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Curious what university students are up to with startups, these days…? There’s no better place to get up-to-speed on academic innovation than Invent Oregon, Oregon’s statewide invention competition for university students. And it’s coming up, Friday, June 27, 2025, at the University of Portland.

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

Land-based sea urchin ranchers are kelp forest crusaders and sushi entrepreneurs – Responsible Seafood Advocate

“We are pulling overpopulated sea urchins out of the southern Oregon reefs,” CEO Aaron Huang told the Advocate. “We are bringing those empty, starved urchins onto a land-based ranch, fattening them up and selling them regionally and hopefully nationally and globally over the next few years.”

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

‘Embarrassed for our city’: Prosper Portland board’s fissure with City Hall widens amid leader’s controversial exit – oregonlive.com

Commissioner Marcelino Alvarez said that in other industries, Flaherty Betin’s actions to advocate for the survival of his organization would be cause for celebration — “not with the actions that we’re contemplating today.” “I hope that we learn from this,” Alvarez said, “because I don’t want to have a conversation like this again the next time the agency makes a hard decision or fights for its staff or its ability to operate.”

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

Intel veterans launch AheadComputing to design next-gen CPU – oregonlive.com

They were among Intel’s top chip architects, working years in advance to develop new generations of microprocessors to power the computers of the future. 0:13 / 1:00 Skip Ad Now they’re on their own, flying without a net, building a new class of microprocessor on an entirely different architecture from Intel’s. Founded a year ago, AheadComputing is trying to prove there’s a better way to design computer chips.

There are always these Friday news stories that sneak up on me. But I’m happy to share that Tigard-based Rapta — which is using AI to revolutionize precision manufacturing — has announced a $2.7 million Seed round with local funds Portland Seed Fund and Roadster Capital participating.

Looking to get a glimpse of the latest and greatest local AI products…? Well get ready to be happy. Our friends at Oregon Venture Fund are pulling together another PDX AI Demo Night event.