Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
One of the most active early stage investors in Oregon has a whole new fund to continue doing that work. Cascade Seed Fund has announced the close of Fund II, a $10 million fund focused on investing in software and consumer product brands in the Pacific Northwest.
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You know what I always say. No. Not that. The other thing. The thing about serial founders. You know, the thing about how the Portland startup community needs to get to a point where it’s not burning out founders so much that they never start other projects. How we need more serial entrepreneurs and folks with startup experience starting new things. Again and again. That thing.
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While the size of today’s Seed Rounds seem more like Series A rounds from a few years ago, it’s nice to see a Portland startup taking advantage of the trend — and dry VC powder — to fuel their growth here locally. This morning, I got word that DeepSurface has raised $4.5 million. Participating investors include Differential Ventures, which led the round; Osage Venture Partners; Ginossar Ventures; and Peninsula Ventures.
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According to Portland Inno, a publication of the Portland Business Journal:
Cascade Seed Fund II has completed its first close and the team can start investing. The first fund was $6 million, after fundraising was cut short by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The managing directors, Julie Harrelson and Robert Pease, have completed all the new investments that can happen for Fund I.
It’s been an interesting 18 months for event management and virtual event platforms. To say the least. With so many new players and new concepts for how we can meet, it makes sense that we’d see some consolidation in the market. And that has had a positive impact on a local startup. Vancouver, Washington, startup Hubb has been acquired by Intrado Digital Media.
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For all of the weirdness of 2020, some things in Oregon remained the same. People still built interesting companies. And local investors still supported them. Among them, Cascade Seed Fund wound up adding a dozen companies to its portfolio.
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I’ve been tracking on a Portland startup called Kanchil for a bit. Mostly because they’ve posted opening to the Silicon Florist job board. It seemed pretty stealthy at the time, so I was reticent to post much about it. But now, they have a new name and some new funding. And other people are writing about it. So now I feel more comfortable encouraging you to take a look at DeepSurface.
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