index.rst

Portland, Oregon, startup community

Portland does an incredibly good job of describing what's happening in the startup community anecdotally, but an incredibly poor job of quantifying what is actually happening. This will be an effort to better quantify and capture what's happening in Portland in regards to startups.

CC0. This work is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) To the extent possible under law, Rick Turoczy has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to the Portland startup community cheat sheet. This work is published in: United States.

Quick start guide

To get started, try talking to Rosie (https://sflo.me/rosie), an ever-evolving AI concierge designed to help with questions about the Portland startup community. For more background on Rosie, visit https://siliconflorist.com/2024/01/16/portland-startup-questions-talk-to-rosie-an-ai-mascot-for-silicon-florist/

If you're interested in a quick tutorial on Portland startup community resources, visit:

• https://siliconflorist.com/2022/01/06/looking-to-engage-or-re-engage-with-the-portland-startup-community-here-are-a-few-tips-and-tricks-pandemic-or-no/
• https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/stories/inno-insights/2021/09/13/portland-startup-ecosystem-101.html

And if you're on Bluesky looking to add a smattering of Portland and Oregon folks, these Starter Packs may help

• PDX Tech https://go.bsky.app/LYrfH44
• PIG (Portland Indie Game) Squad https://go.bsky.app/R9kkPYt
• Portland https://go.bsky.app/Sr4hJBr
• Portland! https://go.bsky.app/LLjy23m
• Portland (PDX) https://go.bsky.app/72332w1
• Oregonians https://go.bsky.app/CE5vE5k

Community

• Aggregated event calendar (http://calagator.org/)
• Asks & Offers (http://pdxstartups.switchboardhq.com/)
• Community chat (https://pdxslack.com)
• Local Mastodon instance (https://pdx.social/)
• Pacific Northwest Packaged Food & Beverage Group (https://groups.google.com/g/pnw-packaged-food-bev/about)

• News

  • Portland Business Journal (https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/)
  • Portland Inno, startup focused news from the PBJ (https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/inno/)
  • Silicon Florist (https://siliconflorist.com/ or https://siliconflorist.substack.com/)
  • Silicon Forest from The Oregonian (https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/)
  • Techstars Startup Digest Portland (https://read.letterhead.email/techstars-portland)

• Jobs

  • The Silicon Forest (https://www.thesiliconforest.com/)
  • Wellfound - Formerly AngelList Talent (https://angel.co/location/portland)
  • Who's hiring on Hacker News (https://hnhiring.com/locations/portland)
  • Y Combinator "Work at a startup" (https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs)

Coworking spaces

Active

• CENTRL Office (http://centrloffice.com/)

  • Eastside
  • Lake Oswego
  • Pearl
  • Westend

• Collective Agency (https://collectiveagency.co/)
• Kiln (https://kiln.com/communities/portland/)
• NedSpace (http://nedspace.com/)
• openHAUS (https://www.openhauspdx.com/)
• Place to B (https://www.placetob.co/)
• Rockwood Market Hall (https://www.rockwoodmarkethall.com/rockwood-coworking)

• Spaces (https://www.spacesworks.com/portland/)

  • Central Eastside
  • Slabtown
  • St. John's Landing

• Upstart Collective (https://www.upstartcollective.org/)
• VIDA (https://vidacoworking.com/)
• WeWork (https://www.wework.com/buildings/830-ne-holladay-st--portland--OR)
• Workfrom Portland (https://workfrom.co/portland)

Defunct

• Clean Slate (Defunct)
• Factory @ The Ford (Defunct)
• Forge (Defunct)
• NXT Industries (Defunct)
• Remotely (Defunct)
• WeWork Custom House (Defunct)
• WeWork Pioneer Place (Defunct)
• WeWork Power & Light (Defunct)

Events

Sourced from Calagator (https://calagator.org), Portland Startups Slack events channel (https://pdxslack.com), Eventbrite, Meetup, and more.

