Portland, Oregon, startup news - Silicon Florist

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Oct 2026

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Interested in Portland, Oregon, startup news…? Silicon Florist has been a leading source for news on early-stage startups in the Rose City since 2007. Now, I'm offering a quick recap of the stories from the week to ensure that you're always in the loop on what's happening in the Portland startup community.

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November 7, 202633 min

Week ending Nov 6, 2026 – Oregon startup news

It's been a crazy week in politics, so let's just talk startup stuff. Namely: the first humanoid robot on the street is from Oregon, the Cloudability founders are back 15 years to the day, and a bioscience incubator wants your hustle.LINKS:Remembering Aaron Swartz: Portland Civic Lab hosts free screening of The Internet's Own Boy — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/04/remembering-aaron-swartz-portland-civic-lab-hosts-free-screening-of-the-internets-own-boy/Aaron Swartz at 40: The Internet's Own Boy — https://luma.com/xv5vrxzkAccording to Stripe, Portland is in the top 10 "emerging US cities for startup founders" — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/03/according-to-stripe-portland-is-in-the-top-10-emerging-us-cities-for-startup-founders/Stripe Atlas data — https://lnkd.in/p/gxCAZ-ixIs your market hiding outside the lead database…? Topsail CHARTER may be what you need — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/03/is-your-market-hiding-outside-the-lead-database-topsail-charter-may-be-what-you-need/Topsail CHARTER — https://topsail.app/charterREMINDER: SXSW Pitch 2027 applications are due November 13, 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/03/reminder-sxsw-pitch-2027-applications-are-due-november-13-2026/SXSW Pitch — https://cart.sxsw.com/products/acceleratorappREMINDER: Request your invitation to the Oregon UAS Innovation Showcase — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/04/reminder-request-your-invitation-to-the-oregon-uas-innovation-showcase/Oregon UAS Innovation Showcase — https://hub.oregonuas.org/events/83e05f40-e8d7-4de0-9426-b7c846094011First humanoid robot on the street: Agility begins trading on Nasdaq as AGLT — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/05/first-humanoid-robot-on-the-street-agility-begins-trading-on-nasdaq-as-aglt/Agility — https://www.agilityrobotics.com/Building a bioscience company in Oregon? Apply for BioBuild by November 20, 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/04/building-a-bioscience-company-in-oregon-apply-for-biobuild-by-november-20-2026/OBI/OTRADI BioBuild — https://www.otradi.org/biobuild/Tokematic: They solved the problem for cloud. Now Cloudability founders take on AI spend. — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/11/02/tokematic-they-solved-the-problem-for-cloud-now-cloudability-founders-take-on-ai-spend/Tokematic — https://tokematic.com/RSVP w/ me — https://rsvpw.meFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.co- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet.ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ----------Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird.https://siliconflorist.com#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

