Month: September 2025

It’s a busy week with three pitch events happening on Thursday. But there’s a wide variety of events from which to choose, so hopefully you’re able to get out and about to meet with folks from the community.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Google Chrome at 17 – A history of our browser

In this write-up, I’ll walk through Chrome’s origins and evolution across these pillars (as best I know them), highlight key milestones (from multi-process architecture to AI-powered features), and share a few behind-the-scenes tidbits along the way. It’s been an incredible journey – one driven by relentless performance improvements, cutting-edge security efforts, and an uncompromising focus on user experience. Let’s dive in!

I haven’t seen any news about this, so I’m still working to get more details. That said, I did notice that Beyond Pulse, a Portland startup that helps coaches and athletes, has raised some money that triggered a SAFE conversion. All of which totaled around $3.3 million.

As I mentioned during the recap last week, I recently had the opportunity to visit Eugene and the University of Oregon via an invite from the Launch Oregon crew as part of attending their Launch Oregon Summit. A jampacked Friday afternoon, we had the opportunity to both explore what was happening on campus as well as hear from folks from throughout the broader Oregon startup community.

Hadn’t heard about this yet, so I wanted to make sure that you knew… There’s another 4K4Community fun run coming up at the end of September. And, as always, it’s going to serve as a fundraiser for local nonprofits.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Next Ventures raises $60M fund, partners with OHSU – Portland Business Journal

Next Ventures raised $60 million for its second fund. The Oregon Growth Board, which manages state lottery revenue, invested $5 million, said Strong. Next Ventures joins Portland-based firms including Elevate Capital, Portland Seed Fund and private lender Meriwether Group that have landed state-backed investments.

I always wonder if folks will see these sorts of headlines and think that a fund was shuttered. When it’s quite the opposite actually. But “close” is the term that the industry uses. So be it. What it does mean in this context is that Next Ventures — a fund with local ties through founding General Partner Mel Strong — can shift their focus from raising their own money to beginning to use the $60 million in the fund to invest in promising startups.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Nextracker acquires Bend’s Origami Solar for $53 million – Portland Business Journal

Bend-based Origami Solar has been acquired for $53 million by Nextracker, the world’s leading manufacturer of tracking systems for utility-scale solar power plants.

I remember Jon Maroney as a founder. And as a peer as we both ran accelerator programs. So of course, I remember him joining Oregon Angel Fund in the role designed for community engagement and deal flow. Of course OAF changed too — as many thing do — to Oregon Venture Fund. And now, OVF is going to experience another change. Jon Maroney is moving on to his next challenge.