Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
ChEmpower Secures $18.7M to Advance Abrasive-Free Planarization in Chip Manufacturing
ChEmpower, a semiconductor materials company providing polish pads and chemical solutions for planarization, announced it has raised $18.7M in Series A funding. The funding will help scale its technology for advanced chip manufacturing and packaging. The funding round was co-led by M Ventures and Rhapsody Venture Partners. New and existing investors Intel Capital, Pangaea Ventures, Foothill Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), and TEL Venture Capital also participated in the funding.
A Love Letter To People Who Believe in People
This is a love letter to the people who inspire us to be bolder and braver, but also an invitation to show an unwavering belief in someone else. People show us what’s possible every day—and each of us, in our own way, can be those very people. To be a fan is to open your heart, stand courageously in your enthusiasm, and help transform the world.
The ‘triangle’ model that Madrona’s Matt McIlwain uses to assess founders and startup pitches – GeekWire
It’s fascinating to learn how venture capitalists decide which startups to back. Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain shed light on his mental model for evaluating pitches during a recent fireside chat with OneSixOne Ventures.
Black Founder’s Mental Health Fund Gets $25K Boost From Techstars Co-Founder
James Oliver, founder of the co-founder matching app Kabila, has launched the Kabila Founder Mental Health Fund, to support founders’ mental health. Backed by the Social Good Fund, the initiative received a $25,000 seed grant from Techstars Co-Founder Brad Feld.
Portland-area Araceli Biosciences closes $11M round – Portland Business Journal
Tigard Biotech company Araceli Biosciences completed its seed round raising an additional $7.2 million from investors. In addition to the new capital, the round also saw the conversion of $4 million in SAFE shares, which was triggered by a previous Simple Agreement for Future Equity.
Oregon, Nvidia team up on $10M AI workforce initiative – Portland Business Journal
Oregon will spend $10 million and collaborate with tech giant Nvidia to boost programs that train students to work in artificial intelligence, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Thursday.
Intel offers weak forecast amid trade tensions as CEO talks to TSMC | Reuters
In a conference call with investors, Tan also gave the first hints of sweeping plans to revitalize Intel’s culture of innovation, including a mandate for employees to return to the office four days a week, fewer meetings and stripping out unnecessary internal administrative work in favor of core engineering work.
2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born
We see the journey to the Frontier Firm playing out in three phases. First, AI acts as an assistant, removing the drudgery of work and helping people do the same work better and faster. In phase 2, agents join teams as “digital colleagues,” taking on specific tasks at human direction—for instance, a researcher agent creating a go-to-market plan. These agents equip employees with new skills that help scale their impact—freeing them to do new and more valuable work. In phase 3, humans set direction for agents that run entire business processes and workflows, checking in as needed. Just as we’ve seen the role of AI in software development evolve over the past three years from coding assistance to chat to—now—agents, the same pattern will apply to knowledge work.
Portland Accessibility and User Experience Meetup (PDX A11Y UX)
Come together for an evening of accessibility sharing and learning! We’d like to hear from you, whether you consider yourself a novice or an expert. Bring your questions, projects, or ideas to discuss as a group. Or, just bring yourself to connect with other accessibility-minded folks! We’ll break into small groups if needed to cover different topics. Drop in or leave at any time.
Intel reverses course, opts not to spin out Intel Capital | TechCrunch
During Intel’s Q1 earnings call Thursday, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company has reversed its decision to spin out its 34-year-old venture arm. Instead, Intel Capital will remain internal and continue to invest with Intel’s interests in mind.
Wait, how did a decentralized service like Bluesky go down? | TechCrunch
Despite the platform’s decentralized nature, the majority of Bluesky users today interact with the service via Bluesky’s official app, powered by the AT Protocol. While in theory, anyone can run the various parts of the infrastructure that make up the protocol, including PDS, relays, and other components, it’s still early days for the social network, so few have done so.
Startup Conversations in the Couve » Calagator: Portland’s Tech Calendar
Michael Pan will b e our speaker in May!!! Michael is the founder of Pan’s Mushroom Jerky, a plant-based snack company based in Portland, Oregon. The company was inspired by a traditional Malaysian vegetarian jerky recipe from Pan’s family. After discovering this unique snack during a trip to Malaysia in 2006, Pan began developing the recipe in his home kitchen, eventually launching the product in 2018. His journey has taken him from working with companies like Motorola and Continental, and a startup success at Fancred to full time making one of the more successful food brands in Portland – Pan’s Mushroom Jerky.
How Your Startup Can Take Advantage Of The R&D Tax Credit
Many startups overlook this opportunity, potentially missing out on savings of $500,000 or more annually. Let’s break down how founders can make the most of this credit.
Finally – Tyler Sticka
Whether or not a Gunpla model builder is qualified to assess the coolness of a comic book collector on the basis of a CSS speech balloon implementation is not for me to say. The main takeaway here is that I’m cool now.
Consumer startups are awesome, and here’s what I’m looking for at a16z (70 slide deck) at andrewchen
I’m really bullish about what’s around the corner – and I want to unpack what I’m looking for, how I’ve drawn insights from history, and what’s around the corner.
ChEmpower raises $18.7M to advance semiconductor chip polishing technology – SiliconANGLE
ChEmpower Corp., a semiconductor materials company providing polish pads and chemical solutions, today announced it has raised $18.7 million in a new early-stage funding for its effort to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and promote sustainability in the chipmaking process.
Portland-based ChEmpower raises $18M series A – Portland Business Journal
The company’s series A round was co-led by venture capital firms M Ventures and Rhapsody Venture Partners. Investors Intel Capital, Pangaea Ventures, Foothill Ventures, In-Q-Tel and TEL Venture Capital also participated, according to an announcement from ChEmpower.
More Portland startup news
