Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
A Search-and-Inference Database from Scratch in Pure Zig — Antfly Research
Why we rewrote Antfly’s Go engine in Zig while the startup was still early: first principles, caring about the model instead of the embeddings, TigerBeetle-style simulation testing, and what the rewrite made possible.
(2009) Portland One Web Day: Making the Web more accessible to more people
Not a day goes by that I don’t think, “I get to do an awful lot of cool things and talk to any number of awesome people simply because I decided to start a blog about something I loved.” That may seem to be a ridiculous oversimplification—but when it comes right down to it, it’s not. I started blogging and things happened. I found people on Twitter and things happened. I started using services like Upcoming and Calagator and things happened. All because I embraced technology—and the Web—as a way of connecting with other folks.
Agility’s new Digit 5 robot lifts 50 pounds, works 20+ hours a day and operates alongside people – GeekWire
Digit 5 can lift up to 50 pounds, 40% more than its predecessor, and reach objects as high as 7.2 feet off the ground, up from 5.5 feet, according to the company. A new battery runs for 90 minutes and recharges in 9 minutes, which Agility says allows more than 20 hours of work in a 24-hour day. Its grippers can be swapped for different jobs.
Where Does a Robot Think — On-Device vs Datacenter Inference
With LLMs, the hardware bends to the model. Pour in as much data and compute as possible at training, then figure out how to serve the model that comes out. The model comes first; the hardware second. Robotics inverts this due to two constraints.
WORKER CO-OPS FOR TECH WORKERS, Fri, Sep 18, 2026, 4:00 PM | Meetup
Learn about forming co-ops: Co-ops vs traditional businesses Legal & Tax factors Network for co-op opportunities
Supreme Court rejects Trump vote-by-mail restrictions for upcoming election – oregonlive.com
“Oregon will vote-by-mail in the November election,” said Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, who oversees the state’s election system.
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With $300M in orders, Agility Robotics launches Digit 5 – Portland Business Journal
It’s a meaningful milestone for the company, which is gearing up for a public listing via a SPAC merger before the end of this year. It has touted $300 million in committed orders for Digit version 5 in its SPAC documents and presentations.
Coolest Thing Made in Oregon 2026 – Oregon Business & Industry
The Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest, now in its fourth year, allows Oregonians to nominate their favorite Oregon-made products, then participate in a bracket-style competition to choose the winner. The winner of the Coolest Thing Made in Oregon contest is announced at OBI’s annual Vision Oregon Event in the fall.
Portland Grocery Prices: Record Highs in August 2026
I’ve now tracked the prices of the same 20 items at stores around town for 13 months. Three Portland area stores just logged their highest total basket price in the life of the Portland Price Tracker, and year-over-year data shows the average basket price is up nearly 8%.
Inside OpenAI’s agentic software factory – by Gergely Orosz
A deepdive into how Codex has “taken over” OpenAI, how the frontier lab builds its agentic software factory, and the engineering challenges of one billion users. Details from inside OpenAI
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Why mouthfeel is trending globally in the food and beverage industry – Fast Company
“It’s not just about flavor anymore. People are thinking about the whole experience,” said Tana Davila, the chief marketing officer at Dutch Bros Coffee. The drive-thru U.S. beverage chain lets customers customize their drinks with toppings like a sweet and creamy whipped foam and juice-filled balls that pop when bitten into.
Bend Venture Conference Announces 2026 Early Stage Semifinalists — Bend Venture Conference
Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) is pleased to announce the 10 semifinalist companies advancing in the Early Stage track for the 23rd annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC), taking place in downtown Bend, Oregon on Thursday, October 15 – Friday, October 16, 2026.
Expensify Becomes One of the First Expense Management Tools Available in Claude for Small Business
Expensify, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXFY), the easiest way to manage expenses, travel, and corporate cards, today announced an integration with Anthropic to make Expensify one of the first expense management tools available as a connector in the Claude for Small Business plugin. Expensify will also host a free, live webinar on its connector this fall as part of the Claude for Small Business partner webinar series — register here.
Airbnb’s $250M housing accelerator program to start in Austin, Texas | Smart Cities Dive
Airbnb announced Monday it is pledging $250 million in last-dollar financing for multifamily housing projects, beginning with a $6.4 million investment in an affordable housing development in Austin, Texas.
Orca Security Is Now Native in Japanese for Japan’s Enterprises and Partners
Orca Security, a leader in cloud and AI security, today announced that the Orca Security Platform is now localized for Japanese, giving security teams across Japan a native-language experience from onboarding through detection and response. The move reflects Orca’s growing commitment to the Japanese market and builds on its broader expansion across Asia-Pacific and Japan.
