OEN’s Angel Oregon is back...with a twist. This year’s event, the Angel Food Conference, will showcase scaling food and beverage companies from Oregon and SW Washington. These startups will compete for investment from the state’s first angel fund designed exclusively for Oregon’s valuable food and beverage sector.

After a three-month education program taught by top food and beverage entrepreneurs and industry leaders, the finalists will come together on June 19 at The Redd - East in Portland, Oregon, to share their vision and compete for prizes and $145,000 in investment. In early May, the founders of Cottage Grove based SOHR Foods won a fierce pitch competition in Portland for their hazelnut milk product concept. Their plant-based milk brand “Hazel People Hazel Nutmilk”, earned a win against almost twenty Portland-based startups. The hazelnut milk brand is now competing as a finalist in the Concept Stage category.

The event features Founder & CEO of Green Zebra, Lisa Sedlar, as the Emcee. We’ve brought in consumer packaged goods (CPG) influencers from outside the state (like VMG) and will have fireside chats with successful F&B companies. The event is going to be a lot of fun — in addition to hearing exciting entrepreneurs pitch their products and learning more about the industry, it will include a food fair, live music, and a post-event dance party.

More information and tickets available here.