The First Check Is The Deepest (1)

Yo! We won. So excited to announce that Dayo was selected as the winner of the Oregon Entrepreneur Network’s Oregon Angel Tech competition. This is also the first outside check Dayo has received, as we have been founder funded to date. We are off and running and couldn’t be happier today.

Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) announced the investment recipient of the Angel Oregon Tech (AOTech) 2024 fund at an announcement mixer hosted at Stoel Rives on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. 

Dayo, a groundbreaking app, developed to fundamentally change the way people interact with social media, received the $105,000 AOTech Investment. Dayo’s mission is to cultivate a healthier relationship between individuals and social media platforms by encouraging users to find balance between the digital and the real world. Dayo rewards users for their time spent offline and in the real world via a valuable point system and the points can be redeemed in an exclusive brand marketplace. Co-founder and CEO Corey Scholibo presented the company alongside finalists David Burchfield from BuildingLens, Amina Moreau from Radious, Susan Piacenza from SeaStereo, and Calvin Gower and Casey Rillahan from Stirra. 

“I am so excited that the Portland investment community would invest in an idea this big,” said co-founder and CEO Corey Scholibo. “As a dreamer and a founder I love that Portland has the resources and the will to change the culture for the better.”

The challenges presented by social media is one the greatest problems of our time,” said COO and Co-founder Patrick Triato. “Finding a way through this challenge has to be both fun and creative. We believe we found it with Dayo.”

After a successful AOTech program last year, the OEN team decided to focus on raising two Angel Oregon funds in 2024 – food and life sciences. The local technology angel investing community led by John Furukawa and Bonnie Page pushed hard for a tech investment this year. After raising an initial $50,000, AOTech 2024 was confirmed and over 40 tech startups applied for the investment. 

This year’s AOTech angel fund is made up of investments from 20 local investors. Investors in the fund first selected 12 companies to screen and then conducted intense  due diligence on 5 finalists and selected a winner in a private vote, the results of which were revealed at the mixer. Attendees included investors and venture capital firms, universities, government agencies, service providers, and nonprofits, representing a cross-section of the Oregon and Southwest Washington technology sector.

“The magic of this year’s AOTech is that it was 100% community driven,” said Cara Turano, President and Executive Director of OEN. “It shows the power of the network of founders, funders and business service providers who constantly and consistently step up to support local entrepreneurship. This program had no budget and no allocated staff time and through the amazing volunteerism of John and Bonnie, OEN is making a significant investment in Dayo. It was an inspiring 7 month journey. Congratulations to all the companies who participated and thank you to the many investors involved in the process.”

If you (or anyone you know) wants to start earning cash and cool products for being a little more mindful with your time on social media, download the dayo app today!