Oregon Angel Fund Raises $3M, Makes New Investments in Software, Retail, and Apparel

Angel capital just might be alive and well—at least in Oregon. Following up on Rick Turoczy’s guest post about Portland, OR, startups on Friday, we’ve learned that the Oregon Angel Fund has closed a new $3 million fund this summer, made up of 60 individual investors who each contributed $25,000, plus $1.5 million from the Oregon Growth Account, a state-run fund dedicated to Oregon startups and supported by proceeds from the state lottery.

The Oregon Angel Fund was co-founded in 2007 by investor Eric Rosenfeld of Capybara Ventures. Rosenfeld says the angel group’s new fund, which closed in July, is its third and largest fund. The group’s previous investments include Elemental Technologies, RNA Networks, and other prominent Portland-area startups.

What’s more, Rosenfeld tells me the group has already made three startup investments out of its newest fund. Here’s an update, and a little bit about each company:

—Vancouver, WA-based ClearAccess makes software that enables Internet service providers to remotely manage their customers’ residential and office broadband networks. In June, the Oregon Angel Fund invested $500,000 in ClearAccess, part of the company’s Series B financing of a little over $6 million that was announced last month. ClearAccess has about 30 employees and is led by CEO and co-founder Ken Hood.

—Portland-based Giftango makes online gift card systems for hotels, restaurants, spas, retail stores, and other merchants. The Oregon Angel Fund has committed to invest $500,000 in Giftango this month and lead the company’s series A financing. CEO and founder David Nelsen, a former project manager at Intel, leads Giftango. Bob Greenberg, an investor and Pixelworks co-founder, will join the company’s board.

—Portland-based Wicked Quick is a fast-growing clothing and apparel brand, founded by former executives and designers from Nike, No Fear, and Bain & Company. The Oregon Angel Fund invested $405,000 in Wicked Quick last month, and led the company’s Series A financing, which is fully subscribed at $1.1 million. Wicked Quick is led by founder and CEO Tarran Pitschka and chief operating officer Eric Happel. Rob Stewart, an investor and former Xerox consumer products executive, has joined the company’s board.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. View all posts by Gregory T. Huang