One of the most rewarding things about covering the Portland startup community is the opportunity to watch things come full circle. Sometimes, that’s extremely positive. Like watching founders start something, build something, and successfully exit something. Sometimes, it’s less positive. Like being around for both the beginning and the end of an effort, successful or otherwise.
Indie.vc was one of those project that — while not a purely Portland endeavor with some definite Portland connections — deeply resonated with the community. And so I’ve been tracking it since its inception. Unfortunately, founder Bryce Roberts revealed today that Indie.vc is an experiment that has come to an end.
We’re proud of the work we’ve done as investors, brand builders, and movement makers. We love Indie! The founders we’ve funded, the Scouts we’ve recruited, the products we’ve shipped, the impact we’ve had. All of it! I have no doubt that in 4–5 years we’ll see our Indie companies posting comparable results as our previous funds that have generated 5x+ net multiples for our LPs.
That said, without the institutional support to scale the Indie Economy we envision, it’s time to take our learnings and refocus on other strategies within the portfolio to deploy our capital.
For more on the decision, visit “The End of Indie.” For previous coverage, see the Silicon Florist posts about Indie.vc.
[Full disclosure: I served as a Scout for Indie.vc.]