• Annual

  • OEN Angel Oregon (https://www.oen.org/programs-services/oen-angel-oregon/)
  • Bend Venture Conference (http://bendvc.com/)
  • Built Festival (https://builtoregon.com)
  • FOSSY (Free and Open Source Software Yearly) https://2023.fossy.us/
  • Idea-to-Business Lab (https://form.jotform.com/230174892286160)
  • OEN Angel Bio & Life Science (https://www.oen.org/aobio23/)
  • Open Data Day (https://www.smartcitypdx.com/events/2023/3/3/portland-open-data-day-2023-disco-tech)
  • PitchBlack (https://pitchblackpdx.com)
  • Pitch Latin0 (https://www.latinofounder.com/)
  • Pitch Oregon (https://oregon.tie.org/pitch-oregon-2023/)
  • Silicon Forest Tech Summit (https://steamcircuit.com/)
  • TechfestNW (Defunct)
  • Westside Pitch (https://events.tie.org/Oregon/WestsidePitch)

• Monthly (or more regularly)

  • #social_beer (https://meetup.com/social_beer/)
  • Accelerate Bio + Digital Health Happy Hour (https://www.meetup.com/accelerate-bio-tech-pdx/)
  • AI Portland (https://www.aipdx.info/)
  • Blacks in Technology (https://www.meetup.com/pdx-blacks-in-technology-meetup/)
  • Bootstrap Startup (https://www.meetup.com/bootstrap-startup/)
  • Climate Curious (https://climatecurious.splashthat.com/)
  • Demolicious (https://meetup.com/demolicious-portland/)
  • First Fridays @ Upstart Collective (https://calagator.org/venues/202397111)
  • founder.coffee (https://founder.coffee/)
  • Hardware Happy Hour (https://www.meetup.com/hardware-happy-hour-3h-portland/)
  • Mentorship Saturdays (https://www.meetup.com/mentorship-saturdays/)
  • New to Portland Tech Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/portland-new-in-town-entrepreneurs-group)
  • NewTech PDX (https://www.meetup.com/newtechpdx/)
  • North Bank Founders Open Coffee (https://www.meetup.com/northbankinno/)
  • OEN PubTalks (https://www.oen.org/programs-services/oen-programs-2/pubtalks/)
  • Portland Hardware Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/portland-hardware-meetup/)
  • Portland Ruby Brigade (https://www.meetup.com/portland-ruby-brigade/)
  • ProductTank Portland (https://www.meetup.com/producttank_portland/)
  • Rose City Techies (https://www.meetup.com/rose-city-techies/)
  • Startup ChatGPT (https://www.meetup.com/startupchatgpt/)
  • Startup Your Startup (https://www.meetup.com/startup-your-startup/)
  • Techies & Tacos (https://www.meetup.com/techies-and-tacos/)
  • TiE Pitch Club (https://oregon.tie.org/programs/pitch-club/)
  • VanTechy (https://www.meetup.com/vantechy/)

Organizations

• Bricks Need Mortar (https://bricks-need-mortar.com/)
• Built Oregon (https://builtoregon.com/)
• Business for a Better Portland (https://bbpdx.org/)
• ChickTech (https://chicktech.org/)
• Community Copack (https://www.communitycopacknw.com/)
• Inclusive Business Resource Network (https://prosperportland.us/portfolio-items/inclusive-business-resource-network/)
• NuProject (https://nuproject.org/)
• Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) (https://oen.org/)
• Oregon Startup Center (https://oregonstartupcenter.org/)
• PIE (https://piepdx.com)
• Portland Metro Regional Innovation Hub (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sfpspaEIELRI3arzdKCZmx5-ioXVR_xdEx2AxJmdz6s/edit?usp=sharing)
• PREGAME (https://pregamehq.com/)
• Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) (https://www.techoregon.org/)
• TiE Oregon/The Inclusive Entrepreneur Foundation (https://oregon.tie.org/)
• VertueLab (https://vertuelab.org/)
• Xcelerate (https://www.xceleratewomen.org/)
• Zebras Unite (https://zebrasunite.coop/portland)

