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

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

CENTRL Office to open first S.F. location at Waterfront Plaza – San Francisco Business Times

The Portland, Ore.-based firm arrives alongside a barrage of early-stage startups setting up shop in San Francisco.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Venture Capital is a very specific instrument for a very specific type of company. It’s not for everyone. And if you wind up being the proverbial dog that actually catches the car, it can be something that changes the whole company you’re trying to build. But clearly, me saying this over and over and over only carries so much weight. So now I’m sharing the perspective of Duncan Miller of Rose City Robotics.

I keep telling people that they should keep an eye on Agility Robotics in the Corvallis, Oregon, area. And it seems like I’m not the only one. The Information is reporting that SoftBank — yes, that SoftBank — may have been considering acquiring Agility Robotics at a valuation of at least $900 million. A unicorn-ish exit, if you round up.

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

Investing with OVF is a treat not a trick! — Oregon Venture Fund

Oregon Venture Fund is raising its next annual fund. OVF 2026, our 20th annual fund, enables one to invest in local founders and companies that are going to create the jobs of the future. With a 19-year track record, we’ve identified some tricks of the trade and believe you will enjoy the opportunity to invest with our professional team.

If you’ve ever talked to me about Portland startups, you’ve heard my bit about startups and founders that are “aggressively humble.” They don’t brag. They don’t boast. They just quietly keep their heads down and do the work. And often, it’s amazing work. Take Customer.io, one of those quiet startups that just crossed $100,000,000 in annual recurring revenue.

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

The Customer of Venture Capital Isn’t the Founder, It’s the Investor

If a car company blamed consumers for not buying a faulty vehicle, we’d laugh. But in startups, we treat it as noble suffering. Founders and cities rally behind “capital deserts” promising networking events, demo days, and warm intros, instead of facing a simpler truth: if capital isn’t flowing to your region, your product isn’t compelling enough.

One of my favorite things about the Portland startup community is the number of organizations that are focused on helping entrepreneurs. But that doesn’t mean that those organizations aren’t in need of a refresh from time to time. And there’s no better time to make those changes than when new leadership enters the picture. Which is exactly what happened with the Oregon Startup Center.

Remember that new incubator and coworking space in Vancouver, Washington…? Well, they’re open for business and taking applications for folks who are looking for coworking space.

Last week, I got some early reports on a couple of winners at Bend Venture Conference 2025. Now, I have the complete list from the organizers. So I’m going to share it with you. Because you deserve it. Or something. And stuff.

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

Meet Caravel: Pioneering a New Era of Biotechnology with the First Unified Platform for Protein Discovery and Delivery

Caravel Bio, the first joint platform for protein discovery and delivery that enables new applications of synthetic biology, today announces its selection for a $7.8 million award from the U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP). The award assembles a team of world-class engineers to create tools for building proteins with novel chemistries, train more advanced machine learning models on the resulting datasets, and develop new, innovative products across industries.