Square Baby Named Semi-Finalist for Bend Venture Conference Pitch!

Square Baby is THRILLED to be named 1 of 8 Semifinalists for the 2024 Bend Venture Conference (BVC) in the "Growth Stage" category  In the coming weeks, we will learn if we make it onto the Pitch Stage on October 18th in Bend, OR. 

BVC is the longest standing and largest angel investment conference in the Pacific Northwest -- it's an incredible community and a wonderful opportunity for any brand and founder.  We congratulate the other 7 Semifinalists!

EDCO's Press Release Below

EDCO announces eight Growth Stage semifinalists for the 2024 Bend Venture Conference

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Economic Development for Central Oregon is excited to announce the eight semifinalist companies advancing in the Growth Stage Track for the 21^st annual Bend Venture Conference on Thursday, October 17 - Friday, October 18, 2024.

As Central Oregon’s flagship entrepreneurship event, BVC creates an opportunity to connect investors and industry leaders with startups looking to scale. Each year, a new BVC Growth Fund is raised to invest in the most promising growth stage companies that compete in the annual conference. Since applications closed on August 9^th, investors and partners have evaluated each company to identify the most well-positioned startups to compete in each of BVC’s three tracks.

Brian Vierra, EDCO’s Venture Catalyst, explained, “The investors in the Bend Venture Conference Fund are passionate about supporting the growth of the Central Oregon startup ecosystem and bring a wealth of professional experience to evaluating the merits of new innovations. We’re excited to see the growth potential represented in this year’s semifinalist companies, and we look forward to the impact they will have."

In alphabetical order, the Bend Venture Conference semifinalists are:

1. Beginly Health (Portland, OR) – An AI curated job matching platform for healthcare professionals. 
2. Canopii Inc. (Silverton, OR) – A technology company building robotic greenhouse farms to make local food production more viable.
3. Green Canopy NODE (Seattle, WA) – A company that addresses the complex challenges of affordable housing through configurable, prefabricated kits for residential housing.
4. Health Elements AI (Bend, OR) – A technology platform that leverages AI to streamline health data abstraction.
5. ProMedix Inc. (Portland, OR) – A revolutionary, noninvasive wearable sensor for accelerating sepsis detection at the patient bedside.
6. Square Baby (Bend, OR) – Dietitian-designed, organic baby and toddler meals customized to age, stage and dietary needs including allergen introduction, vegan and animal proteins.
7. Stiira (Portland, OR) – A specialized SaaS solution designed to help organizations effectively manage the complexities of government-regulated leaves of absence.
8. Trace Biosciences (Portland, OR) – A biotech startup creating agents for surgery that highlight nerves in real time to eliminate surgical nerve damage.

The Bend Venture Conference is the longest standing and largest angel investment conference in the Pacific Northwest. BVC has served as a catalyst to mobilize capital for participating companies and since its inception, investments and awards to participating startups have totaled over $14 million.