October 30, 202619 min

Week ending Oct 30, 2026 – Oregon startup news

The midterms are making so much noise that it's been a slow news week, but slow isn't empty. The feds bet $1.2 million on bacteria spores, a University of Oregon spinout got acquired, and the Oregon governor's race gets one last startup-flavored look before ballots are due. In this episode, Rick starts with Wildwood, the LAIKA stop-motion love letter to Portland that's pulled in about $20 million so far, and the sad news that the crow statues are coming down. Then it's a podcast with SentoClaw, a Portland startup acting as a security layer for AI agents, a "witness" that checks what an agent is about to do before it does it. VertueLab, formerly Oregon BEST, names PIE alum Leo Ochoa as its new executive director. Then the big one. Rick's final run through the Oregon governor's race, Tina Kotek versus Christine Drazan: what they said about business formation and business growth, how little either said about startups, and the QSBS tax issue that both candidates seem to lean toward fixing. Plus a plea to please vote and walk your ballot to a drop box. Graze, now part of Flipboard, has built an election night tracker for Bluesky. Next comes Caravel Bio, fresh off its Bend Venture Conference win, with a $1,246,984 NSF SBIR Phase II award after a $275,000 Phase I. It uses engineered bacterial spores to hold enzymes, as an alternative to chemical catalysts. Then Azenta acquires SynPlexity, a Eugene company from the University of Oregon's Knight Campus and a Launch Oregon portfolio company. Terms weren't disclosed. Secrets wraps it up with thanks to all 138 patrons, a pen pal sticker club mailing, a beta of the Soqratic chat on Rick's personal site, RSVP w/ me, catch-ups with Jason Bolt of Revant Optics, Juan Barraza of Latino Founders, and Katharine Reinhold of Built Oregon, and a happy Halloween. LINKS: - Magical Trail of Crows winds through Portland in advance of Laika film 'Wildwood' — https://nwexaminer.com/p/magical-trail-of-crows-winds-through - Chatting with SentoClaw — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/28/chatting-with-sentoclaw/ - SentoClaw — https://sentoclaw.ai/ - VertueLab names Leo Ochoa as new executive director — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/27/vertuelab-names-leo-ochoa-as-new-executive-director/ - VertueLab — https://vertuelab.org/ - If you haven't submitted your ballot yet, here's my final recap of the Oregon governor's race from a startup perspective — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/29/if-you-havent-submitted-your-ballot-yet-heres-my-final-recap-of-the-oregon-governors-race-from-a-startup-perspective/ - Tina Kotek's plan — https://www.tinafororegon.com/oregons-future/ - Christine Drazan's plan — https://www.christinefororegon.com/drazan-plan/ - Stressed about the midterms…? Election Night 2026 from Graze will keep you up-to-date on Bluesky chatter — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/20/stressed-about-the-midterms-election-night-2026-from-graze-will-keep-you-up-to-date-on-bluesky-chatter/ - Election Night 2026 from Graze — https://midterms.graze.social/ - Caravel Bio awarded $1.2M NSF SBIR Phase II grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/28/caravel-bio-awarded-1-2m-nsf-sbir-phase-ii-grant/ - Caravel Bio — https://www.caravel.bio/ - Azenta acquires SynPlexity, a University of Oregon spinout — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/30/azenta-acquires-synplexity-a-university-of-oregon-spinout/ - SynPlexity — https://www.synplexity.com/ - Soqratic — https://soqratic.com - RSVP w/ me — https://rsvpw.me/ - Revant Optics — https://www.revantoptics.com/ - Latino Founders — https://www.latinofounder.com

October 24, 202624 min

Week ending Oct 23, 2026 – Oregon startup news

BVC handed out $1M to six Oregon startups. In this episode, we cover a 22-year-old PHP bug that sent the internet scrambling to patch, the North Bank Vancouver Tech Crawl drawing twice the crowd it planned for, Jonathan Maus stepping back from BikePortland after 21 years, and Agility cofounder Jonathan Hurst's AMA on X. Then it's down to Bend, where the Bend Venture Conference handed $1 million to six Oregon startups, and Lake Oswego's Permeta took home $420K of it. Back in Portland, NedSpace, the city's longest-running coworking space, is up for sale and looking for its next owner. Graze built Election Night 2026 to track the midterm chatter on Bluesky, Portland Civic Lab dug into campaign finance, and yes, please vote early. Secrets wraps it up with thanks to all 137 patrons and a few good catch-ups. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro: BVC awards $1M, NedSpace for sale & Agility AMA 00:56 - 22-year-old PHP bug threatens WordPress installs 02:29 - Vancouver Tech Crawl recap with Dave Barkos 03:20 - Jonathan Maus steps back from BikePortland after 21 years 05:13 - Agility Robotics co-founder AMA: Digit, margins & growth 06:44 - Bend Venture Conference recapped: High Desert resilience 09:00 - BVC Winners: $1M awarded across 6 Oregon companies 10:37 - Portland's oldest coworking space is for sale: The NedSpace story 13:13 - Opportunity for a new steward: What NedSpace could become 14:54 - Grays (Flipboard) launches custom Bluesky election night feeds 16:01 - PSA: Vote early and drop your midterm ballots 18:27 - Portland Civic Lab campaign finance tracking 19:30 - Secrets LINKS: Bend Venture Conference shares 2026 winners — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/20/bend-venture-conference-shares-2026-winners/ Bend Venture Conference — https://bendvc.com Longtime coworking space NedSpace seeks new owner — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/20/longtime-coworking-space-nedspace-seeks-new-owner/ Faris Mubarak on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7518342422645460992 Agility hosts AMA with cofounder and Chief Robot Officer Jonathan Hurst — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/21/agility-hosts-ama-with-cofounder-and-chief-robot-officer-jonathan-hurst/ AMA responses from Jonathan Hurst, cofounder of Agility — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/23/ama-responses-from-jonathan-hurst-cofounder-of-agility/ Agility on X — https://x.com/agilityrobotics/status/2113359743351960059 Stressed about the midterms…? Election Night 2026 from Graze will keep you up-to-date on Bluesky chatter — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/20/stressed-about-the-midterms-election-night-2026-from-graze-will-keep-you-up-to-date-on-bluesky-chatter/ Election Night 2026 — https://midterms.graze.social/ Portland Civic Lab campaign finance — https://www.portlandciviclab.org/deep-dives/campaign-finance/data Portland startup and tech events this week (North Bank Vancouver Tech Crawl) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/19/portland-startup-and-tech-events-this-week-2/ FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT… - https://patreon.com/turoczy - https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy - https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.co - https://siliconflorist.substack.com/ - https://pdxslack.com

