There is an effort underway by more than a dozen entrepreneurial organizations to compile resources and gaps in creating a better system for supporting Portland-area founders and startups.
A survey is out now through mid-February seeking input from founders and service providers within traded sector industries and companies that can scale. This means companies that sell goods or services in markets with national and international competition.
The group is working to develop a regional Innovation Hub that includes Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. Similar hubs are being developed across the state as part of Business Oregon’s 10-year Innovation Plan.
The core group working on this plan include: Greater Portland Inc., Oregon Startup Center, OHSU, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute, city of Sherwood, Venture Catalyst of Washington County, OTRADI, Built Oregon, Portland Incubator Experiment, TiE Oregon, Oregon Bio, Portland State Business Accelerator, VertueLab, Prosper Portland, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development, Barreled Bee and Autodesk.
These innovation hubs are designed to be industry-agnostic but geographically specific, said Joseph Janda, assistant vice president of research and Propel PSU at Portland State University. The state is divided into regions and groups within each region must work together to submit a single proposal for each region.
What will a regional innovation hub look like?
PSU is acting as the host the Portland metro hub proposal since the school has the needed infrastructure to accept state money as well as coordinate many different stakeholders. The group received a $140,000 from Business Oregon to study the current ecosystem and provide a concept for what a Portland-area innovation hub would look like, said Janda.
“We have some really big ideas on what (a hub) could be. We are also waiting for the data,” said Janda. “Business Oregon wants us to be responsive to what service providers and entrepreneurs think are the gaps. One (gap) that is clear is coordination and communication. There is a robust ecosystem and (members of the ecosystem) do referrals. But for an entrepreneur it’s hard to navigate and it doesn’t look coordinated.”
Janda added that if a founder doesn’t happen to come across certain people or groups it can be hard to get further connected.
This perceived gap has been a topic of discussion for years, but became more acute following the pandemic. In that time people were isolated and a slew of new arrivals came to town when its historic gathering spots and events were shuttered.
Haven't we been here before?
Portland Incubator Experiment general manager Rick Turoczy posted about the changing community on his blog Silicon Florist and sparked a robust discussion on the Portland Startup Slack about what’s missing and what is needed. He writes that he hopes the region can see more results this time than in past conversations.
The Upstart Collective, a coworking and gathering space in the Central Eastside, launched last year in an attempt to try to fill this gap with a physical location. There is also an online peer space launched for founders in the food and beverage area coordinated by founder and consultant Hannah Kullberg. And PIE teamed with Autodesk — prior to the pandemic — to build a space for founders making physical products.
“We are not sure what (the plan) will be in the end,” said Janda of this new coordinated effort. “The discussion among partners is (around) coordination and navigation of services. Additionally, we do think that pairing entrepreneurs with mentors or cofounders or part-time cofounders is valuable, especially when we talk about inclusivity and equity and pairing with someone that has been through similar lived experience (to a founder).”
One thing this plan and effort is not, is the Portland Innovation Quadrant. That was a different effort that was broader in scope and included real estate developers with a focus on biotech startups and the South Waterfront.
For this innovation hub effort the core group of organizations has been meeting monthly. Once the survey closes there will be interviews and focus groups. Data will be delivered to core partners in mid-April. Then, the group expands even more to include three employers, all the Small Business Development Centers within the region, as well as municipal and country governments, said Janda. This expansion of the planning group is required by the state.
By the end of July the group will have a concept to present to the state. So, far the group has 300 responses to the survey.
