Portland investment group changes leadership as it raises $20M fund

 

A big welcome to Steve Eichenlaub!

Portland Seed Fund has raised $7 million of a targeted $20 million Fund IV, according to regulatory filings. It's also making some changes in leadership with one co-founder stepping off and a new general partner coming in.

At $20 million, Fund IV is the largest fund for the 11-year-old organization. Its Fund III closed at $13.9 million in 2019.

Co-founder of the fund and co-managing director Angela Jackson is listed on the filings along with newcomer Stephen Eichenlaub. Missing is co-founder Jim Huston, who has been part of the three previous funds. Partner Jenn Lynch, who joined for Fund II and III, is also missing.

Jackson declined to comment on Fund IV but noted that Huston and Lynch will continue to manage Funds II and III that have active portfolios. Lynch will also continue to manage the Bend Venture Conference Growth Fund. She is also chair of the Oregon Innovation Council. Huston will focus on personal investments as well.

“Adding Steve to the (General Partner) bench of me, Jim and Jenn strengthens the Portland Seed Fund platform,” said Jackson about the personnel changes. “He's been a long-time friend of Portland Seed Fund, and investor in prior funds. His startup operations and financing acumen and deep experience on both the investment and company leadership side are rare to find in our region. He will join me as GP on Fund IV. We expect other team announcements later in 2022."

According to his LinkedIn, Eichenlaub spent 17 years at Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) with most of those in the chip giant’s investing arm Intel Capital. He was most recently director of sales and operations at InEight, a construction project management software maker that acquired a software company where he had been COO. His career also includes leadership stints at Adobe and Mentor Graphics.

PSF is an active investor in the Portland area, Oregon and increasingly the broader West Coast. The fund has invested in dozens of companies and its portfolio includes: identity infrastructure firm Auth0, which was acquired by Okta; children’s media company A Kids Company About; software maker Hubb, which was acquired by Intrado; and women’s fighting gear brand Society Nine.

When it started in 2011 it was one of the few Oregon-based venture funds and it was a key element in the growth of Portland’s startup community.

With its third fund, which at the time was its largest to date, the investor was able to start writing bigger checks ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 plus potential for follow on investment. That increased check size is expected to continue with this bigger fund. Plus, the team expects to lead more seed rounds.

PSF is industry agnostic but looks for startups that are capital efficient and have high growth potential. Jackson noted that in Fund III 73% of investments had a woman or person of color on the founding team and 64% of those they were in the CEO role.

A few recent investments by PSF include Empathy Rocks, an ethical AI engine to improve corporate communication, led by Grin Lord; Community Energy Labs, software to monitor and reduce energy use in commercial buildings, led by Tanya Barham; and a stealth education platform led by a previous PSF entrepreneur.

 
Samantha Gee