Startup accelerators/studios

• Bend Outdoor Worx (http://bendoutdoorworx.com/)
• Cambia Health Solutions (http://www.cambiahealth.com/companies/)
• e1ectr0n (http://www.e1ectr0n.com/)
• Founders’ Pad (Bend, OR) (http://www.founderspad.com/)
• The Initiative (https://www.intheinitiative.com/) (Defunct)
• Jaguar Land Rover Technology Incubator (https://www.jlrtechincubator.com/) (Incubator is defunct, company still here)
• Latino Founders Accelerator (https://latinofounder.com/)
• LEAP Venture Studio (https://www.leapventurestudio.com/) (Moved)
• Nike Valiant Labs
• Oregon Bioscience Incubator (https://otradi.org)
• Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio (https://www.oebvs.com/)
• Oregon Startup Center (https://oregonstartupcenter.org/) (formerly known as OTBC (http://otbc.org/))
• PIE (https://piepdx.com/)
• Portland State Business Accelerator (http://www.pdx.edu/accelerator/)
• Startups for All (https://startupsforall.org/)
• Starve Ups (https://www.starveups.com/)
• TiE XL Bootcamp (https://oregon.tie.org/tie-entrepreneur-boot-camp/)
• Vanport Studio (https://www.vanportstudio.com/)

Venture Capital

• Cascade Seed Fund (https://cascadeseedfund.com/)
• Coughdrop Capital (https://www.coughdropcapital.com/)
• Elevate Capital (http://elevate.vc/)
• Founders First Fund (TBD) (Background: https://medium.com/@josh_carter/founders-first-fund-lots-of-false-starts-9827339d6d3a)
• Ideaship (https://ideashipfund.com)
• Oregon Sports Angels (https://oregonsportsangels.org/)
• Oregon Venture Fund (https://oregonventurefund.com/) (formerly known as Oregon Angel Fund)
• Portland Seed Fund (http://www.portlandseedfund.com/)
• Prohibited Capital (https://www.prohibitedcapital.com/)
• Roadster Capital (https://www.roadstercapital.com/)
• Rogue Venture Partners (http://roguevp.com/)
• Rogue Women (https://roguewmn.com/)
• Seven Peaks Ventures (http://sevenpeaksventures.com/)
• Stargazer Ventures (https://www.stargazervc.com/)
• The BFM Fund™ (https://www.bfm.fund/)
• TiE Angels (http://oregon.tie.org/tie-angels-oregon/)
• Voyager Capital (http://www.voyagercapital.com/)

Portland startups

This is an admittedly imperfect list of Portland startups. But it's a start. Please make suggestions, edits, and refinements so that this can be a more comprehensive list. When the status of a startup changes, please leave the name and append additional info within parens, e.g., (defunct), (acquired), (acquired by [Company name]), (formerly [Previous name]).

