(Cue up “Been down so long“) The latest Venture Monitor data from PitchBook and the NVCA just dropped. Portland metro: $69.7 million across 15 deals in Q1. Down nearly 65% from Q1 last year. Statewide: $74 million across 23 deals. The lowest first quarter since they started tracking in 2016.
Oof. I know. I know. But hold your horses there, persnickety pants. Because I’ve been here before. Multiple times. And as such, this is good news to me. So before you spiral into some “doom loop” trope, let me remind you what happened the last time things looked like this.
In 2016, Portland metro venture capital totaled $370 million for the entire year. That was “low.” That was “concerning.” But here’s what was being built while everyone was wringing their hands about the state of VC — or lack thereof:
- Vacasa was quietly raising rounds and building the largest vacation rental management company in North America. Became a unicorn. Went public acheiving a $4.4 billion valuation.
- Jama Software had been bootstrapping since 2007. No VC apart from a few pitch competition wins here and there. Took a $200 million round in 2018 because they’d built something worth that much. Sold to Francisco Partners in 2024 for $1.2 billion. The largest software exit in Portland history.
- Cloudability raised about $40 million total over its entire life. Built the definitive cloud cost management tool. Acquired by Apptio. Apptio was acquired by IBM. Now all we hear about is how great Cloudability is.
- Streem was founded in late 2017. In 18 months it was #2 on Crunchbase’s 50 hottest companies globally. Acquired in under three years.
- Cozy grew by going free for landlords — a counterintuitive move that had nothing to do with venture-funded growth hacking. Acquired by Apartments.com for $68 million.
That’s just to name a few.
And while all of that was happening? Zebras Unite launched DazzleCon right here in Portland. It was the beginning of a movement that literally articulated why lean capital produces better companies. By 2019 it was in The New York Times.
So yeah. $69.7 million across 15 deals. The lowest Q1 in a decade. But I’m not concerned. Because you know what I see…? I see a community that has always been inspired to do its best work regardless of the amount of capital being thrown around.
So yeah. The number is low. And I’m not worried. Because I’ve seen what this community builds while nobody’s paying attention.
