---
title: 'Portland startups have already announced more than $51 million in venture capital funding in 2018 [updated]'
date: '2018-01-24T09:25:08-08:00'
type: post
word_count: 510
char_count: 4140
tokens: 663
categories:
  - Fundraising
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - Funding
  - Portland
  - 'portland startups'
  - Startups
  - 'venture capital'
---

# Portland startups have already announced more than $51 million in venture capital funding in 2018 [updated]

While still striving to hold true to my promise to Jive cofounder [Bill Lynch](http://twitter.com/billjive "Bill Lynch")—that I would stop using Silicon Florist as a platform to celebrate fundraising announcements—I feel obligated to take a little tangential liberty to share a developing theme I’m seeing… Because this isn’t a typical. Portland companies have announced more than $51 million in venture capital, this year. And it’s not even a month old.

- Discogs announced $2.5 million ([Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2018/01/05/exclusive-beavertons-discogs-lands-music-industry.html "Exclusive: Beaverton's Discogs lands music industry vet, and his $2.5M investment"))
- Fleet announced $10 million ([Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2018/01/24/portland-logistics-startup-lands-10m-bigname.html "Portland logistics startup lands $10M, big-name backer"), [Techcrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/24/fleet-raises-10m-series-a-to-make-international-logistics-speedier-and-more-transparent/ "Fleet raises $10M Series A to make international logistics speedier and more transparent"), [The Oregonian](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2018/01/fleet_22-year-old_portlanders.html "Fleet, 22-year-old Portlander's startup, raises another $10 million"))
- NurseGrid announced $5.7 million ([Geekwire](https://www.geekwire.com/2018/nursegrid-raises-5-7m-scheduling-staffing-tech-platform-nurses/ "Geekwire"), [Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2018/01/18/a-portland-based-health-care-app-maker-snags-5-7m.html "A Portland-based health care app maker snags $5.7M, plans more hiring"), [The Oregonian](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2018/01/portland_startup_nursegrid_rai.html "Portland startup NurseGrid raises $5.7 million"))
- SheerID announced $18 million ([Geekwire](https://www.geekwire.com/2018/sheerid-raises-18m-series-b-round-build-verification-layer-cloud-services/), [Portland Business Journal](http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2018/01/23/sheerid-well-double-our-headcount-after-18m.html "SheerID: We'll double our headcount after $18M fundraise"), [The Oregonian](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2018/01/portland_startup_sheerid_raise.html "Portland startup SheerID raises $18 million"))
- ZincFive announced $11 million ([Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2018/01/18/exclusivetualatins-zincfive-raises-11m-to-grow.html))

\[Update\] And apparently, I missed one from BigLeaf…

> [@turoczy](https://twitter.com/turoczy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) No offense, but you left almost $5mm off the list 😉 <https://t.co/HXdgoTedyw?amp=1>
> 
> — Jeff Burchett (@jdburchett) [January 25, 2018](https://twitter.com/jdburchett/status/956421505356738560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

And while that still pales in comparison to other metropolitan startup communities, it’s a meaningful and noteworthy metric for our community. Because with the [2017 tally of $348 million](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2018/01/oregon_venture_capital_picked.html) in venture capital—if you include [Vacasa’s private equity round of $103 million](https://siliconflorist.com/2017/10/17/round-and-round-simultaneous-fundraising-announcements-by-portland-startups-torch-3d-and-vacasa/ "Round and round: Simultaneous fundraising announcements by Portland startups Torch 3D and Vacasa")—that means 2018 funding announcements are already up to 13% of last year’s totals.

Now, there’s no telling if this trend will continue. But there were a number of companies not mentioned here, said to be pursuing funding in 2017. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see that number continue to grow.

I’ll keep an eye on it. And try to provide context. But I still promise not to celebrate fundraising announcements just for the sake of celebrating. Because as we all know, fundraising is difficult, but the real challenge is putting that money to good use.