--- title: 'Silicon Florist links arrangement for October 16, 2025' date: '2025-10-16T21:27:17-07:00' type: post word_count: 742 char_count: 8139 tokens: 965 categories: - Portland --- # Silicon Florist links arrangement for October 16, 2025 Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today: [Portland metro VC investment up, deal volume down in Q3 2025 – Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/inno-insights/2025/10/15/venture-monitor-vc-investment-q3-2025.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=ae&utm_content=PO&j=42019989&senddate=2025-10-15&utm_term=ep4&empos=p4) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Locally, year to date, $585.1 million has been invested across 87 deals in the Portland area, which includes Southwest Washington. That compares to $365.2 million invested across 95 deals in the metro by the same time last year. [XCharge debuts Oregon’s first solar+storage EV chargers](https://www.evinfrastructurenews.com/ess-integrated-ev-charging/xcharge-north-america-installs-oregon-s-first-solar-plus-storage-ev-chargers) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delivered through a partnership with Wildhorse Resort & Casino’s Arrowhead Travel Plaza, XCharge NA will deploy four dual-dispenser GridLink chargers at the travel plaza, which is situated on Interstate 84, a key transportation corridor. [Caravel nets $7.8M award from National Science Foundation – Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/fundings/2025/10/16/careavel-bio-protein-discovery-national-science.html) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caravel Bio, located in the Oregon Bioscience Incubator on Portland’s South Waterfront, announced Thursday it has received a $7.8 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation. [Why There Hasn’t Been a ChatGPT Moment Yet in Manufacturing](https://theshearforce.substack.com/p/why-there-hasnt-been-a-chatgpt-moment?utm_source=tldrai) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This legacy infrastructure is the primary barrier preventing AI from transforming manufacturing the way it has transformed creative and knowledge work. [Technical experts have zero customers](https://www.ivan.codes/thoughts/technical-experts-have-zero-customers?utm_source=tldrnewsletter) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The AI builder shipping ugly code that works is making the right trade-off. Fix real problems first. Technical problems are a luxury you can afford later. [Portland startup Stratesea builds no-code AI map analysis – Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/news/2025/10/08/the-pitch-stratesea-ai-no-code-ocean-mapping.html?utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=inno&ana=e_n&utm_content=po) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The founders of Lake Oswego-based StrateSea have been working at “lightning speed” to get their no-code artificial intelligence platform into the hands of subsea intelligence analysts. [OSC Opening with the Mayor Tickets, Tue, Oct 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/osc-opening-with-the-mayor-tickets-1816357075909?aff=oddtdtcreator&utm_source=st&utm_medium=en&utm_campaign=inno&ana=e_n&utm_content=po) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This in-person event will kick off with a special address from the Mayor, followed by a tour of the remodeled office and a chance to meet the innovative minds behind the startups and the nonprofit organizations. This will be the hub for our community and we want to mark this occasion with key leaders from our startups, investors, and nonprofit leaders. [Most AI Projects Fail. Here’s How to Make Yours the Exception | Knapsack](https://www.knapsack.cloud/blog/most-ai-projects-fail-heres-how-to-make-yours-the-exception) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most AI projects stall because they’re not connected to real, repeatable business processes—and never create measurable value. [Reperio Health Expands ReperioCare™ Telehealth Service to 39+ States, Building on Nationwide Adoption of ReperioKit™ | Reperio Health](https://www.reperiohealth.com/reperiocare-expands-nearly-nationwide/) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, building on the nationwide adoption of ReperioKit™—already available in all 50 states—Reperio has expanded ReperioCare™ to 39+ states and Washington, D.C., putting the company past the halfway mark toward nationwide telehealth coverage before 2026. [How Startups Can Compete With OpenAI: Jason Kwon on Where to Build in the Age of AI](https://www.madrona.com/how-startups-can-compete-with-openai-jason-kwon/) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For founders, the question isn’t whether OpenAI will dominate the next decade. It’s how to build companies that thrive alongside it. [LinkedIn’s list of top 50 U.S. startups includes three emerging companies from Seattle area – GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2025/linkedins-list-of-top-50-u-s-startups-includes-three-emerging-companies-from-seattle-area/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LinkedIn released its annual list of the top 50 startups in the U.S. on Wednesday [Key Factors for Successful Pre-Seed B2B Software Investments](https://incisive.vc/2025/10/16/how-i-gain-conviction-in-early-stage-startups/) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A two-person founding team with the right configuration. I need a businessperson who deeply understands the customer’s problem—not theoretically, but viscerally. Someone who’s lived it. And I need a technical person who can actually build the product. That’s it. That’s the core. [Seattle startup led by brothers launches AI platform that lets workers query company data – GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2025/seattle-startup-led-by-brothers-launches-ai-platform-that-lets-workers-query-company-data/) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seattle entrepreneur Connor Folley has teamed up with his brother Maxwell Folley to build out Alkemi, an AI platform that aims to let employees query their organization’s data in plain English — without technical skills or risk to proprietary information.