---
title: 'Lowering the barrier to entry: Founders Fund allows Portland founders to ante up for Portland Seed Fund II'
date: '2013-06-05T15:13:01-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 470
char_count: 2869
tokens: 611
categories:
  - '#featured'
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - Founder
  - 'founders fund'
  - Portland
  - 'portland seed fund'
  - psf
---

# Lowering the barrier to entry: Founders Fund allows Portland founders to ante up for Portland Seed Fund II

One of the topics I didn’t cover in [my round up of the most recent Portland Seed Fund demo day](http://siliconflorist.com/2013/06/03/portland-seed-fund-unveils-fourth-class-startups-demo-day/ "A whole new crop: Portland Seed Fund unveils their fourth class of startups at Demo Day") was [an announcement made near the end of the show](http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2013/05/new-fund-turns-portland-startup.html?page=all "New fund turns Portland startup founders into investors"). Mostly because I wanted a chance to catch up with Portland serial entrepreneur [Chris Logan](http://twitter.com/chrislogan "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](http://www.sec.gov/answers/accred.htm "SEC on accredited investors").

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](http://portlandseedfund.com "Portland Seed Fund"), Chris Logan, or feel free to hit me up privately and I’ll connect the dots.