Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
After a long drought, there have been any number of “Portland area” companies going public or planning to do so. There’s just been one slight problem. None of them are actually Portland companies. But now there might be one. Vacasa is in talks to go public via SPAC at a valuation of $4.5 billion.
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While they’ve been relatively quiet, Portland startup Conversa Health has clearly been building something attractive. They just got snapped up in a two company acquisition by publicly traded Amwell, totaling $320 million.
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While it appears we’re edging ever closer to another lockdown, I remain hopeful that we continue to build and connect community regardless of what the future might hold. So if you’re interested in connecting with folks in the Portland startup community in a virtual environment, there are two events this week designed to do just that.
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In case you haven’t been tracking, former Simple cofounder Shamir Karkal has been quietly building another fintech startup here in Portland. But after today, it might not be “quietly” much longer. You see, that company, Sila, just raised $13 million.
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Sila, a Portland fintech startup that provides an API and SDK that enable app developers to incorporate financial transaction functionality into the solutions they’re building, has partnered with Constitution Lending to help improve their real estate lending capabilities.
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In case you were unplugged this week… former Portland startup now Vancouver, Washington, biotech company Absci went public, this week. Having been on an IPO team for a venture funded startup myself, I can attest to what a herculean effort this whole process entails. And how the Absci team deserves all of the accolades for pulling this off.
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Sometimes, the best way to understand the potential of a product is use it yourself. That’s why I’ve happily been mucking around with Subfund, which allows me to send Twitter direct messages, Facebook Messenger updates, and newsletters to folks who subscribe. Now, it also offers Instagram DMs.
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While the most beneficial paths to liquidity for investors and founders can be the subject of debate, getting a company to the point of a private equity investment has become one of the more common modes of achieving that liquidity, around these parts. Today, another one joined the ranks. OpenSesame announced that they had attracted a $50 million private equity investment from JMI Equity and others.
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Definitions change. And culture changes. Which means that communities have to deal with those changing dynamics. But sometimes, those changes mean that folks lose the thread. And lose track of the reasoning behind why definitions and roles exist.
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