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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDCO UpdateEDCO METRICS MATRIX - FY2011-12 A-S-O O-N-D J-F-M A-M-J BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Annual target Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year End Actual Notes/Detail New Ventures & Entrepreneurship Bend Venture Conference Attendence 300+NA 304 NA NA 304 BVC Applying Companies 25+NA 48 NA NA 48 BVC Volunteers 25 NA 29 NA NA 29 BVC Investor Units 25+NA 40 NA NA 40 BVC Dollars Invested $200k+NA $250k NA NA $250k BVC Kick Off Event Attendence NA NA NA NA 63 63 Up from 57 attendees in 2011 Pub Talks Attendence 600 110 95 235 177 617 Companies Presenting at Pub Talks NA 12 2 5 6 25 Angel Workshops (3) Attendence 30 40 NA NA NA 40 Investors Companies Applying to VentureBox NA NA NA 37 NA 37 Companies Graduating from VentureBox 15 NA NA NA 5 5 Attendees at VentureBox Investor Day NA NA NA NA 100+100+ Attendees at Technology Networking Events NA NA NA NA 60+60+ Upstart Day Attending Companies 10-12 cos.16 NA NA NA 16 Companies Total Attendence for all Entrepreneurial Events 1184 Assists: Coaching of Entrepreneurs/Early Stage Companies 120 82 36 37 29 184 10 companies of month Stable of Experts Database (number of mentors)60 54 62 68 77 77 Referrals to Stable of Experts 60 8 22 18 18 66 15 a quarter Done Deals (achieved milestone for growth, viability) New Jobs 52 Calculate Annually (not all companies contacted yet) New Capital Investments (from EDCO events, contacts)8.3 Million Calculate Annually (not all companies contacted yet) Strategic Progress: Qtr 1 Held first Upstart Day for Concept Stage Companies Completed first series of Angel Workshops for investors Initiated first investor driven due diligence process for BVC Received 47 company applications for BVC vs. 25 year previous Completed concept paper for entrepreneurial support in rural Oregon Developed specific plan for Central Oregon Accelerator Proposal to Deschutes County to support the Venture Catalyst Program (VCM) 2013-2014 Background: The Venture Catalyst Program was created as a result of a grant from SBA and through the efforts of Senator Wyden, community leaders and Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO). The program is anchored by the Venture Catalyst Manager (VCM) position which is in the final six months of a three year grant that provides support including salary and overhead expense such as medical coverage, travel, office lease, etc. The position is housed at EDCO (regional office in Bend) and the Manager works closely with EDCO personal in the coordination of events and activities. The Venture Catalyst Program complements the EDCO purpose which is to support traded sector businesses by providing the earliest stage support for traded sector businesses or start-ups with revenues ranging from pre-revenue to approximately $5 million in annual sales. The program includes both tactical and strategic objectives and is seen as the foremost advocate for entrepreneurial activity in Central Oregon. The VCM has three major priorities. The first priority is to provide advisory support to start-up companies. Over the last 12 months the VCM has had 184 coaching meetings with entrepreneurs. Coaching includes evaluating current needs and matching those needs with appropriate human and capital resources. To aid this effort, the VCM uses a database called Stable of Experts comprised of volunteers willing to work pro­ bono for a specified purpose. These human resources include a broad range of talents from serial entrepreneurs, to CFO's, to intellectual property experts. In the last year 77 referrals using the Stable of Experts have been executed. Currently, there are 78 experts listed in the Stable of Experts. Companies aided by the VCM generated 52 jobs last year and raised $8.3 million dollars. The second priority is to run EDCO's entrepreneurial assets. In addition to the Stable of Experts the VCM is responsible for PubTalks and the Bend Venture Conference (BVe). PubTalks are held most months and provide an opportunity for start-up companies to "pitch" an audience of entrepreneurs, investors and service providers. This relaxed venue typically attracts on average of 80 participants. Last year 617 attendees attended the 8 PubTalks held in Central Oregon. The Bend Venture Conference is the signature regional event for entrepreneurial activity. The major objectives of this event are to provide education, exposure and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. The event typically attracts over 300 attendees many of whom come from beyond Central Oregon. 2011 was a banner year for the BVC with a record number of companies, investors, and dollars invested. The BVC has two tracks for companies; a concept stage track for the earliest stage companies and a growth stage award. A record pool of 40 investors last year did the due diligence for this later group and invested $250k in the winning company. The concept stage winner earned a $10k grant from BendBroadBand. In addition, all five of the launch stage finalists received funding since the conference. In addition, Bend has been tentatively identified to host the state­ wide Angel OlympicS in 2013. The VCM will playa key role in this opportunity to showcase Central Oregon. The final priority is to evaluate and develop additional, sustainable infrastructure to support the development of start-ups. Through a partnership with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) www.oen.org the VCM has developed strategic recommendations to support entrepreneurial activity for rural Oregon and Central Oregon specifically. The first step of this