One of the topics I didn’t cover in my round up of the most recent Portland Seed Fund demo day was an announcement made near the end of the show. Mostly because I wanted a chance to catch up with Portland serial entrepreneur Chris Logan, who is spearheading the effort.
Chris and I got a chance to catch up this week. So now I feel that I can—in my fumbling way—provide more details on the effort.
Participants in the Founders Fund LLC are folks who meet the following criteria:
- founder of a startup in Portland
- who is also an accredited investor
- who is also interested in participating in the Portland Seed Fund’s second fund
- who is not in a position to meet the minimum $60,000 buy-in to participate in the fund.
The most important distinctions up there? A startup founder who is already an accredited investor. Meaning, you have to meet the requirements of accredited investor status.
I’d like to repeat that: this isn’t a way to make an end run around being an accredited investor.
So the big benefit here? Getting to participate in the Portland Seed Fund II at a much lower barrier to entry—$20,000 minim buy-in versus $60,000. So you still have to be able to step up to a cutting a sizable check.
Why is this an important new investment vehicle in town? Because it gets more startup founders participating—and hopefully sharing—in the success of their peers. And it makes that participation far more attainable. Plus, it diversifies the number of folks participating in the round by making it more accessible to a broader group of people. Also? Participating. Which I seem to have used 12 times in this paragraph.
Long story short—or as more eloquently summarized by Chris—it provides “more ways to get entrepreneurs involved.” And it’s just another shining example of Portland’s collegial entrepreneurs and our extremely collaborative startup environment.
And it’s definitely getting some traction. Chris mentioned that there are already about a dozen Portland founders participating in Founders Fund. But they’ve got room for more.
If you’re a Portland founder who’s interested in participating, please contact the Portland Seed Fund, Chris Logan, or feel free to hit me up privately and I’ll connect the dots.
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[…] seen that occur in a more formal way with a handful of angels in town and local groups like Founders Fund, Upstart Labs, Rogue Venture Partners, and the Oregon Angel Fund. And we’ve been lucky enough […]
Portland Seed Fund started with entrepreneurs banging on doors to get funded. Fast forward three years…. founders are now banging on our doors to fund future entrepreneurs. This is the virtuous cycle in action, and a strong testament to our amazing community. Thanks Chris and founders who have stepped up. Fantastic.