Local Tech | StartupBend

Bend-Based Seven Peaks Ventures Raises $28 Million for Second Fund Aimed at PNW and West Coast Startups

Bend-based Seven Peaks Ventures announced today that it’s launching its second fund, which aims to funnel $28 million in venture funding toward early stage tech startups in the PNW and rest of the west. The firm launched in 2013 with the goal of helping to fill the regional capital gap facing PNW, and particularly, Oregon-based startups. The first fund, which totaled $7.5 million, invested in multiple Oregon startups, including Bend-based Manzama, and Portland-based CrowdStreet and Bright.md.

With RFPIO, BVC Investors Get Second Exit in One Month

Bend Venture Conference winner RFPIO announced a $25M investment from K1 Investment Management today. The announcement was the largest round yet for the young startup, and represented a nice return for BVC investors.

Events Local Tech Startups By Kelly Kearsley / March 14, 2018

Check Out the Bend Startups Selected to Pitch at TechFestNW

TechfestNW is fast approaching and Bend startups are ready to make a strong showing. The conference, which runs April 5th and 6th in Portland, includes a pitch competition aptly named PitchfestNW. More than 80 founders will pitch their startups, including at least six from Bend. Who are they? Glad you asked. TechfestNW attendees and the esteemed judging panel will get to hear from:

Local Tech Startups By Kelly Kearsley / February 27, 2018

Kidcareshare Founder Selected for Project Entrepreneur Cohort

One of Bend’s own will be part of Project Entrepreneur’s 2018 Class in New York. If you see Jen Ortado, founder of Kidcareshare, tell her congrats. She recently discovered she’ll be one of 200 female founders taking part in the April event.

Community Local Tech By Kelly Kearsley / January 19, 2018

ICYMI: OSU Cascades CS Student Hackathon Helps Fight Human Trafficking

We didn’t want the week to end without acknowledging the cool work that OSU Cascades CS Instructor Yong Bakos and his band of creative-thinking CS students did last weekend. Yong organized a hackathon Saturday aimed at finding a way to help the nonprofit Guardian Group more efficiently fight online sex trafficking.

Local Tech Startups By Kelly Kearsley / January 16, 2018

Bend Startup DohJe Wins OpenIDEO Gratitude in the Workplace Challenge

This year is off to a good start for Amanda Krantz, CEO and founder of DohJe. Amanda learned last week that DohJe was one of seven winners of the Gratitude in the Workplace Challenge, sponsored by OpenIDEO and the Greater Good Science Center.

Big Ideas Jobs Local Tech By Kelly Kearsley / January 4, 2018

Bend Blockchain Startup Looking for 20 Engineers

You might have seen Bend’s Matthew Gregory pitch his idea for a blockchain-based startup that creates a registry for IoT devices during the runup to the Bend Venture Conference. Well, while the rest of us have been reading Buzzfeed and eating Christmas cookies (OK just me), Matt has been readying to launch his startup, Ockam.

Jobs Local Tech By Kelly Kearsley / December 12, 2017

Bend Tech Employers Plan to Hire Nearly 300 Tech Employees in 2018

If you plan on job hunting in 2018, it looks like there will be a slew of tech openings. The Technology Association of Oregon put out a survey last month to area tech employers, asking about their hiring plans. Twenty-nine companies responded, noting that they planned to hire a cumulative 280+ people into tech-related positions, says Teri Hockett, VP of TAO and head of the Central Oregon TAO office.