OEN News2025 Oregon Entrepreneurship Awards Winners Announced

Oregon Entrepreneurs Network announced the winners of the 2025 OEN Entrepreneurship Awards at an evening awards on November 13, 2025. 

For the 31st time, OEN hosted the state’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship with over 400 attendees gathered to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of this year’s nominees, finalists, and winners. The event was hosted in downtown Portland with a theme that focused on the adventurous nature of the entrepreneurial journey emceed by Southern Oregon Innovation Hub Director Kim Freeze. 

 

EARLY STAGE AWARD

• WINNER: Ahead Computing | Semiconductor startup that designs and licenses high-performance RISC-V microprocessor cores for general-purpose computing, AI, and cloud applications, co-founded Mark Dechene, Debbie Marr, Jonathan Pearce and Srikanth Srinivasa.

 

DEVELOPMENT STAGE AWARD

• WINNER: Neurosom | A personalized, at-home neuromodulation therapy to improve deep and REM sleep, key factors in reducing dementia risk founded by Viral Sheth.

 

GROWTH STAGE AWARD

• WINNER:  Hemex Health |  Designs diagnostic technologies for the real world by listening to the needs of healthcare providers including those in some of the most remote and challenging settings founded by Patti White and Peter Galen.

 

TRAILBLAZER AWARD

• WINNER:  OneApp | Provides an avenue to housing for people who don’t pass traditional screening criteria, while boosting occupancy and mitigating risk for property managers founded by Tyrone Poole.

 

ENTREPRENEURIAL ACHIEVEMENT

• WINNER: Jenny Nguyen | CEO & Founder, The Sport Bra
  Jenny is the founder and owner of The Sports Bra, which opened in April 2022 as the world’s first sports bar 100% dedicated to showing only women’s sports.  The Sports Bra is far more than a sports bar; it’s a manifestation of Jenny’s unwavering commitment to championing women.  The Sports Bra is expanding through franchising. The first four locations are set to open in 2026 in Boston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and St. Louis.

 

COMMUNITY CATALYST AWARD WINNERS

• Dave Barcos I North Bank Innovations  I  Dave Barcos co-founded his first digital-design startup at 23 before relocating to the Pacific Northwest in 1990. Throughout the 1990s, he led creative work for Nike, Intel, ESPN, Whole Foods, and Adidas, collaborating with agencies such as Wieden+Kennedy and Cole & Weber. In 2017, he founded North Bank Innovations, an independent incubator based in Vancouver, WA. Supported by a strong network of founders, operators, and investors, North Bank offers hands-on programs, mentorship, and capital connections. Its flagship meetups, Vantechy and Startup Conversations in the Couve, have supported more than 1,200 entrepreneurs and drawn thousands of attendees.
• High Desert Partnership  I  Based in Hines, Oregon in Harney County, the High Desert Partnership is a mature-stage nonprofit that brings people together to address rural challenges through collaboration. Their distinctive approach invites diverse stakeholders to engage openly and respectfully, emphasizing inclusion and the value of differing opinions to create positive community impact.
• Jon Maroney  I  Advisor & Investor  I  Jon Maroney is a former General Partner at Oregon Venture Fund (OVF), Oregon’s largest early-stage venture capital firm. For a decade, Jon focused on identifying and supporting the next generation of world-class companies in the region. Before joining OVF, he founded, led, and exited two pioneering mobile phone software companies. Jon serves on the boards of several rapidly scaling startups including Honey Mama’s and OneApp. His expertise spans team building, early go-to-market strategy, product strategy, and bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and investors.

“We continue to see over 200 nominations for the entrepreneurship awards every year and this year the number of statewide nominations hit a record high,” said OEN President & Executive Director Cara Turano. “OEN is recognizing our first Eastern Oregon winners as well as finalists and winners across all the industries we serve – technology, life sciences, and food and beverage. The innovation being driven by all our nominees, finalists, and winners is astounding and the entire OEN board and staff is delighted to extend our heartiest congratulations!”

 

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Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to helping local entrepreneurs start up and scale up. The organization hosts entrepreneur education and angel investment programs, including Angel Oregon Tech (AOTech), Oregon Angel Food (OregonAF) and Angel Oregon Bioscience (AOBio), in addition to the annual OEN Entrepreneurship Awards. Learn more at www.oen.org.