Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Agility Robotics IPO: What it means for Pittsburgh

The robotics firm, which has a local office on Lawrenceville’s Robotics Row, announced this week it’s merging with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special-purpose acquisition company built specifically to take startups like Agility public. The transaction, which values Agility at a $2.5 billion pre-money equity value, is expected to close later this year. Once the paperwork clears, the new joint company will go by Agility and trade under the ticker “AGLT.”

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Oregon Prosperity Council pushes tax reform, regulation cuts – Portland Business Journal

Gov. Tina Kotek’s Prosperity Council on Thursday delivered its final recommendations for ways to boost Oregon’s economic competitiveness, with tax reform and cuts to regulations topping a lengthy list that drew on six months of meetings and listening sessions around the state.

Our friends across the river with North Bank Innovations are starting something in collaboration with Sam Keen of Portland AI Engineers fame: Cascadia Builders Club. So if you’re someone who makes things — startups, apps, hardware, the side project you’ve been poking at after the kids go to bed — this one is for you. Come see what’s actually getting built on the Washington side of the river, ask questions, and find your people.

You know the feeling. You spotted a good event. You actually paid for the ticket. Even more importantly, you actually went to the effort to follow through on your RSVP and show up. And then you walk in. The room is already full of people who all seem to know each other. So you find yourself drifting toward the beverage table to study the selections with great intensity. Why…? Meeting people is the whole point — and yet somehow it’s the hardest part. That’s the gap Wyrl is built to close.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Portrait of a Man in Crisis – Cari Luna

When the interview began, I saw a clean and well put-together older man, well-spoken and polite, asking only for respect, asking only that I not insult his intelligence. From that first impression, I would have never predicted that the interview would go off the rails the way it did. I wish that I had met him on one of his better days, because on those days I bet he has a lot to share. I wish that I had recognized sooner that I wasn’t qualified to deal with him on a bad day. I hope he is doing better now. I hope I didn’t cause him harm.

Agility, the Oregon company that spun out of Oregon State University to rise as a leader in the world of bipedal humanoid robots, has always struck me as an Oregon startup that doesn’t get the attention it so richly deserves. Well I guess that’s going to change. You see, Agility is heading to the public markets. The company is going public via a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, the SPAC run by Michael Klein, at a pre-money equity valuation of $2.5 billion.