plan has been implemented through the creation of a Central Oregon accelerator called VentureBox (www.venturebox.org/). VentureBox was created through an infusion of funds from the Oregon Community Foundation, Deschutes County and local business leaders. VentureBox provides a structured 12 week boot camp assisted by skilled mentors. The first class of companies graduated in May of this year and attracted over 100 attendees to its investor day. Other planned infrastructure elements include a year round angel fund and a rural seed fund (write ups for these proposals are attached). Please see attached for a full set of tracked metrics and accomplishments. The Proposal: EDCO believes the Venture Catalyst Program and the VCM position has become a key advocate for entrepreneurial activity in Central Oregon and is critical to the long term economic development of the region. EDCO is seeking partners to extend support for the VCM position through 2014. The major purpose of this extension will be to continue to generate support to make this an on-going sustainable position and provide "runway" for the implementation of additional entrepreneurial infrastructure. The annual cost for the VCM position is a base salary of $65k and a total cost of $73k with benefits. In addition, the VCM works closely with EDCO staff in the areas of event planning, marketing, outreach, and administrative support. Internal staff time allocated in support of VCM activities is estimated to be $36k making the total cost $109k. EDCO will continue to provide support for rent, phone, internet access and IT support not included in this total (approximately $7k a year). In addition to the Deschutes County, we are in discussions with the City of Bend and the Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust and other large Oregon-based foundations for financial support. We have also received a commitment from the Bank of the Cascades to fund $57.5k against our funding target. Deschutes County's involvement is important to our funding partners to demonstrate support for the Venture Catalyst Program and VCM. We are requesting that the Deschutes County consider a $20k contribution to the VCM position for the calendar years 2013 and 2014. It is proposed that this funding from the County be allocated from the Forgivable loan Fund for 2013 and video poker lottery funding (via the standard budgeting process) for 2014. EDCO realizes that no commitments can be for the County's 2013-14 fiscal year, but if the county is willing to make an award from the loan fund this year, we are seeking some indication of support for the program in 2014 that we can use today to leverage grant funding from foundations and other sources including the City of Bend. With regards to the Forgivable loan Fund, EDCO sees an opportunity for Deschutes County to make an investment to help early stage companies without the risk of actually making an award to them. EDCO would assume this collective risk and guarantee at least 20 new jobs per year for each $20,000 provided through its work with a portfolio of the most promising early stage companies. EDCO's minimum employment requirement would be 20 jobs but our goal would be three times that amount or 60 jobs by year end. The same reporting and metrics would be tracked by EDCO as for other companies receiving Forgivable loan Fund awards. In this way, the Venture Catalyst Program would be more of a "mutual fund" vehicle versus an individual company stock vehicle for investing. The request is small relative to the overall fund but returns in new companies and jobs potentially great. EDCO appreciates your consideration and partnership in support of entrepreneurial activities is Bend and Central Oregon. Central Oregon Angel Fund The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) has played a critical role as a state-wide advocate of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition to providing coaching and networking events and programs throughout the state OEN has been a strategic player in developing critical support for entrepreneurs. Some of the key assets developed and supported by OEN include regional angel conferences, the Oregon Angel Fund, the Portland Seed Fund and the Portland Angel Network. Building on these accomplishments OEN has recognized that entrepreneurs in rural communities face special challenges that have not been addressed. In 2011 OEN developed board support to create an initiative to strengthen entrepreneurial activity in rural Oregon. This strategic initiative includes recommendations to create regional accelerators, a rural seed fund and year round regional angel funds. The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) has provided initial funding to help launch boot camps that could become on-going accelerators. This is what has already happened in Central Oregon where with the help of OEN, OCF, Economic Development of Central Oregon (EDCO), the Tech Alliance, Deschutes County and private individuals that the first such accelerator has been created-it is called VentureBox. A key construct for the OEN rural entrepreneurial initiative is that start-ups have different needs depending on where they are in their life cycle. Earliest stage companies need the strong learning structure and mentoring of an accelerator and early stage seed funds but need only relatively smaller amounts of capital. Later stage companies benefit from the larger investments made by angel funds and when appropriate later stage venture funds. A key element of the OEN rural initiative is the creation of year-round regional angel funds that would provide later stage growth capital for start-ups. This proposal is based