Startups step out of the shadows in Oregon

Record cash – Venture capitalist investments in Oregon companies are their highest since the dot.com flame out

Oregon startups, long starved for attention from the venture capital community, are again feeling the love.

Ahead of the annual Venture Northwest conference in Portland today, venture capitalists have invested nearly $200 million in Oregon companies this year. The infusion of money is a key indicator of investors’ faith in the state’s entrepreneurs, faith that has been on the wane for several years.

Oregon attracts far less investment, proportionally, than other West Coast states or the nation as a whole. But this year’s haul is double what the state secured to this point last year, and it is more money than venture funds have pumped into Oregon companies in any full year since the dot-com craze flamed out.

MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian Staff

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