Unlocking Talent & Capital

Eric Rosenfeld - August 2022

Some of the most successful companies in the world are disrupting their industries because they found an effective way to unlock and make available an underutilized asset…

• Airbnb unlocked underutilized residences to create a new supply of lodging.

• Uber & Lyft unlocked underutilized people and vehicles to create a new supply of transportation.

• Amazon unlocked and made available underutilized books, and then everything, including a new supply of web services.

• Google unlocked and made available the world’s underutilized information.

• TikTok unlocked underutilized teenagers & their inexhaustible creativity.

In our region - and on a smaller scale - a new generation of growth companies are also unlocking underutilized assets to create a supply of something valuable…

• Sila is unlocking and making available money and financial accounts in ways banks simply can’t.

• TrovaTrip is unlocking underutilized expertise to create a new supply of travel experiences.

• Absci is unlocking the power of AI and machine learning to create a new supply of biologic therapies and cures.

• At the risk of stretching the thesis, one could say Salt & Straw is unlocking underutilized and underappreciated ingredients to create a new supply of oddly delicious ice cream.

At the Oregon Venture Fund, we’ve developed a new model for investing and supporting entrepreneurs that is uniquely powerful and effective. At the core of our success is a network of 180+ venture partners who generously provide invaluable expertise, connections, and capital to support our region’s next generation of growth companies and future large employers. Additionally, by working to reduce the risk and friction of investing local, OVF has also attracted investors – foundations, businesses, families, and individuals – who, often for the first time, feel comfortable and inspired to invest local. Most of the millions of dollars being invested locally through OVF, creating local jobs and local wealth, might otherwise have been invested out-of-region, probably in a Wall St.-managed ETF of some sort.

Thus, the Oregon Venture Fund, too, is unlocking and making available a supply of underutilized assets. In our case, the underutilized assets being unlocked aren’t books, cars, or homes; the assets we are all unlocking are local capital and local expertise, all for the benefit of local entrepreneurs and our region.