Portland Oregon Startup and Tech News
A lot of my discussions around the Portland tech community and its current momentum tend to concern companies and individuals exploring alternative realities—virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality. And that should come as a surprise to… absolutely no one. Like many new technologies, Portland’s early adopters have been mucking around with VR and AR for years.
To many folks in the startup community, the Portland Seed Fund has always been here. It’s become such a prominent part of the early stage investments in town. But it wasn’t always that way. And it took some foresight from a variety of local leaders to bet on spending when the economy was in the doldrums to make it happen. Read More
Early stage activity in town has quieted a bit. Not really calmed down. Just quieted down. That’s why it’s always nice to see some folks making some noise. And showing investors what’s going on in town. Which is exactly what the Portland Seed Fund is doing today with their latest class—which includes six local tech companies. Read More
What began with Google Glass has ended in a successful exit for ONtheGO Platforms—and the local investors who took a risk on the company before it was clear where the market was going. Atheer has acquired OTG for its team and technology, who were early players in exploring the potential of gestures within virtual and physical environments. Read More
Ask any Portland founder what their biggest challenge is and I will bet you that—nine times out of ten—the response will be “talent.” But if you ask them what else—besides talent—is keeping them up at night, the answer will be the same answer it has been since, well, since startups. “Money.” And that’s why it’s nice to see the funding environment here in Oregon continuing to mature. Read More
Running a startup is a lesson in always defending what you’re doing. Always selling the concept. And always trying to get other people to appreciate the value and potential of your brilliance. You’re just always pitching. And refining that pitch. It’s not easy. And that’s why the Portland Seed Fund thinks your pitch is worth a beer. Read More
As we become more and more dependent on technology, we have become increasingly worried about single points of failure. That issue where one particular component of your technology stack can hiccup and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down. So we have redundancy. And fail over. And load balancing. But there remains one incredibly critical single point for most everyone: our Internet connections. Read More
It’s always nice to see startups getting the support they need from local resources. And that’s why I’m always pleased to see a whole new crop of startups graduating from the Portland Seed Fund. This latest class—the sixth class for the program—presented to a group a local investors, yesterday. Read More
I’ve been following the Opal crew for quite some time. It’s been an interesting journey to say the least. With any number of hurdles. And any number of changes. But they’ve continued pushing and persevering. And while I’m not touting funding as much as I used to, this seems like one of those times where it’s warranted. Opal just raised $8 million in a round led by Madrona. Read More
It’s that time of year again. Time for you to stick your neck out and to start telling other folks about that startup you’re building. And there’s no better place to start than Portland Seed Fund. Because they’ll listen politely to your pitch—and then buy you a beer. Read More
