Part of working to garner wider recognition for Oregon startups is ensuring that folks outside of our own ecosystem are aware of what’s being built around here. Global pitch competitions — like TiE Women and SXSW Pitch — are a great way of raising that visibility. And now, there’s another global stage for your startup to take: Startup World Cup is holding its Portland Regional on May 13, 2026, as part of Portland Startup Week 2026.
Startup World Cup is a series of global startup conferences and competitions, powered by Pegasus Tech Ventures, consisting of 100+ regional startup competitions across six continents, leading up to the Grand Finale in Silicon Valley.
That Grand Finale is November 18-20, 2026, in San Francisco. And the grand prize? $1,000,000, awarded as a direct equity investment or convertible note depending on company size. That’s not a trophy. That’s not a handshake and a “congratulations, here’s some cloud credits.” That’s a million dollar check.
The Portland Regional judges include Dave Barcos of North Bank Innovations, Josh Carter of Upstart Collective, Chris Magaña of Pinnacle Wealth Advisors, Yalda Moshiri from OEN’s Angel Oregon program, Nick Triska of Greater Portland Inc, and Shanbo Zhang from Oregon Angel Partners, among others.
Interested in competing…? Cool. Applications close May 8, 2026. That gives you two weeks to procrastinate.
For more information, visit Startup World Cup Portland.