October 17, 202617 min

Week ending Oct 16, 2026 – Oregon startup news

Filming on location in Central Oregon during High Desert Innovation Week and Bend Venture Conference, a rough week and a massive week of Oregon tech news. Intel-alum founded Mueon raises $65M (bringing total funding to $80M) to pioneer modular 3D "cublet" AI compute architecture, cybersecurity and AI identity company C1 (formerly ConductorOne) is acquired by Workday, and the Oregon UAS Accelerator brings its defense and autonomy demo day from Pendleton right to Big Pink in Portland. Let's get into it… CHAPTERS 00:00 - Opening thoughts from Bend & episode overview 01:59 - Vancouver Tech Crawl reminder (Oct 21 with Dave Barkos) 03:10 - Addis Ventures coffee & donuts gathering with Andrew Chen 04:00 - Muon raises $65M: AI "cublets" & 3D modular chip architecture 07:09 - Workday acquires Portland-rooted cybersecurity startup C1 (ConductorOne) 09:39 - Oregon UAS Accelerator demo day comes to Big Pink in Portland 11:44 - Secrets Segment: High Desert Innovation Week & Bend Outdoor Works 13:39 - Saturday Swimwear wins Bend Outdoor Works demo day 13:52 - Patreon thank you & monthly community sticker club 14:55 - Catching up with Jason Schneider: Oregon ecosystem builder event preview 16:15 - Mitch Daugherty interview on The Long Con (Authentic community building) 17:11 - Closing: Take care of yourselves & keep up the good work LINKS: Take the opportunity to crawl your way around the tech community in Vancouver, Washington — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/09/take-the-opportunity-to-crawl-your-way-around-the-tech-community-in-vancouver-washington/ North Bank Vancouver Tech Crawl — https://luma.com/northbankcouvecrawl?coupon=SILICONFLORIST Andrew Chan of Atas VC brings The Road Show to Portland on October 23 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/15/andrew-chan-of-atas-vc-brings-the-road-show-to-portland-on-october-23/ The Road Show (request to join) — https://luma.com/ycmlzr0z Atas VC — https://atas.vc Portland startup Mueon raises $65 million Series A with OVF and Intel Capital in the mix — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/15/portland-startup-mueon-raises-65-million-series-a-with-ovf-and-intel-capital-in-the-mix/ Mueon — https://mueon.com The Information: Mueon raises $65 million — https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/exclusive-mueon-raises-65-million-rework-data-centers-put-together C1 – formerly known as ConductorOne — to be acquired by Workday — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/13/c1-formerly-known-as-conductorone-to-be-acquired-by-workday/ Workday to acquire C1 — https://www.c1.ai/news/press-release/workday-to-acquire-c1-ai Oregon UAS Accelerator cohort to take the stage in Portland — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/15/oregon-uas-accelerator-cohort-to-take-the-stage-in-portland/ Oregon UAS Innovation Showcase — https://oregonuas.org/showcase Bend Outdoor Worx — https://www.bendoutdoorworx.com Bend Venture Conference — https://www.bendvc.com/ Chatting with Mitch Daugherty about community — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/14/chatting-with-mitch-daugherty-about-community/ Mitch Daugherty on community and connection (The Long Con) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot54ZfmafTk FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT… - https://patreon.com/turoczy - https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy - https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social - https://siliconflorist.substack.com/ - https://pdxslack.com ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

