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

As I mentioned during the recap last week, I recently had the opportunity to visit Eugene and the University of Oregon via an invite from the Launch Oregon crew as part of attending their Launch Oregon Summit. A jampacked Friday afternoon, we had the opportunity to both explore what was happening on campus as well as hear from folks from throughout the broader Oregon startup community.

Hadn’t heard about this yet, so I wanted to make sure that you knew… There’s another 4K4Community fun run coming up at the end of September. And, as always, it’s going to serve as a fundraiser for local nonprofits.

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

Next Ventures raises $60M fund, partners with OHSU – Portland Business Journal

Next Ventures raised $60 million for its second fund. The Oregon Growth Board, which manages state lottery revenue, invested $5 million, said Strong. Next Ventures joins Portland-based firms including Elevate Capital, Portland Seed Fund and private lender Meriwether Group that have landed state-backed investments.

I always wonder if folks will see these sorts of headlines and think that a fund was shuttered. When it’s quite the opposite actually. But “close” is the term that the industry uses. So be it. What it does mean in this context is that Next Ventures — a fund with local ties through founding General Partner Mel Strong — can shift their focus from raising their own money to beginning to use the $60 million in the fund to invest in promising startups.

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

Nextracker acquires Bend’s Origami Solar for $53 million – Portland Business Journal

Bend-based Origami Solar has been acquired for $53 million by Nextracker, the world’s leading manufacturer of tracking systems for utility-scale solar power plants.

I remember Jon Maroney as a founder. And as a peer as we both ran accelerator programs. So of course, I remember him joining Oregon Angel Fund in the role designed for community engagement and deal flow. Of course OAF changed too — as many thing do — to Oregon Venture Fund. And now, OVF is going to experience another change. Jon Maroney is moving on to his next challenge.

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

Gabe Rivera’s 20-year-old headline site, Techmeme, has never been hotter.

I’m telling you all this not just because Techmeme’s 20th birthday is on Friday, but because of how anomalous Techmeme has become among news websites. Very little about the way tech news – and all news, for that matter – is reported, edited, distributed, paid for and consumed bears any resemblance to the way it was in the fall of 2005.

Last week, Bend Venture Conference revealed its growth stage finalists. Not the folks guaranteed to take the stage in October, but a superset of potential candidates. Now, they’re doing the same thing for the early stage competition.

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

The New Economics of Starting Up: How Startups Are Scaling and Spending in 2025 | Mercury

With economic tumult and anxiety seemingly through the roof, how are entrepreneurs actually feeling about their own business’s financial prospects? In an economy that has many people tightening belts, those building early-stage companies are feeling… surprisingly good.

I tend to be a regular listener of Hanselminutes, the podcast from Scott Hanselman. And while he’s inevitably got an interesting guest, every episode, I always perk up when his guest — like Scott — is from the Portland area. Like this conversation with Tyler Bushnell of Polycade.