Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Turns out that the Rose City is having second thoughts about anonymous — yet somewhat still creepy — tracking stuff. Even if it was a project that spun out of Google. That’s right. Portland’s partnership with Replica and Sidewalk Labs has come to an end.
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It makes sense that I’m composing this post while sitting in a Workfrom cafe. I mean, it’s a virtual cafe. But still. More on that later. What’s top of mind right now is that Workfrom has received a $50,000 non dilutive investment from Google for Startups as part of the Black Founders Fund.
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Speaking of collaborative documentation, another interesting startup just crossed my proverbial desk. Oh wait. It is actually a desk. No proverbs needed. Anyway, I just encountered another startup here in town that’s looking to simplify collaborative documentation. And it’s built an elegant and straightforward solution for it. Meet Portway.
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These days, shopping is incredibly easy. Almost too easy. Search, research, click, and suddenly you have a thing. It’s almost like you don’t have to even think about it. Beep boop boop spend. But what if keeping track of your values and purchasing products from companies that share those values was as easy as ecommerce? It can be. With Portland startup Trestle.
In a case of interesting timing, as Portland’s history with Google Fiber heads toward its denouement, news of Alphabet’s — Google’s parent company — Sidewalk Labs is just starting to build.
As every startup knows, entering startups competitions can be a dubious concept. But when you manage to win, all that dubiousness tends to fade away. So one would figure that Portland startup Tali is feeling pretty good about entering the Clio Launch//Code competition. Which landed them the $100,000 prize from the legal billing software provider.
A panel of four judges chose Tali for its functionality and impact, innovation and user experience. The app allows lawyers to use voice commands to automatically keep track of billable time. Launched in 2017, Tali also works with Amazon Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices, as well as Cortana and Google Assistant.
For more, see “Voice-activated time-tracking assistant Tali wins $100k in Clio’s Launch//Code competition.”
Well, at least we’re consistent. We never managed to get Google Fiber. Even though we submitted an RFP, we weren’t even really in the running for Amazon HQ2. And now, we just missed being the fourth location for the Backstage Capital Accelerator.
It’s OSCON week in Portland. Which means our usually jam-packed meetup schedule is even more jam-packed than usual. There are any number of events happening around town to showcase Portland to the visiting open source types. And if you’re looking for something to do tonight, Portland startup Stackery has you covered. They’re hosting a fireside chat on serverless with Kelsey Hightower of Google Cloud.
Many folks are lucky to get to work in awe inspiring environments. Here in Portland, there’s no shortage of amazing office spaces—and more are joining the fray every day. But lest we forget, a lot of those amazing environments are the result of hours of creative work by folks behind the scenes. Read More
Portland’s never-ending dance with Google around Google Fiber continues with no end—positive or negative—in sight. But that’s not stopping Google from applying needed resources to the Portland community. Like their Google Fiber Digital Inclusion Fellowship. Read More