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Key people at Oregon Venture Fund.
Oregon Venture Fund is a venture capital fund investing in startups and growth companies across Oregon and Southern Washington. It integrates over 180 active venture partners:experienced business and technology leaders:providing strategic guidance and advisory support. This model combines financial capital with deep collective expertise, fostering regional development.
The fund was co-founded by Eric Rosenfeld in 2007. His insight: blend accomplished angel investors and entrepreneurs with a professional venture fund structure. Rosenfeld, an engineer and entrepreneur, aimed to harness regional talent, shaping Oregon’s economic future through this collaborative investment.
Oregon Venture Fund serves entrepreneurs seeking capital and mentorship within its target region. It also offers a platform for individuals, family offices, and institutional investors to participate in the local economy. The fund's vision is to continually empower regional talent and capital to build world-class growth companies.
Oregon Venture Fund (OVF) is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in startups and growth companies across all sectors in Oregon and southern Washington, with a mission to convene regional talent and capital to build world-class growth companies that scale globally.[1][3][4][5] Its investment philosophy emphasizes backing ambitious founding teams targeting large opportunities with "must-have" solutions that improve the world, often starting with pre-revenue startups—half of initial investments fall into this category—and providing not just funding but operational support from a network of 180 investors, 90% of whom are experienced entrepreneurs.[1][3][4] OVF has invested $199M across 87 startups, catalyzing $2.1B in follow-on capital, creating 6,423 jobs, and generating $5.5B in total market capitalization, with top-quartile performance (16% avg net IRR, 3.4x avg value).[4][5] Notable portfolio companies include Absci (Nasdaq IPO), Jama Software (acquired for $1.2B), and Inpria (acquired for $514M), demonstrating strong impact on the Pacific Northwest startup ecosystem.[1]
Founded in 2007 as the Oregon Angel Fund by a group of local entrepreneurs and investors, OVF rebranded in 2018 to reflect its evolution into a more formalized venture fund with institutional backing.[1][4] The fund grew from angel investments to include support from entities like the Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, the State of Oregon, and regional universities such as the University of Oregon and Portland State University, enabling it to evaluate up to 300 business plans annually and select 5-7 for investment.[1] Key figures include managing partners like Jon Maroney, who in January 2025 announced the $10M Business Oregon Venture Fund (BOVF)—funded via state and U.S. Treasury SSBCI programs—to amplify early-stage deals alongside core OVF investments, focusing on Oregon-based startups with at least one key team member in the region.[2] This evolution underscores OVF's shift from pure angel network to a hybrid model blending private and public capital for sustained regional growth.[2][4]
OVF rides the wave of regional tech resurgence in the Pacific Northwest, capitalizing on Oregon's talent from universities and established sectors like software (Jama, Customer.io), biotech (Absci), hardware (Eclypsium, Rigado), and consumer (Salt & Straw, Rumpl) to bridge "investing locally, scaling globally."[1][3][5] Timing aligns with post-pandemic remote work trends drawing founders to affordable, high-quality-of-life areas outside Silicon Valley, amplified by public-private partnerships like BOVF, which de-risks early investments amid tight VC markets.[2][7] Market forces favoring it include SSBCI funding for underserved regions and Oregon's push for innovation hubs, with OVF influencing the ecosystem by funding 87 startups, spurring $2.1B follow-on capital, and fostering a self-reinforcing cycle of exits reinvested locally—evident in 6,423 jobs and $5.5B market cap.[4][5] This positions OVF as a linchpin for democratizing VC access beyond coastal giants.
OVF is poised to expand influence through BOVF's early-stage firepower, targeting more Oregon/SW Washington startups amid rising demand for regional VC amid economic uncertainty.[2] Trends like AI/biotech hardware (e.g., Absci, NLM Photonics) and climate tech will shape its path, with pro-rata strategies ensuring outsized stakes in winners.[1][3] Influence may evolve toward larger funds or national syndicates, but its local-first ethos—unleashing entrepreneur networks for global scale—will sustain top-quartile impact, perpetuating the virtuous cycle of wealth creation that began in 2007.[4][5]
Key people at Oregon Venture Fund.
Oregon Venture Fund has more than 26 tracked investments across 18 companies. The latest tracked deal is $5.0M Series A Extension in Digs in November 2025.
