---
title: 'Are you sitting down? Venture Capital investments are down in Portland'
date: '2024-04-11T15:06:59-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 447
char_count: 2735
tokens: 582
categories:
  - Portland
---

# Are you sitting down? Venture Capital investments are down in Portland

I know, I know. It comes as quite a shock. After living in a region where the venture capital flowed so effortlessly for so many years… Oh wait. Sorry. I was looking at the wrong thing. [VC investments are down in the Portland area. Way down.](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/news/2024/04/11/q1-vc-investment-tanks-in-portland-metro.html) Not that they were ever up to a crazy level. But they’ve been better.

![](https://i0.wp.com/siliconflorist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-11-at-3.08.48%E2%80%AFPM.png?resize=925%2C624&ssl=1)But it’s not a cash on hand situation. It may be more of a dearth of viable investments situation, as Diane Fraiman of Voyager Capital shared with the Portland Business Journal:

“There are monies available up and down the venture funnel in Portland but there is a reduction in the number of qualified deals to invest in overall — specifically in the tech industry,” Diane said. “This town is very cyclical in nature — always has been. The ‘Portland Experiment’ we talked about 10 years ago will look different in its next iteration. But one thing is true in my mind — Portland is a great place to build great companies. Portland is a great place for tech talent. And, while there is still work to be done to revitalize the ecosystem, the investment ecosystem is ready to write checks for great opportunities.”

[Stephen Green echoed that perspective on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184260668852781056?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_feedUpdate%3A%28V2%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7184260668852781056%29):

> While some may see these stats as a bad sign, I agree with [Diane Fraiman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAABFkgoBpuGBntFwBa4feiYurD4aamMPDAE) statement that Portland remains an amazing place to start and grow a company. I see this as a sign that the “glamorization” period of raising equity is waning. Its never been cheaper or easier to start a business than today and founders have brought their focus back to the basics of being curious about their customers, growing revenue and building businesses where there’s a need or a gap instead of what’s getting funding.

So are there Scrooge McDuck pools of money flowing into the current startup community? No. But have they ever? I mean, really…? No. And yet, time and time again, Portland has managed to build interesting companies. Find the capital they need to support them. And grow them into companies that — every once in a while — generate wealth for folks in town.

So yes, VC investment in Portland is down. But Portland most definitely is not.

More news from this week
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