Now, I realize that this isn’t exactly Portland startup news. But it is former Portland startup news. And the company in question still has a significant presence here in town. And it’s Friday. So I feel it’s warranted. SurveyMonkey — now known as Momentive — is getting acquired as part of a $4 billion deal.
Read MoreMonth: October 2021
Sila cofounder chats with Nasdaq about the state of fintech
Listen as Portland’s Shamir Karkal, cofounder of fintech startup Sila and cofounder of Simple, discusses the current state of fintech with Nasdaq.

Community kudos: Skip Newberry, Technology Association of Oregon
Skip and his growing team at TAO provide PDX startups with mentors, investors, and resources that help our Silicon Forest thrive. While TAO brings education, excitement, and community to Oregon-based tech companies, Skip operates at a national level, sharing insights and ideas with tech leaders, incubators, associations, and government programs across the country. TAO executes on exciting new ideas and services for its members with amazing speed. This is leadership in action, starting from the very top with Skip. Thank you for everything you continue to do to make Portland a great place to build technology.
Follow Skip on Twitter.
Have someone you’d like to recognize? Give them the kudos they deserve.
Community kudos: Juan Barraza, Portland State University
Anyone who knows Juan has seen him in action – he’s relentless in his energy to create a more equitable and vibrant startup community. I suspect that Juan spends most of his time thinking how things could be better and connecting awesome dots.
For more, follow Juan on Twitter.
Have someone you’d like to recognize? Give them the kudos they deserve.
Community kudos: Rational Unicorn
Michael and his team at Rational Unicorn helps the community through affordable legal services and classes for the business community. Their work helped me to start my e-commerce business and I am forever grateful for their work.
— Vyvyan Doan
For more, visit Rational Unicorn.
Have someone you’d like to recognize? Give them the kudos they deserve.
Portland ecommerce startup Rally secures $6 million
As the pandemic hit, suddenly every product and retail company was forced to become an ecommerce company. But choosing the right platform amidst all of the potential possibilities proved to be another challenge to overcome. Which inspired Portland startup Rally, a headless decentralized ecommerce platform that works in tandem with a variety of other providers.
Read MorePortland calendar AI startup Reclaim launches “Smart 1:1s”
If you’ve ever managed folks, you know how powerful 1:1s (one-on-ones) can be for keeping everyone up to date and on the same page. And if you’ve ever managed anyone at a startup, you know how keeping a consistent schedule for those 1:1s can fall to pieces in a stressful environment. That’s why Portland startup Reclaim is putting their AI bot to work on your calendars, so that those 1:1s always happen, even under the most tenuous of calendar conditions.
Read MoreGumroad founder launches The Minimalist Entrepreneur
Local founder Sahil Lavingia has been impressively open about his journey as an entrepreneur. Now, he’s collected learnings from that journey into a book and course to help more folks figure out their own path to building something amazing. It’s called The Minimalist Entrepreneur.
Read MoreFormer Simple exec and Seed cofounder to head up innovation at Lincoln Savings Bank
We don’t make a big deal of it, but Oregon punches above its weight for innovative fintech expertise. From the Simple diaspora to current players like Bumped, Expensify, and Sila, there are a lot of local folks rethinking finance and the infrastructure that runs it. And it’s always nice when other regions recognize how compelling that talent is. Like Lincoln Savings Bank which has recently hired former Simple exec and Seed cofounder Ryan Hildebrand to head up innovation.
Read MoreBend Venture Conference 2021 results in more than half of a million dollars in investments
Another Bend Venture Conference is in the books. And a collection of startups now have additional investment fueling their future growth. To the tune of $550,000 potentially being invested — post due diligence — in six Oregon startups and one Canadian one. But who and what impressed the audience enough to secure those investments? Let’s take a look at the winning companies.
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