Venture capital investors closed fewer deals in the Portland metro area in the first quarter of 2022 compared with last year. However, activity wasn’t far off from the number closed in the first quarter of 2020 and was well above the number closed in the first quarter of 2019.
Investors pumped $243.4 million across 31 deals in the Portland metro during the quarter. That compares with $380.4 million invested across 45 deals in the first quarter of 2021. In 2020, the amount was $202.1 million across 33 deals and in 2019 it was $112.2 million across 24 deals.
The data comes from the latest Venture Monitor report from the research firm PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. The slowdown in activity in the Portland metro reflects a broader national softening in the space after years of capital flooding in and last year’s high pace of initial public offerings, according to the report.
“Economic and geopolitical headwinds in the first quarter brought about change in the U.S. venture ecosystem after the constant upward trajectory of prior years,” said John Gabbert, founder and CEO of PitchBook, in a written statement. “Although fundraising momentum remained strong, we saw a softening across dealmaking and a significant drop off in IPO activity. The longevity of this quiet period will be critical to the health of the VC liquidity environment given how concentrated VC exit value over the last two years has been with public listings. We expect to see the full impact of market volatility illustrated in the data over the next couple quarters.”
The trend from the Portland metro was reflected across the state. Statewide, investors put $267.2 million across 35 deals. That compares to $369.2 million across 45 deals for the first quarter of 2021. In 2020 it was $216 million across 40 deals.
According to the report, one the largest deals in the quarter was an $85 million round for Portland-based marketing automation company Customer.io. The company announced the round in March but didn’t offer any details beyond that its valuation was above the $400 million valuation it received during a crowd equity round.
According to PitchBook the company is valued at $785 million. Customer.io’s software helps companies automate customer interactions across email, push notifications, text message and other messaging applications.
Other large deals for the Portland metro include:
- $55 million raised by cloud security and compliance software maker Anitian.
- $40 million raised by Vancouver’s Backbone. The company makes a game controller that turns an iPhone into a mobile gaming system.
- $36 million raised by plastic packaging company D6, which moved much of its business to Texas but is still based in Portland according to regulatory filings.
- $32 million raised by software maker AskNicely. The product is used to gain customer feedback and then train consumer-facing employees. The report notes the company raised $20 million, but the company itself announced the round was actually bigger.
- $20 million raised by RealWear, which makes a wearable computer for frontline industrial workers.
The last several years have seen historic amounts of venture capital raised in the Portland metro. Last year topped them all when $1.30 billion was invested across 138 deals. For the state, a total of $1.64 billion was invested across 165 deals.
Nationwide, $70.7 billion was invested across 3,723 deals in the first quarter of 2022, according to Venture Monitor.
