Oregon Growth Account

Sep 11, 2012

comments Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian Daniel Clancey, CEO of Homeschool, was among the Portland Seed Fund's first class of startups last year. The Portland Seed Fund announced its third class of startups tonight, choosing seven Portland companies and one from Iceland to receive $25,000 apiece in seed investment to help them get started. The Icelandic company, a mobile commerce specialist called Mobilitus, will move to Portland but retain an office in Iceland. The city of Portland launched the seed fund last year with $800,000 in public funds, augmented with money from private investors, the city of Hillsboro and the state-sponsored Oregon Growth Account. The Seed Fund has raised $3 million altogether. Seed fund managers say they have invested just over $600,000 in the 25 companies that made up the first two classes of the fund, including follow-on funding. In addition to the new class, they plan to select one more next year and then seek additional funds for future classes. The new roster of Seed Fund-backed startups is: Brandlive: "Visually engaging product communication for social commerce and remote collaboration. " bubL: "Location-based social platform introducing mobile users to relevant people, advertising, commerce, and information nearby within their personal 'bubble. '" CoCollage: Social media combined with electronic signs. InGrid Solutions: "Streamlines the day-to-day business processes of construction trade contractors. " Mobilitus: Mobile commerce Tellagence: Brand networking and analysis. Vadio: Video distributed via radio stations. Wikisway: Finding connections between people, places and things. -- Mike Rogoway ; twitter: @rogoway ; phone: 503-294-7699 Most Read