Portland, Oregon, startup news - Silicon Florist

Ten years ago Panthalassa asked me to believe that a bobbing metal sphere full of GPUs, cooled by the actual ocean, was a real company — and this week The Information reported they're raising $225 million more at something like a $2 billion valuation, doubling in three months flat. Unicorn? I'm going with narwhal. And that's before we even get to a decade-old idea I started myself, that's now bigger than I ever meant it to be.

From there: Portland Startup Week — the thing I started a decade ago before handing it off to Josh Carter — is becoming Oregon Startup Week, 40-plus events statewide, home base at Big Pink, May 10–15, 2027, and I'm oddly happy watching my own creation outgrow me. Renée James, who ran Intel and then sold Ampere Computing to SoftBank for $6.5 billion, just launched a Lake Oswego startup fixing pay-to-play youth sports recruiting — especially for the girls and women getting priced out of travel baseball and softball. Plus a California company buys an OSU spinout, Oregon State throws a party for five semiconductor spinouts at once, Ray King's Porkbun crosses 4 million domains, Rose City Robotics wins $200K to recycle lithium-ion batteries, Brad Attig's got a guide for supporting rural Oregon founders hit by wildfires, and Silicon Florist quietly turned 19 this week — with a 20th-anniversary save-the-date already on the calendar. And, as always, secrets.

00:00 Oregon startup new intro

00:20 Quick news stories

04:44 Panthalassa

09:43 RIP Portland Startup Week

11:55 Rule42

15:08 Secrets

LINKS:

Panthalassa rides the AI wave to $2B — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/06/panthalassa-rides-the-ai-wave-to-a-purported-2b-valuation/

Panthalassa — https://panthalassa.com/

Portland Startup Week is no more — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/03/portland-startup-week-is-no-more/

Oregon Startup Week — https://www.oregonstartupweek.com/

Rule42 sets sights on recruiting — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/04/a-new-kind-of-processor-rule42-sports-technology-group-sets-sites-on-improving-recruiting/

Rule42 Sports Technology Group — https://rule42.com/

Tandem PV acquires nexTC — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/05/californias-tandem-pv-acquires-nextc-oregon-state-university-spinout/

Tandem PV — https://www.tandempv.com/

OSU celebrates semiconductor spinouts — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/05/osu-celebrates-semiconductor-spinouts/

OSU Today — https://today.oregonstate.edu/all-stories/discovery-industry-oregon-state-spinouts-are-building-future-semiconductors

Porkbun passes 4 million domains — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/05/portlands-porkbun-passes-4-million-domains-under-management/

Porkbun — https://porkbun.com/

Rose City Robotics wins DOE prize — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/03/rose-city-til-batteries-die-rose-city-robotics-lands-lithium-ion-recycling-prize/

Rose City Robotics — https://rosecityrobotics.com/

Supporting rural Oregon entrepreneurs impacted by wildfires — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/08/07/supporting-rural-oregon-entrepreneurs-impacted-by-the-wildfires/

How to support rural Oregon businesses — https://reinventingrural.substack.com/p/how-to-support-rural-oregon-businesses

Every single time I say "quiet week," I somehow end up talking for an hour anyway — so let's just call this one quiet-ish. The thing I actually want to talk about is how cheap it is to support a fellow founder in this community — like, comment, share, cheap — and yet most of us act like it costs something. Everything else this week is quick hits: five Angel Oregon finalists, what the LLMs are actually saying about your startup when you're not in the room, and a fellow Portlander's honest read on what our startup community gets right and wrong.

LINKS:

• Supporting a fellow founder — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/29/supporting-a-fellow-startup-founder-is-basically-free-and-stupidly-simple/
• Angel Oregon Tech finalists — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/28/oregon-entrepreneurs-network-reveals-2026-angel-oregon-tech-finalists/
• OEN Angel Oregon Tech Mixer (Aug 17) — https://oen.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/oen/event.jsp?event=475&
• What the LLMs say about your startup — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/30/what-are-the-various-llms-telling-folks-about-your-startup/
• Kariops Pulse — https://pulse.kariops.com/
• Business Oregon — 10-Year Innovation Plan feedback — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/30/business-oregon-wants-your-feedback-on-oregons-10-year-innovation-plan/
• Oregon Innovation Plan survey (due Aug 15) — https://teconomypartners.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5A4Wnf2JCrwFrEO
• Tracking the Civic Ledger for Oregon — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/28/tracking-the-civic-ledger-for-oregon/
• Civic Ledger — https://civicledger.oregonjournalismproject.org/
• Chatting with Transcribbit — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/29/chatting-with-transcribbit-about-improving-classroom-engagement/
• Seattle: plane or train? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/29/is-it-better-to-go-up-to-seattle-by-plane-or-train/
• Josh Carter — Portland's measure-outcomes problem — https://medium.com/@josh_carter/portland-doesnt-have-a-startup-activity-problem-it-has-an-measure-outcomes-problem-2f25c9e8072e
  