Active

• 38 Zeros
• 4-tell.com
• A Kids Company About (formerly A Kids Book About)
• Accumulus
• Adherial
• Agilyx
• Airship (formerly Urban Airship)
• AllGo
• Alma
• Alum.ni
• Amused Now
• Answerbox
• Antenna
• Assistiv Labs
• Athletemob
• AudioName
• Automagically
• Ballroom
• beeminder
• Befunky
• Betabook
• BetaTrek
• Bigdaa
• Bilingualhire
• Binster
• bitharvest
• Black Earth United
• BlitzMetrics
• Blueshift
• Book Supply Co
• Boots n All
• Brandlive
• Brickstr
• Cake Systems
• Camp Near Me
• CampsEZ
• CardCraft
• Cardsmith
• Cascadia Games
• CASH Music
• CashStar
• Celly
• CerCis Consulting
• Chinook Book
• chirpify
• Chroma
• Circle Media
• CiteAds
• Civil
• Clibe
• Clicky
• cloudydays
• Clutch Play Games
• CoachBase
• cocollage.com
• Cointhink
• comic-rocket.com
• Concrete5
• Conscious Box
• Conversa Health
• Copatient
• Creative Homies
• Creativity Gamelab
• Crowd Supply
• CrowdStreet
• Cuddle Mattress
• Customer.io
• DADO Labs
• DailyPath
• Dart
• Dashdok
• Deconstructed
• Dedworks
• Digital Trends
• Digs
• Divine Universal Studies
• DongleKong
• Droneseed
• Dronze
• Dwellingo
• DXM
• Earth Techling
• EasyHome
• Ecozoom
• Elevation Lab
• Eleven
• Elli
• Embodee
• Emoomee
• Energy Storage Systems
• entp
• EnviJet
• Epipheo
• Exterro
• Factor.io
• Fanlist (formerly known as PodInbox)
• Fat Cupcake
• Favery
• Field Day
• Find Wellness
• Finnegan the Dragon
• Fireproof
• FishingGear.com
• FitCause
• FitDeck
• Flat
• Fleet
• Fling
• FOMO Sonar
• Foxing
• Fridie Outdoors
• FUNDA
• FunnelBox
• FXserve
• Generous
• GEO'Supp
• GeoPalz
• gigapan
• gliph
• Go 2 Network
• Golf Clubs
• GoRecess
• Gradetree
• Graph Alchemist
• Grublits
• Gruntworks
• Gymbo
• Hallspot
• HealthSaaS
• Heart & Hustle Productions
• Hello Wonder
• [HeyPros](https://heypros.com)
• Here File, File
• HighFive
• Hintme
• House Happy
• Hubbub Health
• Hydrolix (https://hydrolix.io/)
• Hyperlayer
• Icon
• iFlipd
• Imagars
• Imaginot
• IncitED
• Incredible
• Indie Vinos
• Infinity Softworks
• ingridsolutions.com
• Insidr
• Instrument
• Iterasi
• itOS
• Jama
• Janrain
• JourneyGym
• JumperCut
• Kannact
• Keen
• Kickball
• Kickplan.com
• Kimera
• Koffeebot
• Kokeena
• Konectab
• Kudough
• LanguageTwin
• Launcher.io
• Lighthouse
• Livestock Framing
• Livfly
• Local Plate
• Looptworks
• Lovely
• LucentPDX
• lucid energy
• Lucid Meetings
• LUME
• Lumen Learning
• Lumina
• lumous
• [Luna Insurance](https://joinluna.com)
• Lytics
• Made
• Mailr.io
• Margo
• MathLeap
• Maurerville
• menuish
• MineCRM
• Mineral (formerly MammothHR)
• Minetta Brook
• Mirror Realms
• MISE
• Mitu
• MobileRQ
• mobilitus.com
• Mobspot
• Molecule Synth
• Mountain Machine Games
• Mozilla
• Muut
• My World News
• MyRadar
• Night & Day Studios
• Nodify
• Nouvola
• NurseGrid
• Object Theory
• On the plates
• Opal Labs
• OpenSesame
• OpenSourcery
• Paasenger
• Panic
• Pasito
• Paxton AI
• PayRange
• Peeka
• Perceivit
• People Data Labs (formerly TalentIQ)
• Perfect
• Permetia Envirotech
• Physician Relocation Specialists
• Pillsy
• pivotplanet
• Planet Argon
• Platial
• Player 01
• Playmunity
• Poached
• Portland's Own
• PressVI
• Prestavi
• PrestoBox
• Price Guide
• Printers Row
• Provata Health
• Pulse Health
• Radious
• Rainbow Technology
• RainMaker
• RallyCause
• Rap Grid
• ReachTools.io
• RealWear
• RecBob
• Reclaim AI
• Reco
• ReelDx
• Refresh Media
• Reperio Health
• Rera Health
• Revelation
• Rezzi
• RFPio
• Ribbn
• Ride Report
• Rigado
• Rising Tide Innovations
• RNA Networks
• Roaster Tools
• Rock Paper Coin
• Rose City Games
• Rumblefish
• Salemarkd
• SavorSearch
• Scoreboard Invoicing
• Scribbletone
• SecuriDOT
• SEED
• Selfpubd
• SendSmart
• serps.com
• Shopaddict
• ShopAddikt
• showkicker.com
• Shurky Jurky
• Sixty AI (formerly FasterBetter)
• Sightbox (Acquired by J&J)
• Simple Emotion
• Simplifilm
• Skaut Coffee
• Sketch.io
• Skyward (Acquired by Verizon)
• sleepninja games
• Slumberkins
• Small World News
• Snowledge
• Snowshoe
• Snowy Evening
• SocialBlend
• Sphaera Solutions
• Splash
• SplashCast
• Sports Database
• Spot Metrix
• spotsi
• Sprintly
• Sprout At Work
• Squash Reports
• StellarTickets.com
• Storycode
• Sublime Learning
• Subscription Tools
• SwellPath
• Syndical
• Tally
• Teak (formerly Carrot)
• teamhively.com
• Tellagence
• Tender
• The Brigade
• The R-Group
• TheAVproject
• Thetus
• Tixie
• Together Underground
• Totem
• Trakt
• Trapit
• TREW
• Trisef Book
• [True Finance](https://jointrue.com)
• Truyu
• Tubaloo
• Uprinta
• Upsight Security
• Velocis
• VendNext
• Versionista
• Vets First Choice
• Viddiyo
• VodPod
• VoicePass Technology
• VRN Jobs
• WalkerTracker
• WbSrch
• We Out Here Magazine
• Webtrends
• WedBrilliant
• WeMakePDX
• Wikisway
• WILDFANG
• Womply
• Woolybubs
• Wordspreadz
• Workfrom
• WorldState
• YearOne (formerly PocketMentor)
• Yorkshire Interactive
• Zembula (formerly Scratch-It)
• Zeppidy
• Zicarta
• Zoofaroo
• ZOOM+
• Zooza

