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

I always love when accelerator programs think beyond their immediate cohort opportunity to more thoroughly engage their startup communities. So imagine how happy I was when I got word of the Oregon UAS Accelerator’s latest effort. It’s called the “Proven in Pendleton Challenge.” And it’s designed to inspire and identify compelling counter-drone concepts — with the winner landing a $100,000 cash prize.

As I mentioned when AheadComputing launched, it’s sort of rarity to see Intel spinouts, these days. So when one does occur — and seems to have traction — I’m definitely paying attention. And clearly, other folks are well. AheadComputing announced they have raised $21.5 million.

Given the reception to the “Where are they now…?” event featuring Black founders, the Built Oregon, PIE, Pitch Black, Pitch Latino, and Vanport Studio crew are working to bring women founders from their programs to the stage to share not only where they are now, but also who they are now. The free event will take place March 11, 2025. Space is limited.

Duncan Miller, the cofounder of Rose City Robotics, has had significant experience with bootstrapping startups. But lately, he’s also had the opportunity to take a seat on the other side of the table — as an investor. Bringing these two perspectives together, Duncan shares why bootstrapping works for founders but VC works for investors.

After hosting 400+ folks for the Portland startup community 2025 kickoff event, we decided to dial it back a bit. For the next couple of Portland startup community events, we’ll be focusing on smaller community events that focus on particular founders. The next event takes place Tuesday, February 11, 2025, featuring Black founders who have participated in Built Oregon, PIE, Pitch Black, and/or Vanport Studio. The bad news…? It’s been sold out for a week. The good news…? There’s a livestream.