October 10, 202639 min

Week ending Oct 9, 2026 – Oregon startup news

Leading the week: Latino Founders opened a 15,000-square-foot Founders Hub on the North Park Blocks, with Senator Ron Wyden on hand for the ribbon cutting. Then Pitch Latino Portland where all ten companies took home $2,000 and crowd favorite Hey Doc Clinic took an extra $10,000, non-dilutive and unrestricted. Then the pitch feedback I kept repeating at OEN's Angel Oregon Tech pitch practice: hook them before you introduce yourself, feed us the logo candy, and don't show up and throw up. Plus the Oregon AI Accelerator's second cohort of 14 companies and the eight Bend Venture Conference Growth Stage companies, with me heading to Bend next week. Quick hits: the North Bank Vancouver Tech Crawl (Oct 21), Demolicious Champion of Champions (Dec 3), and Clarence Bethea's What VCs Won't Say workshop. Then the secrets. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Oregon startup news intro and quick startup stories 04:45 - Latino Founders opens 15,000 sq ft Hub on North Park Blocks 06:51 - Pitch Latino Portland moves to the Newmark Theatre 08:52 - Hey Doc Clinic wins the $10,000 Pitch Latino grand prize 12:50 - 8 Rules for Stage Pitching: 18:37 - Oregon AI Accelerator reveals Cohort 2 20:03 - Bend Venture Conference 2026 Growth Stage finalists 21:28 - Secrets LINKS: Take the opportunity to crawl your way around the tech community in Vancouver, Washington — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/09/take-the-opportunity-to-crawl-your-way-around-the-tech-community-in-vancouver-washington/ North Bank Vancouver Tech Crawl — https://luma.com/northbankcouvecrawl?coupon=SILICONFLORIST Demolicious Champion of Champions 2026 tickets are now on sale — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/05/demolicious-champion-of-champions-2026-tickets-are-now-on-sale/ Demolicious Champion of Champions tickets — https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/31863486/demoliciouschampion-of-champions-portland-mcmenamins-mission-theater Latino Founders share insights on Latino Entrepreneurship Week on KGW — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/06/latino-founders-share-insights-on-latino-entrepreneurship-week-on-kgw/ Latino Entrepreneurship Week — https://www.latinoentrepreneurshipweek.com/ Pitch Latino Portland 2026 is in the books. Who took home the big check…? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/09/pitch-latino-portland-2026-is-in-the-books-who-took-home-the-big-check/ Hey Doc Clinic — https://www.heydocclinic.com/ Latino Founders — https://www.latinofounder.com/ Pitching your startup soon…? Here's the feedback I kept repeating — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/07/pitching-your-startup-soon-heres-the-feedback-i-kept-repeating/ Angel Oregon Tech — https://www.oen.org/2026-technology/ Books for Amazon — https://siliconflorist.com/2021/02/03/what-do-i-mean-when-i-say-that-your-startup-story-should-be-books-for-amazon-lets-let-jeff-bezos-tell-it/ Oregon AI Accelerator launches second cohort — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/06/oregon-ai-accelerator-launches-second-cohort/ Oregon AI Accelerator — https://oregonaix.com/ Bend Venture Conference finalizes Growth Stage slate for 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/05/bend-venture-conference-finalizes-growth-stage-slate-for-2026/ Bend Venture Conference — https://www.bendvc.com/ FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT… - https://patreon.com/turoczy - https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy - https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social - https://siliconflorist.substack.com/ - https://pdxslack.com

October 3, 202631 min

Week ending Oct 2, 2026 – Oregon startup news

Who knew AI would be the thing that reboots the Silicon Forest? This week: a16z says capital is rotating back to hardware, Portland lands at 53 out of 1,000, and I ran a diff between a governor's debate and my earlier coverage and came up with — not much. Plus, I'm giving away copies of Anika Horn's *It Takes a Valley* to premiere watchers and paid Patreon supporters — and if you stick around for the secrets, it's our third anniversary, and I'm cranky. LINKS: Struggling to choose between Pitch Latino Portland and What VCs Won't Say…? Now you can do both — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/29/struggling-to-choose-between-pitch-latino-portland-and-what-vcs-wont-say-now-you-can-do-both/ Pitch Latino Portland — https://www.portland5.com/event/pitch-latino Investor Ready Workshop with Clarence Bethea — https://luma.com/workshopor Bend Venture Conference finalizes Early Stage slate for 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/28/bend-venture-conference-finalizes-early-stage-slate-for-2026/ High Desert Innovation Week returns to Bend, October 13–16, 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/01/high-desert-innovation-week-returns-to-bend-october-13-16-2026/ High Desert Innovation Week — https://www.hdinnovationweek.com/ Bend Venture Conference — https://bendvc.com/ Portland's Prelude Early Learning secures $2M NIH SBIR grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/29/portlands-prelude-early-learning-secures-2m-nih-sbir-grant/ Prelude Early Learning — https://preludeearlylearning.com/ My recap of the latest Oregon gubernatorial debate from a startup perspective — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/02/my-recap-of-the-latest-oregon-gubernatorial-debate-from-a-startup-perspective/ Watch the debate — https://www.youtube.com/live/WNCfGur9iwk Could the AI era mean a reboot of more traditional Silicon Forest activity…? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/01/could-the-ai-era-mean-a-reboot-of-more-traditional-silicon-forest-activity/ a16z State of Markets II — https://a16z.com/state-of-markets-ii/ Subsea geothermal startup Endurance Energy drills off the Oregon coast — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/01/subsea-geothermal-startup-endurance-energy-drills-off-the-oregon-coast/ Endurance Energy — https://www.enduranceenergy.com/ Oregon Entrepreneurs Network secures ~$172K grant. Well, that was FAST. — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/01/oregon-entrepreneurs-network-secures-172k-grant-well-that-was-fast/ Oregon Entrepreneurs Network — https://www.oen.org/2026/09/28/oregon-entrepreneurs-network-receives-sba-fast-grant-to-expand-support-for-oregon-innovators/ Portland ranks 53rd in the 2026 rankings of top global cities — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/01/portland-ranks-53rd-in-the-2026-rankings-of-top-global-cities-but-unfortunately-thats-three-spots-shy-of-garnering-a-dedicated-report/ Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2026 — https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/global-cities-index/ City Observatory — https://cityobservatory.org/what-global-rankings-say-about-successful-cities-and-portlands-performance/ Interested in building more resilient startup ecosystems…? It Takes a Valley — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/10/01/interested-in-building-more-resilient-startup-ecosystems-it-takes-a-valley/ It Takes a Valley — https://bookshop.org/a/128693/9798995796312 Friday night watch party — https://luma.com/nlez8wxy Matt Schulte for Portland City Council — https://mattschulte.org

