BEND VENTURE CONFERENCE FUND

Backing the next generation of Pacific Northwest companies.

An angel investor community deploying capital into vetted companies through 22 years of the Bend Venture Conference.

JOIN THE 2026 FUND HOW IT WORKS LEARN MORE ABOUT BVC

Portfolio companies since 2007

Still active and building

Exits in the past 3 years

Years of BVC

WHY BVC

More than capital. A community building the next chapter of Central Oregon and beyond.

BVC investors come together each year to engage with founders, deploy capital into vetted growth-stage companies, and build relationships that last well beyond a single transaction. The 2026 program is sharpening pipeline quality and investor engagement designed to improve outcomes for everyone in the room. Returns matter. So does the community we are building around them.

BVC 2024 winners at the Tower Theatre in Bend, Oregon

Investor community

A trusted network of active angels who deploy capital together, help drive diligence, and learn from each other.

Ecosystem impact

BVC has helped shape the startup ecosystem across Central Oregon and beyond for over two decades.

Curated dealflow

Pre-screened growth-stage companies you would not see at this depth elsewhere.

NEW FOR 2026

An evolved program designed for the investor experience.

Three focused tracks

Early Stage, Growth Tech, and Growth Industries. All investors participate in one fund, with Growth Tech as the primary allocation.

Investor + founder mixer

A new curated session before the Thursday networking reception, exclusively for our investor cohort and the finalists and semifinalists.

Live conference voting

Heavy diligence in the weeks leading up. Final decisions made at the conference itself. Bringing back the real stakes.

Year-round engagement

Monthly investor touchpoints, portfolio updates, and direct founder access between conferences.

PORTFOLIO

A diversified portfolio spanning software, healthcare, climate, and consumer brands.

Software & AI

Jama Software, ToolBelt, iDentical

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Amplion, Hemex Health, Health Elements AI

Climate & Cleantech

Harvest Thermal, OpConnect, Photon Marine

Outdoor & Consumer

Wild Rye, Riff, Bold Reuse

Hardware & Robotics

Minnow Technologies, Skip Tech

Cybersecurity

DeepSurface Security

FEATURED COMPANIES

Jama Software

AWS Elemental

DeepSurface

Health Elements

Harvest Thermal

OpConnect

Wild Rye

Bold Reuse

FOLLOW-ON CAPITAL & ACQUIRERS

Portfolio companies have gone on to raise from and be acquired by Amazon, Francisco Partners, Insight Partners, Silver Lake, Madrona, Trinity Ventures, Cascade Seed Fund, and Portland Seed Fund, among others.

RECENT MOMENTUM

Three portfolio exits in the past three years.

Health Elements AI

Acquired · Medisolv · 2026

Healthcare intelligence platform. Two years from BVC round to acquisition.

DeepSurface Security

Acquired · AttackIQ · 2025

Risk-based vulnerability management. Four years from BVC round to acquisition.

Jama Software

Francisco Partners · $1.2B · 2024

Requirements management. One of the largest Portland software transactions on record.

ADDITIONAL PORTFOLIO ALUMNI

Elemental Technologies (acquired by Amazon Web Services, 2015), Diligent (PE-backed enterprise, 2,000+ employees), and Hubb (acquired by Intrado, 2021).

THE ANNUAL EVENT

Bend Venture Conference 2026 · October 15-16

LEARN MORE

CO-MANAGERS

Meet the team running BVC Fund 2026.

Lisa Hovey

CO-MANAGER, BVC FUND 2026

Lisa Hovey has served as a strategy and operations executive with high-growth startups and Fortune 500 companies through the full arc from pre-seed funding to IPO. She has been directly involved in scaling companies from bootstrapped to unicorn status, growing revenue from $10MM to more than $450MM in six years, and raising over $500MM across multiple funding rounds. Lisa has been an active judge and coach for BVC and has held similar roles across other Pacific Northwest startup accelerators, programs, and funds. This experience on both sides of the capital table gives her an operator's insight and an investor's rigor when evaluating early and growth-stage companies.

LinkedIn Evergreen Growth Collective

Patti Brooke

CO-MANAGER, BVC FUND 2026

Patti Brooke is an active angel investor with an extensive network across Pacific Northwest venture capital firms, incubators, and founder communities. She spent the majority of her career leading and advising high-growth teams within Seattle's technology ecosystem. Patti is also the founder of Juniper Executive Search, a firm specializing in family office talent management. Now based in Bend, her combined experience across investing, operating, and executive placement gives her an investor's eye and a talent leader's judgment when evaluating early and growth-stage companies.

LinkedIn Juniper Executive Search

JOIN THE 2026 FUND

Investor Kickoff Event July 28. Capital calls through September.

Whether you are a returning BVC angel or new to the program, we would love to talk about participating in the 2026 fund.

BVC Growth Fund does not make any representations or warranties of any kind or assume any liabilities or obligations with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the information provided to investors, all of which has been provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise. It is understood that each investor is responsible for their own independent due diligence on prospective investment company and reliance upon this report is at the investor's own risk. BVC Growth Fund LLC, the Bend Venture Conference, and EDCO expressly disclaim any duty or obligation to update any of the information or analysis contained in any report on any participating business. No responsibility for loss or damages occasioned to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the information or material contained in this report can or will be accepted by the Fund.

The Bend Venture Conference Growth Fund is an independent project not formally affiliated with Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO).