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

The dream of a startup incubator for Vancouver, Washington, startups took a huge step forward, this month. As North Bank Innovations — long the proponent and anchor of startup activity in Vancouver — announced a definitive agreement to house its newest effort — a tech startup incubator — at the Vancouver Innovation Center (The VIC).

Whenever someone publishes a “best of” list, it’s always nice to see Oregon folks making an appearance. And while this might not be at the level of a “Portland bumps Houston out of Keith Lee’s top 3” sort of moment, it is an admirable showing to have not one but two Oregon VCs showing up on the TIME list of top VCs, a list obviously dominated by California and East Coast firms.

According to Portland Business Journal, there were multiple winners in the OEN Angel Oregon Tech competition, this time around. Stiira walked away with the big prize, but local startup Yak also secured an investment from the angel investors.

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

Business taxes surge in Portland, statewide – Portland Business Journal

Portland businesses together paid 82% more in combined city, county and Metro taxes in fiscal year 2023 compared to 2019, a result of new and increased levies and a growing tax base, according to a new study.

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

For Startup Funding, Every State Brings In A Pittance Compared To California

A handful of coastal metros, led by the San Francisco Bay Area, have long swallowed up the lion’s share of venture funding. While Austin, Denver, Chicago and other inland cities do boast sizable and diversified startup scenes, they’ve generally captured no more than a single-digit percentage of investment.

It’s a busy week. With some marquee events happening around town. Here’s a collection of startup and tech related events that may be of interest.

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

Portland Edtech Travels to Boston: LearnLaunch Insights for Startups

From July 22–24, the Metro Region Innovation Hub facilitated a delegation of Portland-based edtech and workforce startups to LearnLaunch in Boston for a three-day business development trip. Three Portland edtech startups traveled to Boston: Life2Launch, Finnegan the Dragon, and Kipup Labs.

While the term “unicorn” might seem a little overused in the startup world — given the number of billion dollar companies continuing to ascend the ranks — the term is a good description for founders who have been through the venerable Y Combinator accelerator program more than once. Two times in interesting. Three times is a metric that only belongs to a handful of folks. And one of them is Portland’s Darius Monsef.