Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
This Is A Momentous Year For Early-Stage Unicorns
A total of 47 seed- and early-stage companies joined the unicorn ranks in the first quarter of this year, per Crunchbase data. Barring a major slowdown, that puts 2026 on track to deliver the largest cohort of young unicorns to date.
Frugal AI helps countries priced out of Big Tech – Rest of World
Amid a widening global divide in AI adoption, low-cost AI models that can deliver sovereignty and efficiency with a smaller environmental footprint are gaining ground.
Your next customer might be an AI agent
AI already recommends which products to buy. It helps buyers negotiate with sellers. If you’re building an app with an AI agent like Claude Code, you’re primed to delegate at least some decision making to a trusted agent. And now AI agents are getting their own credit cards!
Your website still matters. Here’s what to prioritize now.
Your website is a major source of what feeds LLMs, so what’s on your site shapes what those models say about you. And your website, at least for now, is still where prospects go to evaluate and buy. In a world where anyone can vibe code a decent-looking site in an afternoon, your website is your chance to stand out in an increasingly crowded landscape. Don’t vibe code it into undifferentiated chaos!
Elad Gil on the Co-Founder Fallacy
Elad Gil is one of the most respected investors in Silicon Valley — a solo GP with >$1B AUM and an investor in SpaceX, OpenAI, Stripe, and Anduril. In a recent fireside chat, he went after one of the most persistent myths in startups: that you always need a co-founder.
Startup Coffee Meetups, Thu, Apr 9, 2026, 9:00 AM | Meetup
Fuel your morning and ideas with Startup Coffee, a monthly open meetup for entrepreneurs, innovators, students, mentors and community members at the Innovation Hub at 942 Olive. Drop by on the second Thursday of the month at 9 am to connect, share and grow.
TiE University Regional Pitch Competition 2026 – Home
The program culminates with a Regional Pitch Competition. The winner of that competition will have the opportunity to attend and pitch at the Global Pitch Competition at the TiE Global Summit, one of the world’s largest investor conferences in the world.
Public comment extended on future of offshore wind in Oregon, including none at all • Oregon Capital Chronicle
Several years ago, offshore wind energy was seen as key to meeting Oregon’s climate goals but coastal communities and federal disinvestment have stymied plans
Open Models have crossed a threshold
TL;DR: Open models like GLM-5 and MiniMax M2.7 now match closed frontier models on core agent tasks — file operations, tool use, and instruction following — at a fraction of the cost and latency. Here’s what our evals show and how to start using them in Deep Agents.
How to Design for Human-agent Interaction
The capability is impressive when it works, but the experience often feels slippery. I’m not always sure what I’ll get back, or how much I should trust it.
Advocacy Alert: Small Business Tax Relief Win at City Council
This week, Portland City Council passed the amendment to the Business License Law Code to increase the business license tax gross receipts exemption.
From Intel to Entrepreneur: x-Intel Startup Exploration Workshop in Hillsboro – Checkout
Have an idea you’ve been thinking about—or just curious about what’s possible? Join us for the x-Intel Startup Exploration Workshop, a morning designed to inspire, connect, and give you a clear overview of startup opportunities. Even if you don’t have an immediate idea, this event will show you the pathways, resources, and support available—so when the time is right, you’ll be ready.
More Oregon startup news
