WELCOME!

We're glad you're here! Our goal is to provide updates on the impact of Oregon Venture Fund portfolio companies and venture capital trends in our region. And in case you or someone you know is looking for their next gig, you'll also find a few of the open positions at our portfolio companies.

Take a look around and let us know what you think. Thanks for being here.

FUND NEWS + PERSPECTIVES

Capturing More Value with AI

As AI models continue to improve and disrupt, where does value accrue in software? OVF partner Deepthi Madhava participated in last week’s IA40 Summit on intelligent applications hosted by Madrona Venture Group. The theme at the exclusive gathering of AI founders, researchers, and investors was on harnessing the power of AI. Deepthi shares a few insights and highlights here.

What Makes a Compelling Investment Thesis?

A tremendous amount of time and effort goes into selecting startups to back. When we do invest, we try to distill our thesis into one or two crisp sentences at the top of an investment memo that we'll refer to often when considering future re-investments and when memorializing lessons learned when a company eventually exits. OVF partner and diligence lead Alline Akintore shares her perspectives on what makes an investment thesis sing!

Scaling Leadership: Takeaways from the 2026 OVF CEO Summit

Forty-five current and exited venture-backed CEOs in our region gathered a few weeks back to sharpen their craft in an informal, highly facilitated, peer-learning environment. The focus of this year's OVF CEO Summit was on "scaling leadership" as a distinct skill, with REI CEO Mary Beth Laughton setting the stage. OVF partner and event organizer Matt Compton shares a few of the takeaways here.

Bend Venture Conference Oct 15-16

The annual Bend Venture Conference – held Oct. 15-16 at the Tower Theatre in beautiful downtown Bend – brings together angel and institutional investors and entrepreneurs from around the Pacific NW. Startups compete for investment dollars and the opportunities for networking are abundant. We hope to see you there. Get your ticket here.

2026 YTD

With 3/4 of the year in the rearview mirror, how is 2026 looking for the Oregon Venture Fund?

• Local investments made: 8 [near record]
• Capital invested: $19M [a record]
• Capital raised by portcos: $254M [a record]
• OVF 2026 investors: 276 [a record]
• OVF 2026 investor renewal rate: 87% [target 85%]
• Portcos valued >$100M: 10 [a record]

Indicators for 2027 are looking even stronger. If you're a founder of a venture-profile startup, or interested in investing in venture-profile startups, please let us know. We'd love to talk!

PORTFOLIO NEWS

NVIDIA + Eclypsium Team Up

Eclypsium, a fast-growing, Portland-based cybersecurity firm, was chosen to support NVIDIA’s launch of the Open Agent Safety Platform. This is a great opportunity for Eclypsium to build security into the AI infrastructure along with NVIDIA and contribute to the safe adoption of AI. More here.

Employing over 260, Eclypsium is backed by PEAK6, a16z, Madrona, Intel Capital, and OVF.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Looking for your next gig? Know someone who is? Below are just a few of the open positions within the OVF portfolio. Please take a look and pass them along.

Technical Implementation Manager - Kivo

Account Executive (East Coast) - Brandlive

Sr. Security Engineer - C1

Browse the OVF job board for a complete, up-to-date list of 115+ openings at a number of our portfolio companies.

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Since its founding, OVF has invested $217M in 89 companies which have created over 7,068 jobs. 37% of our portfolio companies are founded or led by women and 27% by entrepreneurs of color.

Pitchbook places OVFs total return in the top 25% of ALL venture funds in N. America (1Q2026).

OVF's corporate partners share our passion for supporting local entrepreneurs:

Disclosure: This newsletter is intended to provide general information regarding OVFs investments and impact and not for the purpose of soliciting investors for any fund. Under no circumstances should the information provided be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation to buy, any security. Such offer or solicitation may only be made to accredited investors and qualified purchasers pursuant to the current offering documents of the relevant OVF Fund. The information provided may not be reproduced or disseminated to any third parties without the written consent of OVF. The past performance of previous OVF Funds and portfolio companies is not necessarily indicative of future results. Investors in OVF Funds may lose investment capital. There can be no assurance that any future OVF Funds or portfolio companies will achieve comparable results.