Portland Oregon Startup and Tech News
You may have caught the news that Jaguar Land Rover has recently repositioned its local startup efforts, shifting from the Jaguar Land Rover Incubator to the Jaguar Land Rover Innovation Labs. But what sort of changes does that entail? JLR gives us a glimpse with a a new video on the project.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of people starting stuff. And it’s not just companies. I like it when people start podcasts, blogs, events, meetups… you name it. Start start start. That’s why I was really happy to see that the inaugural Latinx Tech PDX was so successful that it’s starting to be a thing. They’re doing it again, this Thursday.
Leave it to Portland. In a day and age where more and more solutions are going for faster, slicker, and more invasive, folks like August & Wonder are taking a completely different approach. What if, instead of glowing and bleeping, the latest high tech gadget appeared to be a finely crafted and seemingly analog object?
If you haven’t watched The Fab Lab with Crazy Aunt Lindsey, you’re missing out. Not only is it produced in Portland and an amazing effort to stimulate kids’ curiosity about science, technology, engineering, and math. But it’s also helmed by an amazing woman who is a person of color, providing an incredible role model for a demographic that’s all too often ignored by those industries.
Unless you’ve been around the Portland startup community for a while, you may not remember Meridian. Even if you have been around a while, the name might not immediately ring a bell. But it should. Because from my perspective, it was one of the more successful startup exits in Portland. Not in total value, but definitely in multiples returned to investors and the speed at which that investment was returned.
In a world where marketing and advertising continues to up the level of creepiness on a regular basis (Thanks, Cambridge Analytica!), it’s refreshing to see a company that’s willing to stem the tide of distrust. And it’s even more awesome when it’s a Portland startup. That’s why it was great to see Lytics pushing for an industry standard around trust based marketing.
You know those time when you’re rushing around, getting a bunch of stuff done, trying to make things happen, and yet, you’re still bugged by the fact that you’re forgetting something? Yeah. Did I forget my house key? Did I leave the oven on? Did I miss someone’s birthday? Oh yeah. Right. I forgot to write a Silicon Florist post about the PIE news this week.
Last night, the Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) held their annual Oregon Tech Awards celebration gala, their biggest event of the year. (Coincidentally, GeekWire held their big Seattle tech awards last night, too.) And the Portland startup community was well represented.
The cofounder of Public Market will be a familiar face to many Portland entrepreneurs. That’s because he’s been an integral part of the Portland and Oregon startup community for years. And he’s had more than his fair share of experience with eCommerce systems. The new blockchain focused startup was cofounded by none other than Monsoon cofounder Kanth Gopalpur, who serves as the Chief Strategy Officer, under the leadership of cofounder and CEO KJ Erickson.
