A new Bend-based investment fund for startups, Cascade Angels Fund, plans to start investing in Oregon-based companies next year to help drive economic growth.

The fund is scheduled to officially launch Friday at the Bend Venture Conference, and investments, ranging from $50,000 to $200,000, are expected to start being made during the first quarter of 2014, said Jim Coonan, venture catalyst manager of Economic Development for Central Oregon.

“The easiest way of thinking of the Cascade Angel Fund is as a year-round angel conference,” Coonan said Tuesday.

Launch-stage companies from around the state can apply throughout the year and will be initially screened by the fund manager, Julie Harrelson, as well as other volunteers, he said. The top companies will be reviewed by fund investors, who will vote on which companies receive the pooled dollars.

He said the process is similar to the Bend Venture Conference, but instead of happening once a year, investments are expected to be made two to three times a year. Entrepreneurs seeking investments also will not receive the coaching associated with the venture conference, nor will they make pitches to an audience, he said.

In June, Dino Vendetti, a venture capitalist and co-founder, investor and mentor for FoundersPad, the Bend business accelerator, founded a different Bend-based venture capital fund called Seven Peaks Ventures.

Coonan said the two funds are different, and investors could potentially invest in both.

Seven Peaks is a seed venture fund that aims to invest in early-stage companies, he said. And unlike Cascade Angels, where investors participate in the selection, he said, Vendetti vets the companies and decides which ones get investments.

“Companies that he has invested in might be good candidates for Cascade Angels once they have matured (and) proven more of their business model,” Coonan said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7818,