Five Bend startups made the final cut Thursday and will compete for $10,000 on Oct. 17 in the concept stage of the Bend Venture Conference.

Audience members at Economic Development for Central Oregon’s PubTalk picked the following five companies out of a field of 10, according to the BVC website.

• Bird Dog Bioventures, which creates vaccines for regional diseases in animals.

• Cairn, a monthly subscription service that provides recreation enthusiasts with new outdoor gear, apparel, food or skin-care products to try.

• Free Range Equipment, which makes light, durable backpacks for performance athletes.

• KidRunner, designer of a lightweight jogger, or child carrier, for running or walking with small children.

• Volcano Veggies, a company that raises fish and grows organic fruit and vegetables year-round using a process called aquaponics.

Representatives from the companies will have three minutes each at the Bend Venture Conference to pitch their products or services to audience members, who will vote on the winner of the $10,000 investment, according to EDCO, which manages the conference.

Five other companies will compete for an investment of at least $250,000 in the Launch Stage, generally for startups that have proof of concept and have generated revenue.

The keynote speaker at this year’s conference is scheduled to be Steve Sliwa, former CEO of Insitu, The Boeing Co. subsidiary that makes unmanned aerial systems.

Last year, Nouvola, a Portland company that helps businesses scale their applications for higher traffic in the cloud, won the $250,000 Launch-Stage investment, while Ochoco Arms, a Prineville company with a patented laser-sighting system for firearms, won the Concept Stage competition and $10,000.