An Angel's Got To Do, What It's Got To Do
Eugene Oregon startups received funding at the annual Willamette Angels Conference. The WAC is a group that connects early stage startups with investors. The conference raises a fund from accredited investors before the money goes out. This is the second year in a row that the event has hit the $1 million mark. Investments and loans also came from Elevate Capital and Business Oregon. A total of $830,000 went to companies. Plus, the conference was able to raise $200,000 dedicated not to a startup but to a new investment fund called W2 Fund. Eugene based, Heritage Laboratories secured $50,000 from Elevate Capital’s Inclusive Fund. The company, graduated from the Eugene RAIN accelerator. It's developing a line of ingestible skin-care supplements. 2015 WAC winner Moonshadow Mobile, received a $250,000 loan. They developed software that can search, navigate and visualize large data sets. The conference fielded applications from 46 startups. The finalists go through intense due diligence before hitting the stage. The 2018 Willamette Angels Conference is already on the books for May 17 in Eugene. -- Albany Democrat-Herald
Downtown High-Speed Internet Grant
The U.S. Commerce Department said it has awarded the city $1.9 million to expand access to EUGNet. This will help expand the program from five downtown buildings to about 120. The project's under construction to deliver high-speed internet service throughout downtown Eugene. City officials said without the grant the city would take longer to expand the network. Completion of the expansion is set for the end of 2018. The city said more than 35 buildings have signed up to connect to the network so far. -- The Register Guard
Another Willamette Focused Fund Is Formed
Willamette Angels has started an investor-driven professionally managed angel investment fund called W2. Like the Coast to Crest Fund, W2 will invests between $25,000 and $250,000 in early stage companies. Angels will be actively involved in reviewing applicant companies, and making investment decisions. The fund manager takes care of all the legal and administrative details. This lets investors focus on selecting companies to invest in. For more information or to apply, visit Willamette Angels W2 Fund. -- Silicon Florist
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