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

Last week, you heard — or maybe experienced — a brand new offering from Pitch Black, Pitch Black Food, where the dessert round team, Let ’em Cook walked away with the win. But that wasn’t the only new thing for Pitch Black in February. They launched a new identity system, the got a whole new website and URL, and they launched their podcast, as well. Plus, they added a space between “Pitch” and “Black.”

So, as you may have seen, we managed to hire someone amazing to run Built Oregon, this week. Which means I get to “remove one of my hats” or “take something off of my plate” or whatever analogy you want to use. But more importantly, that means I’ll also gain a little more focus and a little more bandwidth. And there’s one thing that’s been gnawing at me…

It’s not often that I get the opportunity to build something that I’m able to hand off to a new leader. I mean, I’ve been able to hand off jobs. And roles. Even a startup here and there. I came close with PIE a couple of times. But I’ve never truly managed to build something meaningful and lasting that truly had the potential to continue thriving and improving beyond me. Until we started Built Oregon. And today that handoff — and the next phase of Built’s work – is official. Katharine Reinhold is the new leader of Built Oregon.

Last month, we had a sold out crowd for the Black History Month edition of “Startup founders: Where are they now…?” This month looks to be trending the same way for our Women’s History Month edition of the event that features fireside chats with startup founders from our community — whether they’re still working on their startup or not.

In the continuing story of Beneficial Ownership Information reporting, the Federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has decided that they will not issue any fines or penalties for failure to file or update information by the new deadline of March 21, 2025.

This year in celebration of Black History Month, Built Oregon continued our tradition of sharing one Black-led consumer product company for each day of the month. It’s always amazing to see all of the products that folks have created and the businesses that they’re building. Buy their products if you’re in a position to do so, but also please please please follow them on social media and like and share their posts. Everyone is in a position to do that.

As the Metro Region Innovation Hub continues to build out their team, they’re not waiting around to get programming going as well. They just launched a new series of events called Startup Cafe, which will provide a regular opportunity for founders and other community members to spend time with one another at “the Hub.”

While local accelerator activity has quieted a bit over recent years, there are still some amazing accelerator programs in the state of Oregon that are generating significant impact. Take the Oregon UAS Accelerator, a drone-focused accelerator that recently announced its second cohort. (And it has an upcoming counter-UAS competition, as well.)