Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Sometimes, the biggest challenge can be finding ways to connect with community. That’s why I’m always glad to see events that help streamline those connections for startups. Like the Manufacturer & Maker Supply Chain & Innovation Opportunities Conference.
[Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Duane Benson of Screaming Circuits.]
Oregon has a long history with electronics hardware design, going back to the early days of Tektronix and Intel. Those two technology pioneers begat hardware startup companies like Radisys, InFocus, Planar, and a host of others. But over the last two decades, the local tech startup scene has been much more about the Internet and software than it has been about chips and solder.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Portland boasts a rich history of making and manufacturing. But how is that intrinsic knowledge keeping up with modern manufacturing? That’s what the Urban Manufacturing Alliance has worked to determine.
Remember when I said it was feeling a bit like a Portland startup accelerator renaissance? Well, today upped the ante. Because Portland had two new accelerator announcements. R/GA announced the first Portland version of their series of brand-powered accelerators—like ones they’ve done with LA Dodgers and Snap—and Uncorked Studios announced a startup accelerator in collaboration with Autodesk and PIE.
There’s definitely a feeling of a momentum shifting in the community, lately. For a time, Portland’s startup activity wasn’t in Portland, at all. It was in the suburbs. Where communities like Beaverton and Hillsboro provided space for would be juggernauts. At the turn of the century, that momentum shifted to Portland proper and—more notably—the Pearl District. Now, there’s a new center of gravity emerging around the startup community: the Central Eastside.