It always nice to see local founders getting an exit. But seeing one Portland startup acquire another Portland startup is a rarity. So that’s why it was really interesting to see that Brian Forrester’s latest pursuit has ended in a successful exit, as well — to another Portland startup. Beginly has acquired ProviderJobs.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Business Oregon Awards $1 Million to Support Oregon Innovators

Business Oregon announces the awardees of the 2025 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Matching Grant Program, designed to help Oregon’s small businesses bridge the gap between federal research funding and successful commercialization. Twenty-eight applications were received and 17 awardees were selected to receive a total of $1,099,545.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

The Future Is Physical. – by db clay

The premise is simple but expansive: nearly every person in the known universe carries something that functions as a “wallet”—a vessel for identity, methods of payment, a Life Operating System. By that logic, there are over 8 billion unique wallet profiles, each shaped by age, geography, access to banking, design preference, lived experience, and more.

Also, applications are due December 15, 2025.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Building A One-Person Unicorn? This Startup Just Raised $8.7M To Help

“Over 95% of our code is written by AI,” says Andrew Pignanelli, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Ideally we get that to 100%.” Andrew is on a mission to build the operating system for one-person, billion-dollar companies.

Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Is Oregon a “Small Business State”?

When we compare Oregon to other states, we see that our share of employment in small businesses (32.1%) is higher than the national average (27.2%). However, it’s not particularly high compared to some of our neighbors. For example, California’s share of jobs in small businesses is roughly the same as Oregon. Idaho’s share is slightly higher at 35.9%. But Montana is the true small business king in the west with over 44% of jobs in small businesses. In fact, of all western states, Montana is the only state where the share of jobs in small businesses is higher than the share of jobs in larger businesses (500+ employees).