OEN News2021 OEN Entrepreneurship Award Winners
OEN announced the winners of the 2021 Entrepreneurship Awards at a live online ceremony held on November 18, 2021 via Brandlive.
Portland, OR: Oregon Entrepreneurs Network announced the winners in the 2021 OEN Entrepreneurship Awards at an online gala with the theme FUTUREPROOF on November 18, 2021.
In addition, OEN announced the launch of Angel Oregon Bioscience in 2022, in partnership with Oregon Bioscience Incubator, OHSU and Oregon Bioscience Association. Life and bioscience startups will be invited to an investment-readiness education and due diligence program in the spring of 2022, with a grand public finale and investment announcement in May.
Also announced was an ongoing partnership between OEN and Black Founders Matter to fund a grant program called the Emerge Initiative at all of OEN’s Angel Oregon investment programs going forward. The Emerge Initiative helps support very early-stage companies led by founders of color, and is designed to help bridge the “friends and family” funding gap. The program was recently awarded support from Oregon Community Foundation’s Thriving Entrepreneurs program.
EARLY STAGE AWARD, presented by Angela Jackson, Portland Seed Fund
- WINNER: Gabbi, Inc – Kaitlin Christine, Founder and CEO
Gabbi is the first digital health solution that accurately & inclusively predicts a woman’s risk for breast cancer and equips her to take action with community support. - FINALIST: Easeenet.com – Erin McCune, Co-Founder and CEO
Capturing critical digital details to organize your online life and pass on your digital estate. - FINALIST: Young Mountain Tea – Raj Vable, Founder
Tea that builds a sustainable future for Himalayan farmers and their families.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE AWARD, presented by Dave Hansen, Columbia Bank
- WINNER: SkyPoint Cloud – Tisson Mathew, Founder and CEO
A customer data platform for healthcare and consumer brands that champions privacy compliance and personalized experiences. - FINALIST: The Renewal Workshop – Jeff Denby and Nicole Bassett, Co-Founders
The Renewal Workshop is the leading provider of circular solutions for apparel and textile brands. - FINALIST: The Wild – Gabe Paez, Founder & CEO
Virtual and augmented reality platforms that helps connect people across distance.
GROWTH STAGE AWARD, presented by Beth Nguyen, Geffen Mesher
- WINNER: Slumberkins – Kelly Oriard, Callie Christensen, Co-Founders & Co-CEOs
Educational emotional learning products for children. - FINALIST: Absci – Sean McClain, Founder & CEO
A drug and target discovery company harnessing deep learning and synthetic biology to expand the therapeutic potential of proteins. - FINALIST: RFPIO Inc. – Ganesh Shankar – CEO & Co-Founder, AJ Sunder and Sankar Lagudu – Co-Founders
The industry’s leading software for response management for modern sales teams.
FUTUREPROOF AWARD, presented by Jane Ullman, Silicon Valley Bank
- WINNER: A Kids Company About – Jelani Memory, Founder & CEO
A media company that helps educate kids about the important stuff of life. - FINALIST: Brandlive – Sam Kolbert-Hyle, President & CEO
Brandlive brings people together with elevated, polished virtual events. - FINALIST: The Renewal Workshop – Jeff Denby and Nicole Bassett, Co-Founders
The Renewal Workshop is the leading provider of circular solutions for apparel and textile brands.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ACHIEVEMENT, presented by Andrew Parcel, Goldman Sachs
- WINNER: Allie Magyar, Founder & CEO – Hubb, Inc.
Hubb brings brands to life with powerful and immersive experiences for virtual, in-person and hybrid events. - FINALIST: Jelani Memory, Founder & CEO – A Kids Company About
A media company that helps educate kids about the important stuff of life. - FINALIST: Raj Vable – Founder, Young Mountain Tea
Creating sustainable communities through exceptional tea.
OEN 30TH ANNIVERSARY AWARD, presented by Julie Harrelson, Cascade Seed Fund and selected by live audience vote during the show.
- WINNER: Absci – Sean McClain, Founder & CEO
A drug and target discovery company harnessing deep learning and synthetic biology to expand the therapeutic potential of proteins.
Absci won the OEN Gamechanger Award in 2015 and the Launch/Startup Stage Award in 2017. - FINALIST: Salt & Straw – Kim Malek, Co-Founder & CEO
Innovative hand-made ice cream with unusual and interesting ingredients that support local farmers, makers, and chefs and builds community.
Salt & Straw won the OEN Development Stage Award in 2014. - FINALIST: Vacasa – Lisa Jurinka, Chief Legal Officer
Vacasa professionally manages vacation rentals from coast to coast and streamlines the guests experience with industry-leading technology.
Eric Breon was awarded the Entrepreneurial Achievement Award in 2015 and Vacasa won the OEN Growth Stage Award in 2018. - FINALIST: Wildfang – Emma McIlroy, Founder & CEO
Wildfang is an apparel company with a focus on inclusion, sustainability and giving back that defies gender norms in society and how they show up in fashion.
Wildfang won the OEN Development Stage Award in 2013, and Emma McIlroy was awarded the OEN Entrepreneurial Achievement Award in 2018. - FINALIST: Zapproved – Monica Enand, Founder & CEO
A pioneer of cloud‐based software for corporate legal departments designed to save time, improve compliance and reduce risk.
Monica Enand was awarded the OEN Entrepreneurial Achievement Award in 2016. - FINALIST: ZoomInfo – Henry Schuck, Co-Founder & CEO
Enterprise software that powers sales, marketing and recruiting teams with integrated, actionable insights about target audiences, plus automated workflows and pipeline optimization.
ZoomInfo, then DiscoverOrg, won the OEN Growth Stage Award in 2015.
“We’re thrilled for tonight’s winners and hope they get to properly celebrate this step in their entrepreneurial journey. Every finalist on the virtual stage tonight was worthy of recognition and celebration, and we’re excited to bring the entrepreneurial community together this way every year,” said OEN Executive Director Amanda Oborne.
Event videos are available on OEN’s YouTube Channel. Find additional event details and program here.
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to helping local entrepreneurs start up and scale up. The organization hosts entrepreneur education and angel investment programs, including Angel Oregon Tech (AOTech), Oregon Angel Food (OregonAF) and Angel Oregon Bioscience (AOBio), in addition to the annual OEN Entrepreneurship Awards. Learn more at www.oen.org.
