Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
C1 Transform 2026 | San Francisco
Attend C1 Transform for candid, peer-to-peer conversations on what agentic transformation takes. Get the actionable blueprints to scale AI adoption, automate identity, and secure access. C1 is building the agentic enterprise—this is your invitation to shape it with us.
Google’s new AI tool helps fact-checkers investigate AI fakes | Nieman Journalism Lab
After uploading an image and entering a basic question, Backstory can automatically run checks to determine whether the image is AI-generated, whether it shows signs of manipulation, and where else the image has appeared throughout its lifetime on the internet. Built on top of Google’s Gemini family of large language models (LLMs), Backstory also leans on AI agents to decide which authentication tools it will use and in what order it will use them. The final output is an AI-generated report summarizing what Backstory found out about the image, with citations, as well as a log of the steps it took along the way.
(2024) Early AI startup Reclaim.ai acquired by Dropbox
When I think of AI startups in Portland, Reclaim.ai is often the first one to jump to mind. They were starting to think about the potential applications of AI in helping folks manage their schedules before many of us knew how to spell AI. And before that pandemic thing. And clearly, that thinking hasn’t gone unnoticed. Reclaim.ai has been acquired by Dropbox.
Investors Plow a Record $366 Billion Into California – WSJ
Companies based in the Golden State have drawn around $366 billion of venture capital since the beginning of the year, according to data provider PitchBook. That’s more than three times the amount of venture funding that has gone into the other 49 states combined, and nearly double California’s previous record, set in 2025. New York state ranks a distant second in venture-capital investment, with $27 billion in deals announced so far this year.
Virginia county with 250 data centers begins to rein in building — Loudoun’s more than 250 data centers made it one of the richest counties in the US, but residents are pushing back | Tom’s Hardware
It all started when a federal government demand led to the installation of fiber internet lines in the area, owing to its proximity to Washington, D.C. This grew even more during the dot-com craze of the late ‘90s, when many companies built a ton of fiber connections in the region. This made it ideal for building early data centers in the area, with AOL moving its headquarters in the region in 1996. By the year 2000, the county voted to categorize data centers as office parks, meaning companies can build these structures with little oversight and approvals.
Hasaan Hates Portland by Mischa Webley — Kickstarter
Hasaan Hates Portland began as a web series in 2024 and quickly attracted a large online audience. Created by writer/director (and native Portlander) Mischa Webley, the eight-part series struck a nerve with its satirical skewering of America’s whitest and weirdest city through the eyes of its side-eyeing Black protagonist, Hasaan. After racking up millions of views of its episodes and clips, the show went on to win the top prize for web series at the Oscar-qualifying film festival, Hollyshorts.
What’s the Right Balance in Regulating AI? – by James Wang
I am pleased today to be joined by Beth Andres-Beck, running for the House in Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District. I think this is a particularly interesting conversation because I don’t normally cover politics, but Beth is a software engineer, knows tech, and isn’t just knee-jerk anti-AI. I thought it would be interesting to talk about what’s going on on the campaign trail, how Beth has been thinking about these particular topics, and get a sense of where things are in the political field. Beth, I’d love it if you would introduce yourself to the audience.
Kiu Coates | Tender Tools for Conflict to Connection | CreativeMornings/LX
Learn to recognize negative communication patterns, address their cause, and transform any argument — through vulnerability and compassion —into an opportunity to soften and connect. In this way, we can healthily digest and assimilate what’s been transmitted. You’ll learn to: •Identify our own communication style •Connect with the tenderness beneath our own and other’s reactions • Develop compassion for ourselves, our partner; our colleagues • Respond instead of react
On Computer Use
Give computer use a try again. The limitation for me personally is becoming that I am not creative enough; I am banging my head against a wall where I don’t know what I cannot do now. The best interface might just be a conversation, and the most convincing demo might just be as ordinary as a movie that stops buffering without you needing to pull up your laptop.
Expensify Card Spend Rules: Control Spend Before It Happens
The Expensify Visa® Commercial Card does a lot more than pay for things. With spend rules, you decide exactly how, where, and when each card can be used, and every charge gets approved or declined in realtime before it goes through.
Rise of the Borderless Founder
There’s a special version of this pay-it-forward culture for international founders. When you are from another country and you make it here, you find a community of people who have done the same. They, too, left behind their friends, family and primary language to pursue an idea they couldn’t quit. So when these founders get together, believe us, they have each other’s backs.
Introducing Sigil Logic
My view is that the only way forward, both for critical systems and for everyday software, is to make rigor normal: to transition rigorous engineering and formal methods into everyday practice, the way testing and modern dev practices became mainstream over time. But we can’t require everyone to become a PhD. I’ve tried 🙂
Firsthand: How I Built a Brand with Heart at Lovable
The Lovable brand we launched that November wasn’t supposed to scale. When we went viral, I immediately knew we needed a visual identity that could scale. So I talked to every paying user I could, trying to understand what Lovable made them feel. Rewatching those calls afterwards, I was struck by their body language — they sat up straighter, their eyes widened. When I met them in person, they’d pull my laptop out of my hands just to show me what they wanted to build.
Silicon Florist watch party · Luma
It’s Friday evening. You’re wiped. But you’re still in the mood for something entertaining. Well, unfortunately, this ain’t it. But it is an opportunity to join folks from the Portland startup community for a little watch party — all from the comfort of your own keyboard.
StrateSea Technology: Building the Intelligent Brain for Autonomous Subsea Operations – Elevate Capital
StrateSea grew out of the intersection of my career in oceanography, AI, and building technology inside large organizations. I had spent years working with complex sensor data and later leading teams focused on making advanced analytics useful and accessible to real users.
Genentech announces $750M expansion at Hillsboro site – Portland Business Journal
The company, which is part of the Swiss drugmaker Roche Group, will bring new end-to-end device filling capabilities to its 75-acre campus, creating 250 “high-wage manufacturing jobs and approximately 2,000 construction jobs in Oregon during site development, with commercial operations expected to begin in 2031,” according to the announcement.