September 26, 202639 min

Week ending Sep 25, 2026 – Oregon startup news

Leading the week: Phil and Penny Knight's $1B gift to build a new Knight College of Engineering at the University of Oregon — which, fun fact, walks straight into the territory the state system carved out for Oregon State a century ago, so consider this the moment that rivalry got a very expensive new chapter (with Jensen Huang's OSU gifts as the friendly counterweight). Then Rapta closed an $8M round for its manufacturing intelligence platform, and what caught my eye wasn't the number — it was the all-local cap table: Voyager Capital, Elevate Capital, Portland Seed Fund, and Bend Venture Conference, with Diane Fraiman and Kirk Holland taking board seats. I also did a two-part startup-lens read on the Oregon governor's race — comparing Kotek's and Drazan's actual plans, then sitting through the PBJ/OBI forum where neither candidate said the word "startup" once — and landed on a closing thought that's stuck with me: OBI has a room, we don't. Plus Built Festival felt like a genuine family reunion (save the date — 10th anniversary is October 1, 2027), Selena Deckelmann made TIME's Executives of the Year list, and there's now a Calagator-style map for Portland's pop-up food scene, courtesy of a Canard bar manager who got $40K dev-shop quotes and had a regular build it for free instead. LINKS: Selena Deckelmann recognized among 2026 TIME Executives of the Year — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/22/selena-deckelmann-recognized-among-2026-time-executives-of-the-year-tech-and-data/ TIME Executives of the Year: Tech and Data — https://time.com/collection/executives-of-the-year-tech-data/2026/selena-deckelmann/ Looking for Portland pop-ups and food events? Try The List PDX — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/24/looking-for-portland-pop-ups-and-food-events-try-the-list-pdx/ The List PDX — https://thelistpdx.com/ Apply to the Oregon Growth Board — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/22/if-youve-ever-been-interested-in-impacting-how-capital-flows-in-oregon-you-may-want-to-apply-to-the-oregon-growth-board/ Oregon Growth Board — https://www.oregon.gov/biz/aboutus/boards/ogb/pages/default.aspx Uncle Phil has entered the engineering chat — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/23/uncle-phil-has-entered-the-engineering-chat/ Phil and Penny Knight give $1 billion to launch a UO engineering school — https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/09/phil-and-penny-knight-give-1-billion-to-launch-university-of-oregon-engineering-school.html People seem pretty excited about the $1B donation to the UO Knight Campus — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/24/people-seem-pretty-excited-about-the-1b-donation-to-the-university-of-oregon-knight-campus/ While Rapta's $8M raise is newsworthy, it's who's on the cap table that struck me — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/21/while-raptas-8m-raise-is-newsworthy-its-whos-on-the-cap-table-that-struck-me/ Rapta — https://rapta.com/ Comparing the Oregon gubernatorial candidates' published plans — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/22/comparing-the-oregon-gubernatorial-candidates-published-plans-from-a-startup-perspective/ Kotek's "Building Oregon's Future Together" — https://www.tinafororegon.com/oregons-future/ Drazan's six-part plan — https://www.christinefororegon.com/drazan-plan/ Gubernatorial candidates sit down to discuss one another's plans for Oregon — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/24/gubernatorial-candidates-sit-down-to-discuss-one-anothers-plans-for-oregon/ Built Oregon — https://www.builtoregon.com/

September 19, 202626 min

Week ending Sep 18, 2026 – Oregon startup news

Portland startups have a long, storied history of engineers building tools for other engineers—from Tektronix oscilloscopes to Puppet. This week, we look at how that open-source builder tradition is roaring back with a fresh $2M round for AI agent infrastructure, alongside major hardware and clean energy headlines across the state. In this episode, we cover Agility Robotics unveiling their new Digit 5 humanoid robot, PIE alum James McDermott raising $2M for AntFly (led by HeavyBit), Mazama Energy raising $135M to tap Oregon geothermal power for AI data centers, Bend Venture Conference early-stage semifinalists, the 10 Latine founders pitching at Pitch Latino Portland, and a very candid Secrets segment. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - Agility Robotics unveils Digit 5 (Humanoid redesign & 20-hr battery) 02:08 - Bend Venture Conference (BVC) early-stage semifinalists 03:15 - Fresh Hop Finder map for craft beer season 03:57 - Built Festival reminder (Sept 25 at The Redd) 04:36 - AntFly raises $2M: Open-source AI retrieval engine backed by HeavyBit 08:08 - Mazama Energy raises $135M: Tapping Oregon geothermal for AI data centers 11:09 - Pitch Latino Portland: 10 Latine founders at the Newmark Theatre (Oct 8) 13:42 - Secrets LINKS AntFly: https://antfly.io Pitch Latino Portland https://www.portland5.com/event/pitch-latino Built Festival https://builtoregon.com FashioNXT https://fashionxt.com Fresh Hop Finder Map https://freshhopfinder.com/ It Takes a Valley by Anika Horn https://bookshop.org/p/books/it-takes-a-valley-how-to-build-thriving-entrepreneurial-ecosystems-that-transform-our-communities/83432271bcd8886b?ean=9798995796312&aid=128693&listref=startup-books FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT… - https://patreon.com/turoczy - https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy - Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699 - Portland Oregon startup news Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2cmLDH8wrPdNMS2qtTnhcy?si=H627wrGOTvStxxKWRlRGLQ - Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3 - Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494 - The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457 - The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA - https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social - https://siliconflorist.substack.com/ - https://pdxslack.com ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

