Elevate Capital Newsletter

October 2020

The Dyrt Raises $3.8 Funding and is Growing Their Team  

“Portland startup The Dyrt has secured $3.8 million of a $4 million funding round that will be used to accelerate the growth of the company’s newly released paid product,” reports the Portland Business Journal. The Dyrt is one of the fastest-growing and highest-ranking camping apps for iOs and Android.

“The capital will be used to boost technology and marketing and accelerate The Dyrt Pro's growth,” reports The Dyrt. This six-year-old startup is looking for great people to join their growing team. Check out their job openings.

Meyer Memorial Trust Has a Breakthrough 2019 With a 25.2 Percent Return

Elevate Capital Fund’s lead investor Meyer Memorial Trust’s CIO Rukaiyah Adams, shares her story with the Portland Business Journal (PBJ) on how “Meyer’s roughly $800 million endowment returned 25.2 percent.”  PBJ reports that “Meyer Memorial Trust benefits from having more women and people of color managing its money, a percentage that's climbed from around 2 percent to 40 percent in five years.”

Hubb is Taking the Event Industry to a Monumental Level

Hubb is re-inventing virtual, in-person, and hybrid events with powerful and immersive experiences--it’s the best event management platform you’ve ever used. The past few months, Hubb and Allie Magyar, Founder and CEO of Hubb, have been energizing the event industry.

Congratulations to Allie Magyar for being recognized as one of Eventex's Top 100 Most Influential People in the Event Industry. “These are the people that left a mark on the events world with their creativity, vision, capacity for innovation,” says Eventex.     

Hubb made the Portland Business Journal’s Largest Women-Owned Businesses in Oregon and SW Washington list. “Thank you to our incredible team that has worked harder than ever before and to our amazing partners,” said Allie, “You have made our growth in these hard times possible.” 

Hubb was awarded the MarTech Breakthrough’s Most Innovative Event Management award. The competition was intense, with more than 2,750 nominations. “Breakthrough Award winners showcase standout technologies and services that are revolutionizing how brands exceed these expectations with personalized experiences throughout every customer interaction,” reports MarTech. 

And if that wasn’t enough, Hubb recently launched a new brand and website. “We’ve taken a strong leadership position in driving the industry towards our new virtual and hybrid future, and it was time for our brand to reflect this shift,” said Raime Merriman, VP of Marketing. “Our goal was two-fold—to maintain a sense of continuity between our core selves that hasn’t changed, and to boldly showcase our industry-leading vision for the future.”   

Stephanie Lampkin Recognized by MIT Management Sloan School

“Stephanie Lampkin started Blendoor in 2015 to match employers with diverse talent through anonymized profiles — no names, photos, or ages driving bias in hiring,” reports MIT Management Sloan School. Last month, MIT featured Stephanie in the article, “This CEO wields transparency and openness to crowdsource ideas.”

GrowthPlug Named TiE50 Award Winner at TiEcon 2020

GrowthPlug, a SaaS for healthcare practices to accelerate patient growth and automate front desk operations, is excited to announce that it has been selected as a 2020 TiE50 Winner in the prestigious TiE50 Awards Program. 

This ten-year-old awards competition is a program of TiEcon, the world's largest conference for tech entrepreneurs. GrowthPlug was recognized for its rapid growth where GrowthPlug is being leveraged by hundreds of healthcare practices across the U.S. in managing their patient acquisition, patient retention, and front desk automation.

Hemex Health Receives $100K from NIH Tech Accelerator Challenge

Congratulations to Hemex Health and Medtronic for winning 100K (third prize) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Accelerator Challenge for Global Health. They received funding for a finger cuff to detect hemoglobin variants related to anemia and SCD, and hemozoin, a marker for the malaria parasite in blood. 

Hemex creates affordable, life-changing medical diagnostics for under-served people everywhere. Hemex’s novel diagnostic platform is designed to reach populations at risk for malaria and sickle cell disease.

Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Handful

Handful is a company by women, for women—making bras, leggings, tops, and accessories to make their lives easier. Handful’s mission is to elevate, motivate, and support women to grab life! 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. About 1 in 8 U.S. women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.  

Handful not only supports Breast Cancer Awareness month, the company gives 12.5% of the revenue from the sale of its Battle Cry Pink bras year-round to the Young Survival Coalition (YSC), the premier organization dedicated to reaching young women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast cancer survivors are eligible for a lifetime 30% discount on all Handful bras and activewear through their Breast Friends Forever program. 

Photo provided by Handful.

Toolbelt Receives Technology Company of the Year Award 

Congratulations to Toolbelt for receiving the Technology Company of the Year Award (Pre-Revenue category) from the Technology Association of Oregon (TAO). “These awards celebrate excellence and achievement within the region’s vibrant technology community,” said TAO. 

ToolBelt bridges the word-of-mouth connection gap between general contractors and subcontractors by connecting them to available projects on the Toolbelt App platform.

Portfolio Companies Are Hiring

• Blendoor

• Bumped

• BrandLive

• GrowthPlug

• Minnow

• The Dyrt

• ToolBelt

• TrovaTrip

• True Lark

Upcoming Virtual Events

October 8 (11:00 am to Noon) – Corporate Philanthropy Awards, Portland Business Journal

October 13 (2:00 pm) – Functional Working Session on Marketing, TiE Oregon

October 15-16 (in person and virtual) – 17th Annual Bend Venture Conference, Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO)

October 27 (5:30 pm to 7:30 pm) – Confessions of an Entrepreneur (with Allie Magyar, Founder and CEO of Hubb), TiE Oregon

November 10 (2:00 pm) – Functional Working Session on Financials, TiE Oregon

December 8 (2:00 pm) – Functional Working Session on Recruiting & Team Creation, TiE Oregon