If you’ve spent any time on this blog, you’ve no doubt heard me bemoan — or maybe even wax poetic — about the fact that it’s very rare for Portland or the region to have a a succession of exits or liquidity events. They generally happen as one offs. Or blips. But with recent activity for Cozy and Radar followed quickly by news of Mirador and Dakine, I’ll be darned if I’m not getting a wee bit optimistic about breaking that curse.
Today, two more Oregon companies announced that they had liquidity events in the form of acquisitions.
Mirador was acquired by CUNA Mutual Group
Mirador always kept a relatively low profile around town, but the stuff they were building was really compelling. My words not theirs, they were creating ways for folks to judge the trustworthiness of people applying for loans that didn’t have to rely on significant financial histories or impeccable credit scores. And they were part of a small but mighty fintecch startup cluster here in Portland.
And now that technology is part of a much larger organization.
Since we founded Mirador in 2014,- my co-founder, William Beaver, and I have been committed to our mission of ‘engineering the lending revolution’ and the shared belief in the power of digital technology to transform the lending process and broaden access to capital. Countless hard-working small business owners have shared their stories with us about the difficulty with accessing reasonably-priced capital needed to grow their businesses. And, lenders have told us how challenging it is to originate small business loans cost effectively. In building Mirador, we set out to bridge this gap and help more capital flow to these small businesses, which are the engine of growth of our economy.…
Within CUNA Mutual Group, Mirador will continue to operate much like it does today. You will continue to see the Mirador brand front and center; our headquarters will remain in Portland, OR and our focus on providing our bank partners and financial institutions the best-in-class digital lending experience via the Mirador Platform, will continue.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
For more, read the coverage in the Portland Business Journal and The Oregonian.
Dakine was acquired by Marquee Brands
Before today, you probably never thought you’d here the words “Bruno Magli” and “Hood River” in the same sentence. But now you can. Given that Marquee Brands is the parent company of Bruno Magli and now Hood River’s Dakine.
“Marquee Brands’ vision is to intensify Dakine’s focus on producing high quality products for its snow, surf and bike customers while also pushing the brand to explore exciting and uncharted waters. The team at JR286 is world class and we’re thrilled to be partnering with them to help realize this brand’s full potential. We are also proud to have a team of brand enthusiasts from Dakine, led by Ken, joining the Marquee family,” said Michael DeVirgilio, President of Marquee Brands.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
For more information, see the press release.