September 12, 202628 min

Week ending Sep 11, 2026 – Portland startup news

Talking to venture capitalists often feels like that scene in The Notebook—"What do you want?!" This week, we preview a rare, candid workshop coming to Portland with Clarence Bethea designed to decode "VC speak" and share the quiet parts out loud. We also break down new local tech developments: YC alum Ravoy raising $27M and building out a Portland engineering presence, Experatas launching AI-driven digital health malpractice tools, the Portland Office of Small Business releasing its first data-driven impact report, and the full speaker lineup for the 2025 Built Festival. PORTLAND STARTUP NEWS CHAPTERS 00:00 - Why talking to VCs feels like "The Notebook" 01:20 - Experatas: AI-enabled digital health for malpractice reviews 02:56 - Portland Office of Small Business 1st Year Impact Report 06:24 - Startup Stories shoutout: Peter Kirwan & mebot ai 06:55 - What VCs Won't Say: Clarence Bethea workshop at Instrument (Oct 8) 11:15 - YC alum Revoy raises $27M & hires in Portland 14:14 - Built Festival 2025: Celebrating Oregon consumer products (Sept 25) 16:17 - Built Festival speaker & maker highlights (Steelport, TLE, and more) 19:23 - Secrets FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT… - https://patreon.com/turoczy - https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy - https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social - https://siliconflorist.substack.com/ - https://pdxslack.com ABOUT SILICON FLORIST ---------- For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet. ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com #pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur

September 5, 202635 min

Week ending Sep 4 2026 – Oregon startup news

Leading the week: Kelly Lyons steps into the Innovation Hub's empty chair right as PSU — the Hub's fiscal sponsor — lands $6M for innovation and commercialization, and Rick had the story out before the Hub itself put out a statement. From there, Josh Carter's UpStart Collective marks 4 years and a full floor of Big Pink, a decade after Portland first waved him off. The Bend Venture Conference narrows its Growth Stage field to 15 semifinalists — heavy on Oregon names like Caravel Bio and Looptworks, with a few out-of-state ringers along for the ride — ahead of its October main-stage finale. And if you're building anything, circle September 15: that's the deadline for the Oregon AI Accelerator's zero-equity cohort, the Oregon Innovation Showcase's deeptech call, and Founders Inc's hardware program, all landing the same week. Plus: August's top 10 posts, in case you missed Panthalassa's $2B moment or the news that Portland Startup Week isn't what it used to be. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Oregon startup news intro 02:15 - Oregon Innovation Showcase: Deep tech and hardware applications 03:18 - Oregon AI Accelerator: Cohort 2 applications (Due Sept 15) 04:25 - Founders Inc: Hard tech opportunities in the Bay Area 05:23 - Metro Region Innovation Hub: New Executive Director Kelly Lyons 09:18 - Bend Venture Conference: The 22-year angel investor legacy 11:55 - BVC Growth Stage Semi-Finalists: Tech Category 19:00 - Silicon Florist turns 19: The 20-year celebration preview 24:45 - Upstart Collective: Celebrating 4 years in Big Pink 30:20 - Secrets LINKS: Innovation Hub names new director — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/01/portland-metro-region-innovation-hub-names-new-director/ Portland Metro Region Innovation Hub — https://www.portlandmetrohub.org/ Oregon AI Accelerator wants you — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/02/building-with-ai-oregon-ai-accelerator-wants-you/ Oregon AI Accelerator — https://oregonaix.com/ Learn to stop worrying and embrace AI with Scott Hanselman — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/02/learn-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-ai-with-scott-hanselman/ Steam Circuit — AI Without the Hype — https://www.steamcircuit.com/events/ai-builder-series-ai-without-the-hype-september-5-2026 Oregon Innovation Showcase 2027 call for founders — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/03/interest-in-showcasing-your-innovation-youre-in-luck-oregon-innovation-showcase-2027-is-looking-for-folks-to-feature/ Oregon Innovation Showcase — https://www.oregoninnovationshowcase.org/ Bend Venture Conference reveals Growth Stage semifinalists — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/04/bend-venture-conference-2026-reveals-growth-stage-semifinalists/ Bend Venture Conference — https://www.bendvc.com/ Hardware / deep tech accelerator — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/04/looking-for-a-startup-accelerator-for-your-hardware-or-deep-tech-startup/ Founders Inc Blueprint — https://f.inc/blueprint Top 10 Silicon Florist posts for August — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/09/01/top-10-silicon-florist-posts-for-august-2026/ FIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT… - https://patreon.com/turoczy - https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy - https://siliconflorist.substack.com/ - https://pdxslack.com ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ---------- Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird. https://siliconflorist.com