on the Portland based Oregon Angel Fund or OAF. OAF was started to migrate angel investors from the annual conference format (called Angel Oregon in Portland) to a year round angel fund. OAF attracts relatively small amount of pooled capital by individual investors or "angels" who then do the due diligence and select what companies they seek to invest in. Each fund lasts a year for its investment horizon. Investors are abetted in this process by a small team of professional managers who help to train and advise the investors. The fund has proven to be very successful in its first 5 years. Key metrics through 2011 include the following: 22 Oregon companies have received investment, $14 million invested by OAF angels, $5.5 million from public or non-profit OAF matching dollars for a total of over $19 million invested, $78 million in non-OAF follow­ on investments, zero failures, 3 successful exits, 516 jobs created. In 2012 some 90 angel investors are involved with OAF. OEN and EDCO seek to create a similar fund for Central Oregon. As mentioned, the proposal is modeled on OAF with several changes to account for the smaller population of the rural environment of Central Oregon. First, we would expect the fund to be smaller, $1 to $2 million with perhaps 30 investors. The support staff would also be smaller, probably one or two part time professionals. Third, the fund would be a multiyear fund, lasting from 2-3 years. Finally, the fund would be directly linked to the Bend Venture Conference in that it would commit to participate in the LLC investment group. To create the fund OEN/EDCO are seeking either public, non-profit or private sector entities that are willing to be a lead investor whose investment would be used to leverage additional investment. In addition, we are seeking capacity building funds to help subsidize the professional management position for the first three years of the fund. Such dollars would be used to help to defray salary and other overhead expenses and total $200k for the aforementioned 3 year period. Oregon Rural Seed Fund The Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) has played a critical role as a state-wide advocate of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition to providing coaching and networking events and programs throughout the state OEN has been a strategic player in developing critical support for entrepreneurs. Some of the key assets developed and supported by OEN include regional angel conferences, the Oregon Angel Fund, the Portland Seed Fund and the Portland Angel Network. Building on these accomplishments OEN has recognized that entrepreneurs in rural communities face special challenges that have not been addressed. In 2011 OEN developed board support to create an initiative to strengthen entrepreneurial activity in rural Oregon. This strategic initiative includes recommendations to create regional accelerators, a rural seed fund and year round regional angel funds. The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) has provided initial funding to help launch boot camps that could become on-going accelerators. This is what has already happened in Central Oregon where with the help of OEN, OCF, Economic Development of Central Oregon (EDCO), the Tech Alliance, Deschutes County and private individuals that the first such accelerator has been created-it is called VentureBox. A key construct for the OEN rural entrepreneurial initiative is that start-ups have different needs depending on where they are in their life cycle. Earliest stage companies need the strong learning structure and mentoring of an accelerator but need only relatively smaller amounts of capital. Later stage companies benefit from the larger investments made by angel funds and when appropriate later stage venture funds. Bridging the gap between the earliest stage (friends and family, accelerators) and later stage capital (angel funds, later stage venture funds) are seed venture funds. Such seed funds are professionally managed and provide linkages to other sources of capital both in state and significantly out of state. OEN and partners such as EDCO are proposing the development of a seed fund that would be focused on rural Oregon. The fund would be modeled on best practices including from such recent additions as the Portland Seed Fund (PSF). Entities like the PSF provide small amounts of investment in a structured environment with mentoring and specific milestone metrics which if achieved lead to follow-on investment. The manager would have strong links to Oregon's angel community, regional accelerators (like VentureBox), and to later stage venture funds both within and outside of Oregon. The majority of dollars (90%) invested would be dedicated to rural Oregon. It is anticipated that the fund would be headquartered in Bend which has an already developed strong entrepreneurial environment but would serve all of rural Oregon. It is anticipated that the size of the fund would be small ($2-3million) and investments would range from $50k to $500k. The size of the fund recognizes the correlation between the size of the investments such companies need and the number of companies that such a fund could mentor adequately. To create the fund OEN/EDCO are seeking either public, non-profit or private sector entities that are willing to be a lead investor whose investment would be used to leverage additional investment. In addition, we are seeking capacity building funds to help subsidize the professional management position for the first three years ofthe fund. Such dollars would be used to help to defray salary and other overhead expenses and total $300k for the aforementioned period.