2020 Best Tech Startups in Portland (Oregon)

September 4, 2019November 16, 2022 thetechtribune

The Tech Tribune staff has compiled the very best tech startups in Portland, Oregon. In doing our research, we considered several factors including but not limited to:

Revenue potential
Leadership team
Brand/product traction
Competitive landscape

Additionally, all companies must be independent (unacquired), privately owned, at most 10 years old, and have received at least one round of funding in order to qualify.

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1. Vacasa

Founded: 2009

Also honored in:

“Based in Portland, Oregon, Vacasa offers professional rental management for more than 9,500 vacation homes in some of the most desirable vacation destinations in the United States, Central and South America, and Europe.

From laid-back beach cottages along the Oregon Coast to luxury ski chalets in Vail, we pride ourselves on being able to find just the right retreat for any guest.

Our homeowners appreciate the reduced stress and increased income they experience when they sign on with our management services. Our employees love the emphasis we place on personal and professional growth. Our guests enjoy having a trusted brand in the world of vacation rentals—and our easy online booking.”

2. Airship

Founded: 2009

Also honored in:

“Marketing and digital experience teams at thousands of the world’s most admired companies rely on Airship’s Customer Engagement Platform to create deeper connections with customers by delivering incredibly relevant, orchestrated messages on any channel.

Founded in 2009 as a pioneer in push notifications, Airship now gives brands the user-level data, engagement channels, AI orchestration and services they need to deliver push notifications, emails, SMS, in-app messages, mobile wallet cards and more to exactly the right person in exactly the right moment — building trust, boosting engagement, driving action and growing value.”

3. Lytics

Founded: 2012

Also honored in:

“Lytics helps enterprises automate personalized marketing experiences through the industry’s most advanced Customer Data Platform (CDP). Popular retailing, media, consumer goods, banking, and tech brands use Lytics to execute one-to-one marketing programs that their customers welcome.

The Lytics Customer Data (CDP) Platform, the company’s flagship product, was launched in October 2014. The Lytics CDP connects a company’s marketing data about customers and users from multiple sources (e.g., structured and unstructured data from tools, anonymous and known profiles, and other interactions and events from the marketing stack, sales, and support databases) and creates behavior-rich user segments (e.g., likely to churn, most active on mobile, coupon lover).”

4. OpenSesame

Founded: 2011

“We help companies develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces.

With the most comprehensive catalog of elearning courses from the world’s top publishers, we are here to help you every step of the way, from finding courses, mapping them to your core competencies, syncing them with your LMS to increasing utilization and improving your L&D programs. Not only will you have the flexibility of multiple purchasing options from OpenSesame, you’ll find it simple to use and administer your elearning courses.”

5. Circle Media Inc

Founded: 2014

“It began with three dads at a kitchen table. They wanted a better internet for their families—one that let them steward their kids’ online experience both in the home and outside of it.

We envision a world where families can set healthy limits, find balance, and build lifelong habits to get the best out of their digital experiences, rather than being consumed by them. Our rapidly growing team, with offices in Portland, OR and Cypress, CA, is redefining how families connect, grow, and flourish in an increasingly digital world.”

6. OPAL

Founded: 2011

Also honored in:

“Marketing collaboration, evolved.

Opal is the marketing collaboration platform that makes it easy to build, view and share your brand stories—because there’s a better way to work.

The Opal StoryFirst™ framework enables teams with a dedicated environment to create, visualize, align and deploy campaigns across all marketing channels, reducing complexity and connecting teams for better marketing results.”

7. Bumped

Founded: 2017

“We’re on a mission to build meaningful, lasting relationships between customers and their favorite brands.

Every year companies spend billions on points, promotions, or coupons—without knowing if those rewards change customer behavior.

Our loyalty platform segments, targets, and rewards the behaviors that are best for your business, all with fractional shares of stock or ETFs, a powerful new reward currency.”

8. AskNicely

Founded: 2014

“AskNicely is customer feedback software that helps businesses improve customer experience and accelerate growth using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) framework.

Collecting feedback and measuring NPS isn’t hard, but making the score go up is. To win, you need your entire team focused on doing the right thing for every customer, every day. It’s a culture problem, and driving culture isn’t easy. But that’s what AskNicely does better than any other customer feedback solution.”

9. PayRange

Founded: 2013

Also honored in: 2018 Best Tech Startups in Portland

“Everyday payments made easy.

PayRange was founded in 2013 by Dr. Paresh Patel, a serial entrepreneur and veteran of the automated retail industry. While credit card solutions for machines have been around for two-decades, 95% of the 30 million machines worldwide only accept cash. His patented innovations combine payment, rewards, and convenience into a mobile service that brings premium experiences to unattended retail locations.

Consumers download the free mobile app (iOS, Android) and with flexible funding options, including all major cards and wallets (Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Masterpass), they are empowered to pay machines with ease.”

10. Fleet

Founded: 2014

Also honored in: 2019 Best Tech Startups in Portland

“Fleet is a digital freight forwarding platform that offers end-to-end international freight shipping services, from getting instant rates, instant booking, to freight management and delivery. Fleet’s technology gives importers, exporters and any business that needs freight transportation unlimited access to services from world’s top freight service providers across the globe, including ocean carriers, airlines, to customs brokers, trucking, LTL carriers.”