Five finalists vied for biggest payoff, showing off products ranging from plant-free puddings to recyclable water cans

Chatter filled the room at McMenamins Mission Theater Monday evening as five Oregon food, beverage and wellness startups prepared to pitch their products for a crowd of investors, fellow entrepreneurs and industry professionals.

At the end of the night, one business walked away with $100,000: Functional Botanicals, an Ashland-based hygiene business that sells biodegradable bamboo tablets that become wipes when activated with water.

The announcement was part of Oregon Angel Food’s annual competition, which grants burgeoning business owners across the state the opportunity to contend for a check from investors. This year, five finalists vied for the prize, showing off products ranging from plant-free puddings to recyclable water cans.

Functional Botanicals founder and CEO Cassandra Davis traveled to Portland from Southern Oregon for the event.

“Being an entrepreneur is a really hard job, and it takes a certain amount of grit and perseverance to get through all the trials and tribulations,” Davis said Monday, her oversized $100,000 check in tow. “It just feels so wonderful to be in an ecosphere of other people who are inspired (and) who want to change the world through business.”

Nonprofit Oregon Entrepreneurs Network hosts three annual education and investment programs. This is the group’s fourth Oregon Angel Food competition, and this year’s Angel Oregon Technology and Angel Oregon Life & Bioscience programs will both start in September.

Portland-based Mickelberry Gardens, which sells a line of raw honey and bee pollen products, won $160,000 at last year’s Oregon Angel Food competition.

Functional Botanicals is the nonprofit’s first investment outside of Portland, said Cara Turano, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network’s executive director.

“It has been a dream of mine — since we do support the whole state — to be able to say that,” she said Monday after the winner was announced. “Tonight, it was official.”

Functional Botanicals was one of five startups to compete this year — chosen from a group of eight considered by investors and part of a group of more than 30 food and beverage entrepreneurs who participated in Oregon Angel Food’s monthlong education program.

Finalists included Goddess Mousse, which makes vegan chocolate mousse; Goodpud, a plant-based pudding and treat company; Manny’s Choice, which specializes in non-GMO European flour; and Portland Water, a business that packages pure Oregon spring water in recyclable cans.

Davis’ company was the only finalist outside of Oregon’s food and beverage sphere, instead pitching a consumer packaged good, or everyday product that requires frequent replenishment.

This was the first year Angel Oregon expanded to include those products, Turano said, in part because of growth in Oregon Entrepreneurs Network’s membership over the past few years.

In her five-minute pitch Monday, Davis introduced the audience to Functional Botanical’s luxury make-up remover — a potential solution to what she called hotels’ expensive “linen spoilage” problem.

“You know those fluffy white towels you get at really nice hotels?” Davis asked the crowd. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost every year due to makeup ruining those towels.”

Functional Botanicals offers a solution, she said. Like all of its hygiene products, the wipes begin as a compact dry tablet — about the size of four nickels stacked on top of each other. Add a few drops of water, and the tablet transforms into a full-size, fragrant towelette.

Since launching in 2020, the company has already tapped into luxury hotels’ growing interest in sustainable clean beauty products, she said. It acquired an international contract with Four Seasons Hotels as the chain’s exclusive make-up remover.

Davis is from the Midwest, but she’s lived in Oregon for 22 years. Functional Botanicals started as an idea around 2012, she said, but it took a while to get on its feet. The business began in the outdoor market, selling sanitizing wipes to campers and mountaineers.

“I was focused on raising my kid and getting him into high school,” Davis said. “Once he graduated, I was like, ‘All right, now it’s time. … You’re in college, now I got the new baby.’”

It was important to craft a business that matched her values, Davis said. She went vegan at 15 years old, a decision she said turned heads in her Midwest town. Now, Davis said, she’s proud to contribute in a new way: bringing an organic, compostable product into mainstream spaces.

“You can’t stop capitalism,” she said. “You can’t stop consuming things that you need — but we can be smarter.”

Already, Davis has curated a focus on giving back to her community in Ashland. She’s donated wipes to women’s shelters and homeless shelters, she said, as well as to those who lost their homes during the Almeda Fire in 2020.

With her new $100,000 investment, Davis said, she plans to focus on growing the business’ direct-to-consumer platform. Right now, Functional Botanicals isn’t on social media, so she hopes to find a way to break into the market and capture more small sales, she said.

Davis’ long-term vision for the company, though, is far bigger.

“I really just want to build a beautiful machine,” she said. “I want to build a machine that’s going to create a bunch of jobs for people and have a legacy, and I want to be a mentor for women in business.”