intelligence, helping organizations become more productive and profitable.
8. Talkoot, Inc. (Hood River, Ore) – An intuitive, cloud-based tool that helps teams create high volumes of product copy.
9. TransformativeMed (Seattle, Wash.) – Develops SaaS apps enabling physicians and nurses to deliver better patient care by making hospital medical records intuitive and easy to use.
10. Walker Tracker, Inc. (Portland, Ore.) – Works to build wellness into organizational culture, making healthy behaviors fun and accessible to everyone.

In alphabetical order, the 6 Impact Stage semi-finalists that will compete to make it through the next round of cuts are:

1. AlgoteK (Eugene, Ore.) – Creates 100% biodegradable safe plastic replacement material from algae which can be used as single-use plastics or take-home boxes from restaurants.
2. Allmade Apparel (Portland, Ore.) – Sustainable apparel with ethically-sourced screen-printing options.
3. Asarasi, Inc. (Katonah, NY) – Certified USDA organic plant-based water sourced from maple trees without compromising the groundwater table.
4. Dweller, Inc. (Portland, Ore.) – Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) built using modular construction and an innovative ownership structure to reduce the cost of housing in dense cities.
5. OCO Corporation (Vida, Ore.) – Converts carbon dioxide generated by industrial and fossil fuel burning power plants into a value-added platform chemical, formic acid.
6. ROTBLOC (Bend, Ore.) – A sustainable post wrap for wood trellis systems and ranch fencing that lengthens post life while preventing ground line rot.

Hosted by Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO), this year’s BVC will once again feature three competition categories: Growth Stage, Early Stage and Impact. The BVC finalists presenting at the conference will be announced in early October.

Ticket Sales
Tickets to the 15^th Annual Bend Venture Conference are on sale now and are available here.

About Bend Venture Conference (BVC)
Now in its 15^th year, BVC, hosted by EDCO, is one of the largest angel conferences in the country. Over the past four years, more than $7.8 million has been invested in 34 companies as a result of the conference. This year, over 600 entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders are expected to attend the multi-day conference on October 18-19, in Bend, Oregon. For more information, visit www.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. For more information, visit www.edcoinfo.com.