Three Bend companies are among the 10 finalists in the early stage competition at the annual Bend Venture Conference.

The companies will compete Sept. 28 at the Central Oregon Pub Talk, where the audience and a panel of judges will vote to decide which companies advance to present at the Oct. 19-20 Bend Venture Conference at the Tower Theatre.

Longstanding angel investment Bend Venture Conference set for October

Longstanding angel investment Bend Venture Conference set for October

The 10 companies were chosen from a field of 64 applicants. Early stage finalists will compete for a minimum investment of $25,000 from Portland Seed Fund, which has sponsored the early stage competition since 2018.

“The Bend Venture Conference had more early stage applicants than ever before with representation from across the country, New York to California,” said Brian Vierra, Economic Development for Central Oregon venture catalyst. “Uniquely all the early stage finalists are tech companies this year, which could indicate a resurgence in early stage tech activity.”

Businesses vie for position in Bend Venture Conference

Businesses vie for position in Bend Venture Conference

The semifinalists will compete at the Pub Talk at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at Worthy Brewing. The semifinalists are: Portland software platform, BuildingLens Inc.; Portland software firm for legal industries, CaseMark AI; Hillsboro preschool curriculum and mobile gaming system, Finnegan the Dragon; Bend construction management software firm, FiOR Innovation; Jackson, Wyoming, AI-powered adventure platform, ILLA Inc.; Seattle art trading card game, NeoMob; Bend AI-powered site to detect website outages, Polaris; Newberg wine bottle reclamation service, Revino Inc.; Solana Beach, California, social giving platform, Spotlight; and Bend music sharing stock exchange, Symphony Markets.

“We’re delighted to be a semifinalist,” said Brian Love, CEO of Polaris. “Even if we don’t win, this is a positive signal that we have a product that’s valuable. It’s validation from people looking at startups.”

Polaris provides real time detection of outages on web apps, Love said. Companies need their websites to run smoothly and the Polaris software provides behind-the-scenes monitoring of a glitch in the web app, he said.

The company was founded by Portland resident Mike Ryan. Love is from Bend and the two partnered to form the company less than a year ago .

“We’re pre-revenue,” Love said. “We’re being intentional and want to make sure we make it right and go out with a valuable product.”

Bend company Symphony Markets started about the same time as Polaris, but the stock market for music just opened its app to users three weeks ago, said Kyle Rose, chief technology officer and chief product officer.

Rose, who lives in Bend, joined forces with Chris Martin, who lives in Los Angeles, about three months after developing the concept. Sparked by a desire to help artists retain ownership of their rights while getting capital, Rose said, Martin came up with the idea of partnering with the private equity firms that own music streaming rights to offer users the opportunity to own a share of their favorite artist’s royalties.

Earning a semi-finalist slot is an honor for such a young company, which gets to share the stage with other software developers, Rose said. If chosen as a finalist the company plans to use the funding to bring on a chief marketing officer and a vice president of development.

“There are a lot of companies on that stage that are reputable,” Rose said. “We will be able to build deeper connections in the music and private equity space.”