Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
It’s not just proprietary technology that’s entering the space race. Open source has a spot, too. Like the Portland State Aerospace Society. And recent Portland transplant Kubos, a company that manages an open source framework for satellites, which just landed another round of funding bringing its total raised to $5.3 million, according to Crunchbase.
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“Risk averse. Conservative.… Out of touch.” They’re all complaints I’ve heard from Portland startup founders when describing the earliest stages of raising capital around these parts. But I always assumed that Seattle — with its extensive tech presence of major headquarters and massive regional offices — was a better environment. Apparently, it’s not. Those quoted comments are Seattle startup founders describing their Angel investment community.
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So many folks get into building a company with the idea that they’re going to raise venture capital. As if that was the only way to finance a company. And as if they actually understand what raising equity based financing even entails. [Narrator: It isn’t. And they don’t.]
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So during this whole pandemic thing, people are starting new things. And I’ve talked to quite a few folks who have been inspired to start new startups. But given that finding cofounders, team members, funding, and practically anything that doesn’t involve just you is exceptionally difficult while we’re all in isolation, starting a startup can be even more difficult than it used to be.
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Fundraising is difficult. Even more so if you go into it uninformed. That’s why I’m always happy to see sessions that help educate founders on the challenges and opportunities around accessing capital, locally or otherwise. Like the upcoming session of Coffee w/ Co-Founders on early stage fundraising.
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Curious about who in the northwest is getting funding? Well, if diving through Crunchbase or Pitchbook isn’t exactly your cup of tea, our friends at GeekWire have simplified it for you. Introducing the GeekWire Startup Funding List.
Lately, it seems there’s been an uptick in sizable funding rounds and private equity investments in the state. With 2018 being a record setting and landmark year, in that regard. But in order to get to those multimillion dollar rounds — or liquidity events — companies have to first get out of the gates. And if they’re seeking seed funding in Oregon, that doesn’t seem to be happening at a rate on par with other states. According to Crunchbase.
While still striving to hold true to my promise to Jive cofounder Bill Lynch—that I would stop using Silicon Florist as a platform to celebrate fundraising announcements—I feel obligated to take a little tangential liberty to share a developing theme I’m seeing… Because this isn’t a typical. Portland companies have announced more than $51 million in venture capital, this year. And it’s not even a month old.
While Oregon still has a ways to go in terms of building a self sustaining startup ecosystem, any number of folks have been doing an impressive job of building up our early stage funding resources throughout the state. And one of those groups of early stage investors, Cascade Angels, is looking for some more companies in which to invest.
While raising capital is never easy, it’s a lot more difficult when you don’t have any local resources on which to lean. That’s what a couple of Eugene entrepreneurs are hoping to fix with the Coast to Crest Fund, a new $3 million seed fund focused on Lane County startups.