Month: August 2024

Granted, I’m fond of the whole notion that Oregon is the Bay Area of consumer products. But when 20% of the companies in the latest Whole Foods Accelerator cohort are from Portland, that just lends credence to that argument. Maté Party and Sibeiho have been selected to participate among the 10 companies, this year.

You may remember me writing about a new venture capital fund focused on local tech startups that local Portland startup community organizer Josh Carter tried to start a few years back, prior to the pandemic. Like startups, raising a VC fund — of any size — can be a challenging road, fraught with peril. Especially for first-time fund managers. Sometimes they work out. Sometimes they don’t. (That one didn’t.) But you always learn something. Now, Josh has taken the learning from that fundraising journey, put the concept of 1859 Ventures to rest, and decided to pursue a new fund. Meet Founders First Fund.

It’s that time again. Time for a whole new slate of contenders eager to take the Demolicious belt from the reigning — and defending — champ Airbuild. Will Airbuild retain the title for another month or will some unruly upstart pitch their way to a win…? You’ll have to attend to see.

In the world of technology and creativity, few roles are as misunderstood as the role of “Producer.” In fact, half the time you’re in that role, you’re not even called a “producer.” You’re called something else. Like a product manager or account manager or something. Well, NoCo Ltd. thinks we can do better. That’s why they’re gathering data for a Producer Landscape Study. And they’d like you to contribute.

Anyone else have Harry Belafonte stuck in their head, now…? Just me. Cool. Anywho… If you’ve been looking to curtail your social time — doomscrolling or otherwise — there’s a new Portland startup that wants to help. Meet Dayo.

A few months back, I wrote about Peggy Johnson taking over as the CEO of Agility Robotics, a Corvallis-area startup working on creating a bipedal robot for warehouse environments. Today, I caught an MSNBC profile piece where she shares why she sees her age — she’s 62 — as an asset.