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

If you were anywhere near the Portland open source community at the turn of the century, you had heard of Selena Deckelmann. Back then, she was an active participant and contributor to the PostgreSQL and Python communities. Then she got more into community organizing with things like Open Source Bridge. So we’ve known about her awesomeness for a long time. Now, Time is catching on to what we already knew.

Sure. It’s easy to complain about capital. Or lack thereof. I do it all of the time. In fact, I’m actively working on a post or three about that very topic. And yet, it’s a lot better — a lot a lot — to actually quit being part of the problem and put the other guy back on… Oh wait. I mean stop being part of the problem and start taking part in creating the solution. And here’s an opportunity to do just that. The Oregon Growth Board is actively seeking new board members.

I write a lot of high level fluff and hype about Oregon and SW Washington startups. By design. On purpose. Most of my effort is designed to keep my bounce rate around here as high as possible. Tell you about a thing. Pique your interest. And get you off of my lawn and where you need to actually be. As quickly as possible. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love me some in depth writing. Like this dissection of Agility from Wing VC.

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

Origin Story — Oregon Venture Fund

Today, OVF has invested $170M in 77 regional startups that have grown to over $4 billion in value and created 5,500 jobs. We’ve worked hard to invest in, and profit alongside, intrepid, big-thinking entrepreneurs, resulting in a 21% avg net annualized rate of return and a 2.8X average net cash-on-cash return for our investors, who now include our region’s largest foundations and universities and most successful business and tech leaders.

Good news. We have those. And we have a lot of them. Which may make choosing more difficult. But it’s better than the alternative. So if you’re looking for the opportunity to get out and about and meet some new folks — or reconnect with folks you haven’t seen in a minute — here are some options for you.

I’m glad you asked. Because folks are coming back to the Silicon Florist job board to share open positions. Honestly, this is a complete breath of fresh air. And maybe, just maybe, a positive sign that the economy is coming back…? Here’s hoping. In the meantime, here’s who’s hiring — as far as I know.

You may have heard that Rapta, a Lake Oswego based defense tech startup, announced that it has closed $8 million. And while it’s always nice to see local startups gaining access to working capital, it’s even nicer to see that capital coming from local funds. To that end, Voyager Capital co-led the round, and Elevate Capital, Portland Seed Fund, BVC also participated. Voyager also gains a board seat.