Venture capitalists pumped $70.4 million into Oregon companies in the first quarter of 2013, a 142% increase over the same quarter in 2012 and equal to 80% of what Washington firms raked in.
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BY BRANDON SAWYER
Venture capitalists pumped $70.4 million into Oregon companies in the first quarter of 2013, a 142% increase over the same quarter in 2012 and equal to 80% of what Washington firms raked in. By contrast, Oregon’s $124.4 million total VC haul in 2012 represented just 14% of Washington’s $907.5 million and 1% of California’s $14.2 billion — more than half of all U.S. venture capital that year. Still, Oregon’s first quarter was the most lucrative since 2000 and involved just seven companies: Puppet Labs and Urban Airship received the lion’s share, $30 million and $25 million respectively, while Trustid, Avnera Corp., Celly, GlobeSherpa and Cedexis divided up the rest. All are in the Portland Metro area and in high-tech fields. So it’s no surprise that, nationally, software garnered the most venture capital by far in the first quarter and in 2012, followed by biotech. The Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Confidence Index, published by the University of San Francisco, has registered three consecutive quarters of increasing VC confidence, so Oregon startups can hope for even more cash infusions this year.
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