Nineteen stories this week and not one of them wanted to be the headline — which is honestly kind of great. Palo Alto Networks bought a company called Embrace that may or may not count as a Portland startup depending on how you squint (its president and VP of engineering are right here, so I'm counting it), two local apps picked up Apple Design Awards, and then things just kept coming — a plant-poison checker named after somebody's cat, an app that scores your Spotify for yacht-rock content, a whole association of small companies trying to out-organize Big Tech. No anchor, just volume — and I'm genuinely energized by that.

LINKS:

Apple Design Awards 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/20/two-portland-apps-recognized-by-apple-design-awards-2026/

Apple Design Awards — https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/

World Reborn (Apple Game of the Day) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/medford-made-world-reborn-lands-apple-game-of-the-day-honors/

Wicked Saints Studio — https://www.wickedsaints.studio/

Palo Alto Networks acquires Embrace — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/palo-alto-networks-acquires-embrace/

Embrace — https://embrace.io/

Lewis & Clark $1M Google grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/your-next-cybersecurity-hire-could-come-from-lewis-clark-thanks-to-a-1m-google-grant/

Lewis & Clark announcement — https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/58507-lc-lands-1-million-in-google-funding-for-cybersecurity

Boulder Care $1.8M grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/20/boulder-care-lands-1-8m-grant-to-further-opioid-addiction-efforts/

Paige Hendrix Buckner joins the Check Writers Room — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/all-raise-ceo-paige-hendrix-buckner-joins-the-check-writers-room/

Little Tech may be for you — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/tired-of-big-tech-holding-all-of-the-power-little-tech-may-be-for-you/

Little Tech Association — https://www.little.tech/

LinkedIn Cities on the Rise — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/linkedin-highlights-both-portlands-among-cities-on-the-rise/

Quilld (branding/rebranding) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/branding-is-hard-rebranding-is-even-worse-quilld-is-here-to-help/

Quilld — https://quilld.ai/

Rami (plants + pets) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/helping-houseplants-and-housepets-cohabitate-rami/

Rami — https://getrami.app/

Is it yacht rock? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/looking-to-answer-the-age-old-question-is-that-yacht-rock-playing-theres-an-app-for-that/

Is It Yacht Rock? app — https://madegglabs.com/apps/is-it-yacht-rock/

Lemonvite (ad-free invites) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/tired-of-ads-cluttering-your-invites-look-at-lemonvite/

Lemonvite — https://www.lemonvite.com/

Fan the Flame (Portland Fire app) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/portland-fire-fan-youll-want-this-app-burning-a-hole-in-your-pocket/

Fan the Flame — https://fantheflame.app/

funnr (kids' schedules) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/managing-your-kids-social-schedule-just-got-funnr/

Chain React 2026 visitor guide — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/24/attending-chain-react-2026-in-portland-heres-a-visitor-guide-to-help-you-make-the-most-of-your-stay/

Y Combinator F26 apps (close July 27) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/24/reminder-y-combinator-applications-for-f26-close-july-27-2026/

Y Combinator apply — https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/

Pitch Latino Portland (apps due July 30) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/reminder-pitch-latino-portland-applications-are-due-in-a-week/

Pitch Latino — https://www.latinofounder.com/pitchlatino

DevOps Days Portland (Sept 8–10, code SILICONFLORIST) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/need-a-little-more-devops-in-your-life-go-to-devops-days-portland-with-a-discount/

DevOps Days Portland — https://devopsdays.org/events/2026-portland-or/welcome/

Funny how it works — the same week the Silicon Forest lands federal funding worth up to $160 million, the stuff that actually holds a community together is getting quietly built at street level. A machinist in Gresham shipping an AI tool for the shop floor, Latino Founders taking out a 15,000-square-foot building downtown for the entrepreneurs who chose to stay, a Pendleton drone accelerator opening a pipeline clear across the Pacific to Korea. The headline number is great — but honestly, it's the ground game that's got me fired up this week.

