Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
2025 US Venture Capital Outlook: Midyear Update | PitchBook
As 2025 unfolds, the VC landscape is evolving in unexpected ways. While early-year optimism pointed to a rebound in liquidity and a revitalized IPO market, global tariff tensions have reshaped the narrative. IPO activity has slowed, but resilience is emerging in new forms.
UW and developer scrap plans for anchor facility in Seattle innovation hub
“Due to significant shifts in the broader economy, changes in the university funding landscape and evolving market conditions in Seattle since the project’s selection in 2021, the University of Washington and Wexford Science & Technology have jointly decided not to move forward with the development of the Brightwork (W27) building at Portage Bay Crossing at this time,” reads a project update posted on Feb. 28, 2025.
Court filings reveal OpenAI and io’s early work on an AI device | TechCrunch
The filings are part of a trademark dispute lawsuit filed this month by iyO, a Google-backed hardware startup developing custom-molded earpieces that connect to other devices. Over the weekend, OpenAI pulled promotional materials related to its $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s io startup in order to comply with a court order involved in the suit. OpenAI says it’s fighting iyO’s allegations of trademark infringement.
Backyard Coffee And Jazz In Kyoto, Japan
It’s subtle, but it isn’t metaphysical or magical. It’s about giving people permission to pursue a passion or hobby at a slightly commercialized scale, rather than forcing them to either keep it to themselves or take the big, risky, expensive jump of going into business. This is genuine free enterprise: barriers so low that almost anyone can try something out without running into the brick wall of regulatory obstruction. This is how freedom can grow the small, the local, the beautiful.
Deep-Tech Startup Support in Oregon: Founder’s Guide to Launching
These ventures go beyond software apps or service platforms—they solve complex, global challenges using emerging technologies like biotechnology, AI, quantum computing, and advanced materials.
UW’s CoMotion Labs names inaugural Climate Tech Incubator
More than 30 companies applied to the eight-month program, which is part of the recently launched Seattle Climate Innovation Hub. The broader effort is a collaboration between CoMotion, the Seattle Office of Economic Development, the climate co-working group 9Zero, and the funding nonprofit VertueLab.
Thinking Machines Lab’s $2B Seed Round Is Biggest By A Long Shot
Launched and led by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, and joined by AI heavy hitters from Meta, OpenAI, Google and Mistral AI, the San Francisco company certainly has a founding team that investors ought to like. And given prevailing valuations for leading AI unicorns, a $2 billion seed deal doesn’t even sound that big in context.
More Portland startup news
