Silicon Florist links arrangement for October 7, 2025

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

Oath Surgical raises $24M for surgical AI ecosystem

“We started Oath Surgical with the mission of reinventing surgical infrastructure at scale and with value at its core. The need is clear,” Keown wrote. “We’re at the outset of a transformational shift in how, where, and by whom surgery is delivered… And, Oath Surgical is at the forefront.”

Portland State University IP office helps keep innovation cycle moving – Portland Business Journal

Woodland leads a small but efficient team at PSU that works with faculty members to patent, copyright or otherwise protect research coming from labs and centers at the university. His team can file five to eight patent applications a year. In addition, they work to connect faculty to external partners who can help push research and potentially get that work into products.

How startups could be affected by a prolonged government shutdown | TechCrunch

The U.S. government shutdown could stifle deal flow, freeze visa processing for workers, and cause other problems for startups and the broader tech sector, especially if it lasts longer than a week, according to experts who spoke to TechCrunch.

How to avoid getting squashed by OpenAI, and other startup insights from the company’s strategy chief – GeekWire

How startups can avoid that reality was one of the questions at the Madrona IA Summit in Seattle on Wednesday. Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, shared advice for founders trying to innovate in the shadow of a company racing toward artificial general intelligence.

A Growing Backlog Of Biotechs Haven’t Raised Funding Since The Boom

So far in 2025, only about $17 billion has gone to U.S. biotechs, per Crunchbase data. And of that, roughly half has gone to seed and early stage startups — leaving a smaller portion for late-stage financings for well-funded companies.

Advice on Enduring Today’s Uncertain, Hostile Times

What is Adam Savage’s advice on getting through these uncertain and hostile times? Would he change anything about his past? What does Adam mean by “scarcity model?” When is something gatekeeping and when is it asking people to pay their dues?

Portland startup Oath raises $24M for nationwide expansion – Portland Business Journal

The funding round was led by FPV Ventures with participation from McKesson Ventures and existing investors OSE, Black Opal Ventures, Tau Ventures and Rogue VC.

Startups and the US government: It’s getting complicated | TechCrunch

A growing share of startups have the U.S. government as customers, or are aiming for permits and defense-related contracts. When the government is operational, that connection can provide a needed boost and revenue to startups. But when the government ceases to function, as it did starting October 1, those close ties can stifle or even halt progress for startups.

If you’re not an AI startup, good luck raising money from VCs | TechCrunch

PitchBook reports that VCs have poured $192.7 billion into the industry so far this year, out of a total $366.8 billion, according to Bloomberg. In the most recent quarter, AI accounted for 62.7% of the money invested by U.S. VCs, and for 53.2% of money invested by global firms.

Morgan Stanley warns AI stock boom is running out of steam

Morgan Stanley sees multiple factors feeding a slowdown in AI spending: cash is a concern, pricing is accelerating, and speculative risk is rising

The Agentic Entrepreneur: How the next wave of AI is changing the startup playbook – GeekWire

We’re on location at Pioneer Square Labs in Seattle with investor and entrepreneur T.A. McCann, managing director at the startup studio and venture capital firm.

We should all be worried about the great AI bubble

Given its enormous scale, an artificial intelligence crash could spell doom

Context Is Not Just a Map, It’s the Terrain – Ron Bronson

As I’ve spent more time working on experiments, collaborating with others, and figuring out where lessons from other design contexts apply to LLMs and AI contexts, I’ve decided the best place to start is context engineering.

Other Oregon startup stories