Exited

• Absci (IPO)
• AppFog (Acquired by CenturyLink)
• AppThwack (Acquired by Amazon)
• Athletepath (Acquired by IMathlete)
• Bac'n (Acquired)
• Bass Masta (Acquired)
• Bright.md (Acquired by VitalTech/Cigna)
• Cedexis (Acquired by Citrix)
• Cloudability (Acquired by Apptio)
• Code Scouts (Acquired by ChickTech)
• COLOURlovers (merged with Creative Market)
• Cozy (Acquired)
• Creative Market (Acquired by Autodesk)
• dot dot dash (formerly Stublisher) (Acquired)
• Elemental (Acquired by Amazon)
• Geoloqi (Acquired by Esri)
• Giftango (Acquired by InComm)
• Glider (Acquired)
• globesherpa.com (Acquired)
• HiringThing (Acquired)
• HUBB (Acquired)
• IOTAS (Acquired by ADT)
• Iovation (Acquired by TransUnion)
• Jive (Acquired by Aurea Software)
• Koan (Acquired by Quantive)
• Little Bird (Acquired by Sprinklr)
• Lucky Sort (Acquired by Twitter)
• Measureful (Acquired by Chirpify)
• Meridian (Acquired by Aruba, Aruba acquired by HP)
• Mirador Financial (Acquired)
• My Street Grocery (Acquired by Whole Foods)
• New Relic (IPO)
• Notion (Acquired by Jama)
• onthego platforms (Acquired by Atheer)
• Orchestrate (Acquired by CenturyLink)
• Outdoor Project (Acquired)
• Paleo Plan (Acquired)
• Paydici (Acquired)
• perka (Acquired)
• Postano (Acquired by TigerLogic)
• Puppet (Acquired)
• Reflect (Acquired by Puppet)
• RipFog (Acquired by Cloudability)
• Second Porch (Acquired by Homeaway)
• ShopIgniter (Acquired)
• Showyou (Acquired)
• Simple (Acquired by BBVA)
• Smart Mocha (Acquired)
• SpaceView (Acquired by Atheer)
• Stackery (Acquired by Amazon)
• SurveyMonkey (Acauired)
• Switchboard (Merged with Hearken)
• taplister (Acquired)
• The Clymb (Acquired)
• tindie.com (Acquired)
• Uncorked Studios (formerly Gorlochs) (Acquired by Fresh Consulting)
• Vacasa (IPO)
• Vadio (Acquired)
• Vault (Acquired by Acorns)
• VendScreen (Acquired)
• Vizify (Acquired by Yahoo!)
• The WILD (Acquired by Autodesk)
• Zapproved (Acquired by Exterro)
• Zipcan (Acquired)

Defunct

• Brightwork (Defunct)
• Bumped (Defunct)
• Clickety (Defunct)
• CPUsage (Defunct)
• Dovie (Defunct)
• Forkfly (Defunct)
• GadgetTrak (Defunct)
• launchside.com (Defunct)
• MoPix (Defunct)
• Mugasha (Defunct)
• Piggybank (Defunct)
• Plunk (Defunct)
• returnguru (Defunct)
• Revisu (Defunct)
• ShopTender (formerly blkdot) (Defunct)
• Staffing Robot (Defunct)
• Stand in (Defunct)
• StatDragon (Defunct)
• Stayhound (Defunct)
• Theme Dragon (Defunct)
• Treehouse (Defunct)
• Upstart Labs (Defunct)