LINKS

• Oregon FAST wins NSF Innovation Engine award — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/16/its-a-semiconductor-fast-oregon-consortium-wins-nsf-innovation-engine-award/
• Oregon State University (announcement) — https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-team-nearly-100-partners-awarded-nsf-regional-innovation-engine-award-set-receive-160
• By a machinist for machinists: Swarf — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/15/by-a-machinist-for-machinists-ai-enabled-cnc/
• Swarf — https://swarf.app/landing/
• Latino Founders preps a new home: Founders Hub — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/16/latino-founders-preps-a-new-home-founders-hub-center-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/
• Latino Founders — https://www.latinofounder.com/
• Oregon UAS Accelerator partners with Korea Investment Accelerator — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/16/oregon-uas-accelerator-partners-with-korea-investment-accelerator/
• Oregon UAS Accelerator (apply by Jul 19) — https://hub.oregonuas.org/apply
• Bend Venture Conference 2026 opens applications — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/14/bend-venture-conference-2026-opens-applications-for-startups/
• Bend Venture Conference — https://www.bendvc.com/
• Chain React 2026: Putting yourself out there — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/15/chain-react-2026-putting-yourself-out-there/

This week in Oregon startup news, Agility Robotics is headed toward a SPAC IPO w — could be one of the biggest Oregon IPOs this year. Speaking of IPOs… with SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic all going public the Bay Area is getting less and less affordable. And I also spent way too many hours with the 2026 Oregon Prosperity Council Report so you don't have to — 452 pages.

LINKS:

A startup founder's guide to the 2026 Oregon Prosperity Council Report — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/10/a-startup-founders-guide-to-the-2026-oregon-prosperity-council-report-or-what-a-452-page-report-actually-means-for-people-considering-building-companies-here/Oregon Prosperity Council — https://www.oregon.gov/gov/policies/pages/prosperity-council.aspxGeothermal startup Quaise Energy raises $144M based on Oregon efforts — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/07/geothermal-startup-quaise-energy-raises-144m-based-on-oregon-efforts/Quaise Energy — https://startupfortune.com/quaise-energy-raises-144-million-to-drill-for-superhot-geothermal-power/Bay Area brain drain could result in Portland brain gain — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/09/bay-area-brain-drain-could-result-in-portland-brain-gain-emphasis-on-could/The New York Times — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/technology/san-francisco-home-sales-openai-anthropic-ipo.htmlTechCrunch sits down with Agility CEO — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/06/techcrunch-sits-down-with-agility-ceo/Agility Robotics (TechCrunch) — https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/05/this-humanoid-robotics-company-is-going-public-but-its-ceo-isnt-promising-a-robot-in-your-home-anytime-soon/Bend's Platformr raises more money to ease AWS adoption — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/bends-platformr-raises-more-money-to-ease-aws-adoption-and-maintenance/Platformr — https://platformr.cloudDroplet can help — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/07/wish-your-mac-and-iphone-had-a-more-collaborative-relationship-droplet-can-help/Droplet — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/droplet-launch-sidekick/id6754230465Figma schmigma: Scamp simplifies the design handoff — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/figma-schmigma-scamp-simplifies-the-design-handoff-between-designers-and-developers/Scamp — https://www.scampdesign.app/Terrified of totally tokenmaxxing…? TokenJam — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/terrified-of-totally-tokenmaxxing-tokenjam-helps-you-understand-and-manage-token-spend/TokenJam — https://tokenjam.dev/Chatting with Conello about company culture — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/chatting-with-conello-about-company-culture/Chain React comes to Portland — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/10/chain-react-the-us-react-native-conference-will-be-in-portland-at-the-end-of-july/Chain React — https://chainreactconf.com/REMINDER: Oregon UAS Accelerator applications due July 19 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/08/reminder-oregon-uas-accelerator-applications-are-due-july-19-2026/Oregon UAS Accelerator — https://hub.oregonuas.org/apply

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.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.