The concept of crowdfunding has changed—or utterly disrupted—any number of industries. But what about healthcare? Can taking medical research funding to the crowd prove to be a viable means of changing the industry? Portland’s Consano is convinced it can be. Read More
Month: August 2013
No more teacher's dirty looks: EdCaliber lands $500,000 round to help educators meet state standards
Granted, SmartUps is a misnomer this time around: Join me in Eugene on August 29
As much as I love the Portland startup scene, I always enjoy getting the chance to hang out with other startup towns. To see what they’re doing. And to hear what’s working. That’s why I’m happy to be taking a jaunt down south to Eugene on August 29th for the next SmartUps gathering. Read More
Going back to the roots of the Silicon Forest: Hardware renaissance sparks electronic systems pitch competition
While there are any number of amazing things happening in the Portland startup scene with Web and mobile, the glimmers of a hardware renaissance are upon us. And that harkens back to the days that when the Silicon Forest garnered its moniker. Read More
Sure you can demo, but is it Demolicious?
Hey you. Yeah, you. Midnight oil. You’re up late. Working on that thing. You know. That side project. The one that’s really going to change the world. All you need is just a little bit more work and then you’re going to be ready to demo that thing like nobody’s business. Well, get ready to be happy. Your opportunity is right around the corner. Read More
Big day for Jama Software: News of $13 million investment draws attention to formerly quiet company
When folks are rattling off the names of Portland startups, Jama Software was a name that was often left off the list. While successful, foregoing institutional funding tended to leave them out of the spotlight they so richly deserved. Well, that changed today. As Jama announced $13 million in funding from Trinity Ventures and Madrona. Read More
Get ready to get Gone: Gone Home game from Portland's Fullbright Company premieres August 15
We were all pretty excited when we heard that a few folks from the Bioshock crew were forming Fullbright Company, right here in Portland. And we’ve been eagerly awaiting the fruits of that collaboration. Well get ready to be happy. Fullbright’s first major title is available. Introducing Gone Home. Read More
MOAR Portland startup collaboration: PDC establishes cross functional entrepreneurship liaison
When you work to build momentum, it’s always nice to have someone helping that momentum to continue. That’s why I’m incredibly happy to see the Portland Development Commission focusing staff resources on improving the collaboration among all of our entrepreneurial communities. Read More
Equals: You got your natural language in my equations. You got your equations in my natural language.
I’ve always been appreciative of Portland entrepreneur Elia Freedman‘s thoughtful and deliberate approach to problems. So when he showed me an early prototype of his latest project a few months back, I couldn’t wait until he released it. Well, we’re almost there. Introducing Equals. Read More
Crossing the streams: Lytics lands $2.2 million from Rembrandt and Voyager
When Lytics stood on stage at PIE Demo Day last year, they compared their solution to Moneyball. Well, that analogy seems to be paying off. The company—which focuses on helping companies better understand their customers by seamlessly combining multiple streams of activity data into a series of rich profiles—announced today that they had secured $2.2 million in funding, led by Rembrandt Venture Partners with participation by Voyager Capital. Read More