PORTLAND, Ore. – From affordable home prices, low cost of living, good sports teams and plenty of recreational amenities, there are a wide variety of reasons people choose Portland vs. California but what about Portland Oregon Start-Ups?

Yes, it’s true that over the last five years Portland has been leading other states with attracting more start-ups and now Venture Capital funding here is at a five-year high. This is thanks in large part to the competitive startup community which includes companies Columbia Sportswear and Society Nine but will Portland Oregon Start-Ups soon overtake Silicon Valley and be known as the new start-up capital of the west?

About Portland Oregon Start-Ups

Thanks to the increase in VC funding, Portland has become a highly attractive city for new companies to get their start including Society Nine, a new women’s sportswear company that was started by Lynn Le.

Unlike other sportswear companies like Fabletics (co-founded by Kate Hudson), Le’s company caters specifically to women fighters with the goal of proving them with a way of getting the boxing gloves and gear that they need in one place without having to drive all over town to find accessories, clothing or gear that might fit them.

Le drew on local resources to get off the ground, including the Portland Seed Fund, where she was formerly an associate, to raise capital. Society Nine was also one of the winners of the 2014 Startup PDX Challenge, run by the Portland Development Commission, an economic development arm for the city. As part of her winnings, she received a $15,000 grant and in-kind services, along with co-working space alongside fellow winners. So far, Society Nine has sold nearly $500,000 of product online and in local stores and has raised just under half a million dollars.

“We believe in the sport heritage and culture of this city — sport innovation thrives here with Nike, Adidas and a new Under Armourresearch-and-development hub opening here soon,” Le said of why she was drawn to launch in Portland.

Le also cites quality of life and cost of living for her start-up as reasons to stay. “I firmly believe we have been able to accomplish a lot more as a result of having a lower cost of living and lower cost of square feet.”

Those factors are drawing other new companies to settle down in Portland as well. In 2015, venture capital funding hit $283.4 million, the highest level seen in five years, according to Dow Jones Venture Source, proving investors won’t shy away from an idea outside of major start-up hubs on both coasts.

But it’s not just start-ups calling the Rose City home. Established businesses beyond Nike and Adidas have laid down roots in and around Portland, including Intel and Airbnb. Data from the Kauffman Foundation’s metro area rankings for 2015 placed Portland and its surrounding metro area at No. 5 for established small businesses, with 1,113 small companies for every 100,000 residents in the city.

Source – CNBC

Google Fiber Coming To Portland

Besides excellent VC funding opportunities, another great reason why many Portland Oregon Start-Ups are choosing our city is Google Fiber since the well-known company has said that they are bringing their lightning fast internet to the city and anyone who relies on the Internet to grow their business would be stupid to not want a Google Fiber connection.

Google Fiber’s launch in Portland Oregon was recently delayed until sometime in 2017 but that’s not stopping the company from making their presence known in Portland and any start-up company, especially tech start-ups, will want to be around Google when it comes time to get VC funding.

Portland Is Where You Want To Be

Over the last few years many people who moved to Portland from California in the early 2000’s are reaching out to their contacts and business associates because when compared to Silicon Valley, New York, and other major cities, Portland still has a low cost of living and it gets even better if you buy a home in the area because you can still find many homes here in the $300,000’s to $500,000’s range while comparable homes in California are listing for $800,000 to $1mil.

Don’t Forget the Food Culture

After spending long days in their offices another great reason for Portland Oregon Start-Ups to launch their companies here is the excellent food culture which includes excellent restaurants like the Tin Shed Café to cool breweries like Culmination Brewing.

The city also has a vast array of food trucks which offer cuisine that can’t be found in most of our restaurants and with warm weather expected in Portland over the next few months there’s plenty of time for you to explore food trucks like the Whole Bowl, Built to Grill, Hungry Hear Cupcakes, and Mississippi Marketplace.

Excellent City for Real Estate Investment

Now that you know Portland Oregon Start-Ups are thriving here thanks to our awesome VC scene, did you know that Portland is also an ideal city as well for owners and real estate investment?

Over the last two years rents have continued rising and now the average rent in Portland Oregon is topping $1,700. When you combine high rents with an even high demand for Real Estate in Portland Oregon there’s no reason why any investor wouldn’t want to add a Portland Rental Property to their investment portfolio, especially apartment buildings, which have been in high demand here.

Get Portland Oregon Property Management

To learn more about Portland Oregon Start-Ups, or professional and affordable Portland Oregon Property Management contact Property Management Systems today by calling us at (503) 515-3170 or click here to connect with us online.

We know Portland Oregon and can help you attract the right tenants and professionally manage your rental property each month.