Portland Oregon startups, tech, news, events, jobs, and community

Not a lot of folks realize this, but for my first 12 years in the Portland startup community, I worked in startups. Usually in marketing roles. Often in brand roles. And if there was one thing I learned — time and time again — it’s that customers are going to call your company and/or products what they’re going to call them. And it’s usually wrong. Or made up. No matter how many times you try to dissuade them from doing so.

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

Oregon’s Data Center Explosion: Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost?

What is not alive but grows surprisingly well in Oregon? Data centers. These huge facilities that are the lifeblood of major corporations like Amazon, Google and OpenAI have certainly found a home in the Beaver State. Today on the show, you’ll hear from a longtime business and tech reporter for The Oregonian who has found that our fertile environment is going to help grow enough data centers to occupy the entire acreage of Springfield.

You know what’s been quietly happening in Portland for more than a decade with far less positive attention than it so richly deserves…? PIGSquad — the Portland Indie Game Squad — has been building an extensive indie game development community here in the Rose City. With far less fanfare than the Seattle game community. Building stuff. Hosting game jams. Testing each other’s games. Being awesome. But this…? This is definitely a — ahem — leveling up situation.

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

This Is A Momentous Year For Early-Stage Unicorns

A total of 47 seed- and early-stage companies joined the unicorn ranks in the first quarter of this year, per Crunchbase data. Barring a major slowdown, that puts 2026 on track to deliver the  largest cohort of young unicorns to date.

More on the whole “talking more than doing” and “not even including startups” front, did you hear that there’s a new roundtable to talk about more things and stuff…? More talking. More discussing. More roundtabling. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has launched a thing called the Central City Roundtable. It’s a group of civic leaders tasked with carrying forward the “All in on Portland’s Central City” vision — you know, the one that came out of the Governor’s Central City Task Force in 2025, naturally.

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

Mayor Keith Wilson on improving Portland’s central city – Portland Business Journal

There are some bright spots among ongoing challenges in downtown Portland. Investors are finding deals as distressed office buildings trade hands at steep discounts, tenants are affirming their dedication to leasing office space and foot traffic is on the rise. But there’s still work to be done.

I know. I know. You’ve just spent more time than you expected rooting for your NCAA basketball tourney bracket. I get it. But you know what’s better than your alma mater…? Everybody’s alma mater. Together. Combining forces. And now, it’s happening in hackathon form. Meet HackUP.

You know how much I love it when folks outside of our region recognize the talent from our region. Like when a Portland startup gets picked for a national startup accelerator program. That’s what happened with Fordje (pronounced “forj”) — the Portland startup building an AI platform that clarifies city-specific climate, fire, and zoning codes for the construction industry. They were just selected for the third cohort of the Cox Cleantech Accelerator.

No jokes. Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:

Portland Council to take up business license tax exemption – Portland Business Journal

The proposal would raise the exemption to $75,000 for the 2026 tax year and to $100,000 starting in 2027 tax year. The proposal is being brought forward by Mayor Keith Wilson and council member Eric Zimmerman.