Bend Venture Conference will take place  at the Tower Theatre Oct. 19-20.

The Bend Venture Conference is seeking early and growth stage companies to compete at the annual event sponsored by the Economic Development for Central Oregon nonprofit.

In its 22nd year, the angel conference has invested more than $14 million in entrepreneurs, according to EDCO. The annual conference will be held Oct. 16-17 at the Tower Theatre in downtown Bend.

The early stage competition is only open to Oregon-based companies. The application period is through Aug. 14.

To enter the growth stage competition, businesses need to have generated at least $1 million in product revenue in the past 18 months, or raised $500,000 in external capital. To enter the early stage competition, Oregon businesses are required to be  pre-revenue or have earned less than $1 million in product revenue over the past 18 months.

For more information or to apply go to bendvc.com/apply.