Two companies that went through the first class of Bend’s 12-week entrepreneur-training program are among the six finalists for an investment at this year’s Bend Venture Conference, its organizer said Wednesday.

The entrepreneurs behind Bend’s JettStream, which is developing a medical device for asthma treatment for kids, and RallyCause, a Bend-based mobile app that lets customers donate to nonprofits when they buy from businesses, completed the VentureBox program in May.

Other finalists include:

• DesignMedix, a Portland company that has developed formulations for drugs to fight drug-resistant diseases

• Intelligent Power, a Wilsonville company that seeks to lower supermarkets’ energy costs

• Bend-based Element 1, which makes hydrogen generators and

• Beaverton-based Sonivate Medical, which has developed an ultrasound probe worn on a finger.

“We’re going to get a beer tonight,” said Roberto Aiello, founder of RallyCause. Then it’s back to improving the company’s product based on customer feedback, Aiello said.

Companies eligible for the Bend Venture Conference Launch Stage investment, expected to be at least $250,000, are generally considered startups, but might have earned some revenue.

Ordinarily, five companies would be named Launch Stage finalists, but a tie resulted in six, said Ruth Lindley, marketing manager at Economic Development for Central Oregon, which organizes the event. The finalists were selected from a pool of 50 applicants, Lindley said last month.

In addition to the investment, a $10,000 grant will also be available at this year’s Bend Venture Conference in the Concept Stage for entrepreneurs with little more than an idea. Those participants were announced Monday.

Since its establishment in 2004, the conference has increased the size of the investment available to each winner.

Last year the Oregon State Treasury put forward $50,000 in matching dollars from its Oregon Growth Account, drawn from Oregon Lottery revenues, bringing the investment to $250,000 for the first time. The state agency will do the same thing this year, so long as at least $200,000 is raised from independent investors.

The Portland-based Oregon Community Foundation has committed to a $25,000 contribution to the investment pool, according to an EDCO news release.

Three companies from the Portland area made the finalist cut for this year’s conference. DesignMedix applied because CEO Lynnor Stevenson believed the event has improved over the years. She previously participated as an investor, she said.

The company has been funded with government research grants in the past, Stevenson said. An investment from the Bend Venture Conference would help fund preclinical studies for formulations to combat drug-resistant malaria in kids and pregnant women, she said.

David Starr, president and CEO of Sonivate Medical, said he’s looking to use Bend Venture Conference funding to pay for sales and marketing for the ultrasound probe. Like DesignMedix, Sonivate has also secured funding from government research grants.

Aiello, of Bend, has not received grant money for RallyCause, but the company has earned revenues.

His participation in the VentureBox program taught him to be open to changing his company in response to feedback from clients. He had gone into VentureBox with a different business concept.

VentureBox was founded last year to increase the number of companies that are ready to present at angel-investing conferences and take on investments, according to The Bulletin’s archives. This year some aspects of the program changed, and it was renamed FoundersPad.