---
title: 'Quick recap of the first half of 2025'
date: '2025-06-30T08:08:45-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 429
char_count: 2830
tokens: 558
categories:
  - Portland
tags:
  - '6'
---

# Quick recap of the first half of 2025

Yesterday, [I sat through all of the weekly recaps for 2025](https://www.youtube.com/live/Df6K0Csx6Ts?si=QL7-dBuSpODxgUe7). At 2x. (I’m a glutton for punishment, but not enough to watch it in real time.) I tried to take notes here and there to capture some of the highlights, so that you don’t have to sit through the whole thing. And here’s what I came up with…

### Fundraising and exits

- Ampere Computing acquired by SoftBank for $6.5B all-cash deal in March
- Hydrolix raised $80M Series C with 8x YoY revenue growth
- Sturdy secured $6M led by Voyager Capital
- Disputed AI raised $1.1M from angel investors
- Mercury raised $300M at $3.5B valuation
- Araceli Biosciences raised $11.2M for AI-enabled drug discovery
- Voyager Capital saw three portfolio company exits in Q1 (Lytics, Act-On, DeepSurface) — but one got scuttled
- Q1 2025 Portland VC funding reached $170M vs $58M in Q1 2024

### Notable product launches and companies

- Dayo launched app rewarding reduced social media usage, reaching [\#6](https://siliconflorist.com/tag/6/) on Product Hunt
- Graze Social raised $1M for BlueSky feed curation tools
- Faceplant opened plant-based burger restaurant targeting McDonald’s with $3.99 burgers
- Birch Biosciences (YC alum) developing enzyme tech for PET plastic recycling
- Portland Digital Corps launched to support nonprofits with tech solutions

### Community events 

- Portland Startup Week 2025 (May) featured 80+ events
- AI Portland hosted Zero to One Build Challenge hackathon
- Regular events established: 
  - Monthly Demolicious pitch competitions
  - Startup Cafe at Metro Region Innovation Hub
  - Show Up for Small Business gatherings

### Organizational changes

- Katharine Reinhold appointed Executive Director of Built Oregon
- Matt Dittrich named President of TIE Oregon
- Pat Cheung joined Metro Region Innovation Hub as Navigator
- Mitch Daugherty launched Portland Office of Small Business
- Karmen Olson named Board Chair of Built Oregon

### Community infrastructure

- Propel PSU opened new entrepreneurship space
- NedSpace under new ownership focusing on creative pursuits

### Notable trends

- AI adoption accelerating across Portland startups
- Increased focus on sustainability/climate tech
- Growth in biotech/healthcare startups
- Rising interest in consumer-facing applications
- Stronger connections developing between Portland/Seattle ecosystems

### Key metrics

- Silicon Florist published 5,500th post since 2007
- PDX Startup Slack reached 7,000 members
- Oregon Startup Database launched with 100+ profiles
- Demolicious expanded to Seattle market

To keep up on these sorts of things, week to week, please consider [subscribing on YouTube](https://youtube.com/@turoczy_).

More Portland startup news
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