Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
Why We Invested: Conveyor — Oregon Venture Fund
We’re particularly excited about their roadmap and believe Conveyor is poised to lead the evolution toward truly agentic, AI-driven B2B buying and selling workflows. The company is architecting a future where a buyer’s AI agent can query a vendor’s AI agent directly, vetting security posture and product fit in seconds. In that world, Conveyor becomes the neutral, always-up-to-date source of truth both sides rely on. We share that vision and are excited to help make it real.
Intel names chief revenue officer, new vice presidents – Portland Business Journal
Intel announced appointments of four executives Wednesday to boost its sales and engineering, including a new chief revenue officer.
How AI is transforming Seattle-area startups: Insights from GeekWire 200 CEOs – GeekWire
AI is reshaping operations at Seattle’s top startups — but there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy, according to a new survey of CEOs from companies on the GeekWire 200.
I Stopped Writing Code. My Productivity Exploded.
Six months ago, I wrote almost every line of code myself. Today, I haven’t typed a function in weeks—and I recently found 158,000 duplicate files on my desktop without writing a single line of code to do it.
An old mall storage unit is now a Star Wars paradise where you can build your own lightsaber – Here is Oregon – hereisoregon.com
It’s Docking Bay 45, a 3,000-square-foot, in-universe experience for “Star Wars” fans, where shoppers can build lightsabers, buy costume pieces and have space for battling.
Environmentalists say they’re cautious to adopt AI into their work • Oregon Capital Chronicle
Environmental scientists and conservationists have been slow to embrace artificial intelligence tools, in large part because of the enormous amount of electricity the technology demands.
‘So Much Evil Had To Happen for this Bill To Pass’ – The American Prospect
Early last year the Oregon Statehouse passed the strictest prohibition on the corporate control of medicine in the country. It would have restored the ban on the corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) that has been in place in Oregon for decades by closing loopholes that enabled private equity and corporate conglomerates to offer the illusion of physician ownership of health care providers, while maintaining control over how those practices treat patients and deliver services. The idea was that medical professionals, not corporate executives, would be in charge of making medical decisions.
Data: Tech Layoffs Remain Stubbornly High, With Big Tech Leading The Way
After dropping substantially last December, job cuts spiked again in February and April this year — totaling more than 38,000 in those two months combined — per the Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker. February saw more than 14,000 layoffs while April surged to 23,850, with both large-cap tech companies and startups reducing staff.
VC Fund Performance Q1 2025
Across funds in the 2017 vintage, for instance, the median IRR was 11.5% at the end of Q1 2025. The median TVPI—a metric that tracks the total growth of a fund’s value—was 1.72x. And the median DPI—which tracks returns distributed back to LPs—was 0.27x
Startup radar: Seattle-area startups tackle AI personas, sales intelligence, marketing automation – GeekWire
We’re back with a new spotlight on early stage Seattle-area startups — with a fun twist. Kyle Lui, general partner at Bling Capital who recently moved to Seattle, joins us for this startup radar to give his quick take on each company.
More Portland startup news
