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

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

Can Portland, Oregon Rebuild Its Business District?

Cities depend heavily on the success of local businesses to keep them afloat fiscally. In addition to paying taxes, businesses also create foot traffic—in the form of their employees—for other local businesses like delis, lunch spots, and parking garages. If big businesses leave or shift to remote work, those smaller businesses also take a hit. Without compelling reasons to be in the city, talent also leaves. It’s a vicious cycle.

It seems like just last week that the Oregon UAS Accelerator — you know, the drone and drone-adjacent startup support organization — was having their latest demo day. Well, that’s because it was last week. But now, they’ve announced a whole new class. So let’s look backward and forward in regards to the startups engaged with our world renowned drone accelerator program.

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

120 years ago, Portland hosted a ‘World’s Fair’ that changed everything (then disappeared) – OPB

Though it took place 120 years ago, photographs and memorabilia from the Lewis and Clark Exposition still fascinate, with images showing a temporary city of ornate buildings and thoroughfares surrounding a lake. Today, it is all long gone.

It’s always nice to see Portland startups get recognition. But it’s even better when you see them get recognition outside of the region. Which is exactly what happened with Portland startup FanWagn as they won the NextCycle Washington 2025 Best Pitch in the Reuse category.

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

My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts · The Fly Blog

Some of the smartest people I know share a bone-deep belief that AI is a fad — the next iteration of NFT mania. I’ve been reluctant to push back on them, because, well, they’re smarter than me. But their arguments are unserious, and worth confronting. Extraordinarily talented people are doing work that LLMs already do better, out of spite.

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

AI trends 2025 from Mary Meeker

AI usage is surging among consumers, developers, enterprises and governments. And unlike the Internet 1.0 revolution – where technology started in the USA and steadily diffused globally – ChatGPT hit the world stage all at once, growing in most global regions simultaneously.

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

Tale of two downtowns: How office recovery is playing out in the Pacific Northwest’s largest cities

Portland’s downtown vacancy rate of 27% is expected to keep rising for the next few quarters. More companies have put offices up for sublease or have shrunk their footprint by consolidating into smaller spaces, offsetting an uptick in leasing activity in the second half of last year, according to CoStar analytics.

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

Portland added people last year for the first time since 2020, population estimates show – OPB

Portland added 1,435 people between July 2023 and July 2024, for an estimated population of nearly 635,750, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the city is still about 17,000 people short of where it was in July 2020.Portland added people last year for the first time since 2020, population estimates show – OPB

Portland added 1,435 people between July 2023 and July 2024, for an estimated population of nearly 635,750, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the city is still about 17,000 people short of where it was in July 2020.

Remember when we used to get super psyched about businesses and organizations having a website…? No? Just me? Well, it was called “the dotcom days.” And it was a glorious time to be in the business world. So let’s relive a little of that nostalgia. And excitement. About a website. Or as we used to call it back then “a Web site.” By celebrating the fact that the Portland Office of Small Business now has a website. (It’s even a dotcom.)