Field Trip!
May 2026
Melissa Freeman
Two years ago, Oregon Venture Fund convened a diverse group of trustees, executives and leaders from our region’s foundations, universities, colleges and other institutional investors for the first time to get acquainted, hear from a couple of our founders, and learn about Oregon Venture Fund.
This year, we organized a field trip for 35 current and prospective institutional investors to get out and experience what it’s like to work at one of our many different startup companies growing in our region.
The day started with an overview of four companies that would be difficult to “tour” at this time. My colleagues Deepthi Madhava described Mueon, Alline Akintore shared C-1, and Matt Compton share a bit about Source and Customer.io. They have produced or are developing incredible software platforms, defensible AI solutions, energy efficient data servers and more.
Next, our guests had time to get acquainted through table discussions. Many followed our prompt and focused on ways that entrepreneurship shows up in their work, but others compared notes on their organization’s use of AI or their latest investment allocation strategies.
At 10:30am, it was time to get on the bus! We loaded up and headed over to visit the headquarters for Brandlive on Mississippi Avenue in North Portland. The welcoming staff showed us their 6th floor workspace infused with natural light from surrounding windows and robust healthy plants that felt like you might have stepped into a nursery. The 4th floor housed their studio where they use a green screen to interview people, create amazing sets and layer endless types of graphic design behind the speakers to create a memorable and irreplaceable online all-hands meeting, webinar, or town hall for companies with a global reach.
After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed to the Salt & Straw headquarters in the Central Eastside Industrial District for tasty ice cream samples and a tour of their manufacturing facility. Our guests were respectful of the health and safety codes, donning smocks, hairnets, gloves and booties for our shoes. It was hard to imagine the sheer volume of ice cream leaving the facility on a daily basis to serve Salt & Straw’s 55 scoop shops and retail customers nationwide.
“ “I thought the event was very well done. It brought together a unique group of individuals who have common roles, but few opportunities to learn from each other or collaborate to make our region stronger.””
The field trip adjourned at 2:00 with many jumping off the bus with a Salt & Straw pint in their hands to go. Those who completed the post-event survey reported wanting more opportunities in the future to see behind the scenes of local startups and a few commented on the rare experience to meet with their peers from similar organizations. To me, that’s what it’s all about. Investing locally enables our investors from all backgrounds to see and experience what world-class founders and teams are creating right here in our region. We hope they’ll be back for more!
If you or an organization you know is interested in learning more about Oregon Venture Fund and the companies we back, please reach out to Melissa Freeman, Director of Investor Relations and Capital Raising, at Melissa@OregonVentureFund.com.