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Month: December 2021

Looking to do more for nonprofits? Maybe you need a Field Day

I like to think of Portland as a philanthropic town. Lots of nonprofits. Lots of looking out for one another. And a few high net worth individuals and family offices giving back to causes they cherish. But what if you’re not ridiculously wealthy? What if you’re just an average company looking to do more for those around you…? For you, there’s Field Day.

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What a difference a decade makes: PDXWIT is turning 10

Arguably my favorite professional organization in town and the one organization I can name that has managed to sustain consistently exemplary programming throughout the ups and downs of the pandemic, PDXWIT — which started as a nonprofit organization to support Portland women in the technology industry — is turning ten years old.

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Upon further review: Adding a Combined Statistical Area population lens to the VC investment analysis by Rise of the Rest

Yesterday, I shared a recent report by Rise of the Rest which illustrated the number of VC dollars from the Bay Area and New York City that were being invested elsewhere in the country. Portland did okay in the rankings. But something was gnawing at me. Like I needed some additional context. And suddenly it dawned on me this morning that that additional context might be the populations of the metropolitan areas that were highlighted — and what the per capita venture capital investments were.

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Rise of the Rest charts Portland among top 20 cities where Bay Area and New York VCs are investing outside their region

Raising capital is hard. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. It’s just difficult. And when you have to go outside of town for that capital, that makes it exponentially more challenging — and complex. But if this recent report from Rise of the Rest tells us anything, it’s that Portland startups are doing a decent job of dealing with that additional complexity. And landing early stage capital from outside of the state.

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A pivot, a new name, and a $50 million Series B: Meet Portland startup Torq — formerly known as StackPulse

If you haven’t heard of Torq before, it may be because the name and business are fairly new. The company was formerly known as StackPulse, but a pivot in business also motivated them to pursue a new name. And new infusion of capital — a $50 million Series B led by Insight Partners — will probably make that name pretty memorable around Portland.

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Want to influence policy around the City of Portland surveillance technology?

When it comes to tracking citizens with technology, these days it’s way more than just closed circuit cameras or cell tower tracking. The number of technologies available to the City of Portland include “any software, electronic device, system utilizing an electronic device, or similar used, designed, or primarily intended to collect, retain, analyze, process, or share audio, electronic, visual, location, thermal, olfactory, biometric, or similar information specifically associated with, or capable of being associated with, any individual or group.”

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