Six mid-valley startups will be in the running for a $125,000 cash infusion in the first-ever Willamette Angel Conference, slated for May 14 in Corvallis.

Three Corvallis companies, one from Philomath and two from Eugene are among 14 finalists selected to make presentations to a panel of angel investors at the conference, the first event of its kind in the mid-valley.

Rounding out the field are five Portland ventures, two from Seattle and one from Central Point.

The conference, organized by the Corvallis Benton Chamber Coalition and the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, is intended to spur access to startup or "angel" investment capital for mid-valley companies.

But to make sure there were enough high-quality ventures to invest in, a broad net was cast for candidates. Applications were received from 43 different early-stage companies.

"Our goal is to get people to make good businesses," said John Sechrest, economic development director of the Corvallis-Benton Chamber Coalition. "There's certainly a preference for local companies, but we didn't want to help local companies at the expense of good businesses."

A three-member investor panel will critique the presentations, and the audience will have a chance to express its preferences, but the final judging will be done by a different group.

Twenty-five investors formed a limited liability company to put up the cash for the winner-take-all prize, and they'll be the ones deciding who gets it. If the company becomes profitable, the LLC will get a return on its investment.

After the initial round of vetting, five companies have been selected to make in-depth presentations of up to 10 minutes. The other nine will make shorter presentations, with the best one having a chance to make a full-length pitch.

Only the six startups making long presentations will have a shot at the $125,000 angel investment funds.

The five companies tapped to make long-form presentations are CenterSpace Software of Corvallis, Floragenex of Eugene, Wicked Quick of Portland, Zapproved of Portland and ZAPS Technologies of Philomath.

Making quick pitches will be Arcimoto of Eugene, Giftango of Portland, GlideCycle of Central Point, Green Lite Motors of Portland, Groupthink of Seattle, Orelle of Seattle, Precision Plant Systems of Corvallis, Toggle3D of Corvallis and WeoGeo of Portland.

Sechrest said organizers hope to make the conference an annual event, alternating between Corvallis and Eugene.

"The core hope that I have is that we develop a stronger investing culture in the area -. so that we can drive more local business creation," Sechrest said. "That's the underlying point of this thing."

The Willamette Angel Conference will take place at Oregon State University's CH2M Hill Alumni Center, 875 S.W. 26th St. Registration will open at 7:30 a.m., with the conference beginning at 8:30 a.m. and concluding with a 5 p.m. social hour.

Dave Hersh of Jive Software will give the keynote address. There will be a panel discussion on technology commercialization, and professor Rob Wiltbank of Willamette University will present research on angel investing.

Admission to the conference costs $199 for the general public and $75 for students. Registration can be done online at the conference Web site, www. willametteconference.com.

Sponsors include the Endeavor Law Group, Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, Palo Alto Software and the Tad Davies Group.

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.