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

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.

These days, we’ve all been there. Maybe it was in the middle of a vibe coding project. Maybe it was trying to brainstorm a new idea with your favorite LLM. Or maybe it was just trying to get your fucking home based “assistant” to turn on the fucking light like you fucking asked it to. For fuck sakes. Ahem. But now, instead of taking it out on the bot, you can take it out on Curser. Which will rephrase your fucking tantrum into something more polite, dignified, and digestible.

September is shaping up to be a busy month as folks work to wedge in events before the holiday season starts to impact attendance. If you’re interesting in connecting with Portland startup community folks in person, here are a few opportunities to do so…

We’re about a month out from Bend Venture Conference, so stuff is starting to ramp up. Like picking the actual companies that are going to appear on stage. And while we don’t have the final list, they’re at least making the first cut. By naming the BVC Growth Stage semifinalists for 2025.

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

Building Unicorns with One-and-Done Funding – Shockwave Innovations

Founders will be able to rapidly experiment, and course correct (pivot), without wasting much time or capital. This means the time-to-launch will be greatly accelerated. After launch, AI-assisted and AI-led customer acquisition campaigns mean far less staff and, therefore, much less needed capital.