Silicon Forest Provides Fertile Ground For Startups
Oregon's startups are increasingly garnering attention from venture capitalists and support from government agencies. Here's a look at a few.
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When it comes to the tech landscape in the US, Silicon Valley lies to the west and Silicon Alley to the east. But those areas are not the only high tech hubs attracting entrepreneurs. In the Pacific Northwest, Oregon's Silicon Forest is showing signs of being fertile ground for startups.
Over a four-year stretch, venture capital in Oregon has steadily grown, soaring to $226 million in 2015 -- 20% over the previous year, the Oregonian notes.
The cities in the greater Portland area are throwing their support to funding-challenged startups with the hopes of possibly creating the next Facebook or Google to help drive economic development and their communities at large.
The city of Beaverton, for example, partnered with the startup incubator Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) to form the Beaverton $100K Startup Challenge last year. Later this year it will begin to accept applications for the 2017 class.
In 2013, the city of Portland launched its Startup PDX Challenge through the Portland Development Commission (PDC) with the aim of creating economic activity in a portion of the city. The challenge provides a monetary award of up to $25,000, along with free rent and free professional services for one year.
Applications for the next PDX Challenge are expected to be available later this year. The contest is open to any startup in the nation that is willing to relocate to Portland for at least a year and work in the provided free office space, Katherine Krajnak, senior industry liaison with the PDC and program manager for the PDX Challenge, told InformationWeek.
[See 10 Signs You're Not Cut out to Work at a Startup.]
The challenge, which seeks technology and consumer product startups, usually generates approximately 100 to 150 applications. With the help of members from the Portland startup community, accelerators, incubators, investment firms, and businesses, a group of judges will narrow the field down to 40 startups, followed by another cut to about 20 semi-finalists.
These semi-finalists will be interviewed, and six startups will be the ultimate winners, Krajnak explained.
Since its 2013 launch, the Startup PDX Challenge has made efforts to ensure its pool of applicants include under-represented minorities and women entrepreneurs by doing outreach to community groups and organizations, Krajnak said.
A total of 18 teams have been declared winners since the challenge started, and only one of those startups has closed. Two of the companies were acquired, and another two are close to closing a funding round worth about $800,000 each, she noted.
Some past winners of the Startup PDX Challenge note the program provided the boost their startup needed. Here is a look at a few of the winners and where they are now.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Brady Sieg's name and to clarify NoAppFee's aspiration to power a website for low-income housing for Portland.
"NoAppFee.com would not be here today without the start-up PDX Challenge. It helped us get our idea off the ground and helped lubricate the launch process by giving our small team a place to work and money to develop our website. It also helped us get a ton of exposure and buy-in within the local community. These are connections that we still work with to this day," Tyrone Poole, founder of NoAppFee.com, told InformationWeek.
Poole's company matches renters with properties that they would be qualified to rent. The company specializes in helping low-income families with poor credit, past evictions, delinquent accounts, and the like find housing.
The company, founded in 2013, has raised $500,000 from angel investors and are scheduled to receive nearly $200,000 more in the coming seven months, Poole said. The company is in the final stage of developing its new website that it says it expects to launch in August. NoAppFee is also hoping to power a website for low-income housing for the City of Portland later this year, Poole said.
NoAppFee staff left to right: Tyrone Poole, founder; Charles Swatzell, chief revenue officer; Katie Hartzler, administrative assistant; Brady Sieg, marketing strategist; and Zak Kelly, operations manager.
Another PDX Challenge winner was OntheGo, which developed an augmented reality interface (ARI) that is a 2D recognition gesture system for wearable devices. The startup was founded in 2010 and raised $3 million from angel investors and venture capitalists before it was acquired by Atheer in 2015.
When OntheGo was working out of the free office space as a PDX Challenge winner, Ryan Fink, vice president of Atheer business development and founder of OntheGo, told InformationWeek. "It was great being surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurs, who were all going through the struggles of a startup," he said. "Also, the space and $10k check [the grant amount when OntheGo won the Challenge in 2013] were great."
He noted that operating a startup in Portland has its advantages of a "great place to live" and a location that is fairly easy to recruit engineering talent. "The tech community in Portland has a 'pay it forward' mentality that I think is difficult to find in other startup hubs," Fink said.
OnTheGo founders at the acquisition party in their new Atheer office in Portland (left to right): Ty Frackiewicz, Ryan Fink, and Gary Peck
David Mays, president of Walker Tracker, expressed a similar benefit to receiving the support from the Startup PDX Challenge as Fink did.
"Startup PDX offered us a chance to meet and learn from other nascent firms, and the circle of advisors that were involved. There's something special about sharing space and channeling the energy and excitement of other growing companies," Mays told InformationWeek.
Walker Tracker is a cloud app designed for corporate walking and activity challenges, and to generate employee engagement. The company has been in operation for nearly a decade, but was officially founded in 2011, Mays said. The company was self-funded by the founder and has operated solely on its operating profits without the need for angel or venture funding, he added, noting it has had its product on the market for several years.
Walker Tracker staff (left to right): Torrence Stratton, junior developer; Ben Parzybok, chief technology officer and founder; and Steve Keri, developer.
In addition to the Startup PDX Challenge, the Portland Development Commission also offers applicants the chance to attend the TiE XL Entrepreneur Boot Camp to give them a primer on some key aspects of what entrepreneurs need to know to be successful.
The series of 15 lessons, typically offered in a five-day boot camp format, covers topics including entrepreneurial thinking, getting started, solving pain points, fundraising, presentation, the art of the sale, developing new networks, when you need to talk to a lawyer, and mentor connection.
The next session for the weekly training session that runs approximately a month, will begin in September. Selection for the boot camp is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Photo: Participants in the TiE-XL Entrepreneur Bootcamp in July collaborate.
In addition to the Startup PDX Challenge, the Portland Development Commission also offers applicants the chance to attend the TiE XL Entrepreneur Boot Camp to give them a primer on some key aspects of what entrepreneurs need to know to be successful.
The series of 15 lessons, typically offered in a five-day boot camp format, covers topics including entrepreneurial thinking, getting started, solving pain points, fundraising, presentation, the art of the sale, developing new networks, when you need to talk to a lawyer, and mentor connection.
The next session for the weekly training session that runs approximately a month, will begin in September. Selection for the boot camp is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Photo: Participants in the TiE-XL Entrepreneur Bootcamp in July collaborate.
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