Week ending Jul 24, 2026 – Oregon startup news

Nineteen stories this week and not one of them wanted to be the headline — which is honestly kind of great. Palo Alto Networks bought a company called Embrace that may or may not count as a Portland startup depending on how you squint (its president and VP of engineering are right here, so I'm counting it), two local apps picked up Apple Design Awards, and then things just kept coming — a plant-poison checker named after somebody's cat, an app that scores your Spotify for yacht-rock content, a whole association of small companies trying to out-organize Big Tech. No anchor, just volume — and I'm genuinely energized by that.LINKS:Apple Design Awards 2026 — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/20/two-portland-apps-recognized-by-apple-design-awards-2026/Apple Design Awards — https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/World Reborn (Apple Game of the Day) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/medford-made-world-reborn-lands-apple-game-of-the-day-honors/Wicked Saints Studio — https://www.wickedsaints.studio/Palo Alto Networks acquires Embrace — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/palo-alto-networks-acquires-embrace/Embrace — https://embrace.io/Lewis & Clark $1M Google grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/your-next-cybersecurity-hire-could-come-from-lewis-clark-thanks-to-a-1m-google-grant/Lewis & Clark announcement — https://www.lclark.edu/live/news/58507-lc-lands-1-million-in-google-funding-for-cybersecurityBoulder Care $1.8M grant — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/20/boulder-care-lands-1-8m-grant-to-further-opioid-addiction-efforts/Paige Hendrix Buckner joins the Check Writers Room — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/all-raise-ceo-paige-hendrix-buckner-joins-the-check-writers-room/Little Tech may be for you — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/tired-of-big-tech-holding-all-of-the-power-little-tech-may-be-for-you/Little Tech Association — https://www.little.tech/LinkedIn Cities on the Rise — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/linkedin-highlights-both-portlands-among-cities-on-the-rise/Quilld (branding/rebranding) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/branding-is-hard-rebranding-is-even-worse-quilld-is-here-to-help/Quilld — https://quilld.ai/Rami (plants + pets) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/helping-houseplants-and-housepets-cohabitate-rami/Rami — https://getrami.app/Is it yacht rock? — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/looking-to-answer-the-age-old-question-is-that-yacht-rock-playing-theres-an-app-for-that/Is It Yacht Rock? app — https://madegglabs.com/apps/is-it-yacht-rock/Lemonvite (ad-free invites) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/tired-of-ads-cluttering-your-invites-look-at-lemonvite/Lemonvite — https://www.lemonvite.com/Fan the Flame (Portland Fire app) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/portland-fire-fan-youll-want-this-app-burning-a-hole-in-your-pocket/Fan the Flame — https://fantheflame.app/funnr (kids' schedules) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/22/managing-your-kids-social-schedule-just-got-funnr/Chain React 2026 visitor guide — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/24/attending-chain-react-2026-in-portland-heres-a-visitor-guide-to-help-you-make-the-most-of-your-stay/Y Combinator F26 apps (close July 27) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/24/reminder-y-combinator-applications-for-f26-close-july-27-2026/Y Combinator apply — https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/Pitch Latino Portland (apps due July 30) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/23/reminder-pitch-latino-portland-applications-are-due-in-a-week/Pitch Latino — https://www.latinofounder.com/pitchlatinoDevOps Days Portland (Sept 8–10, code SILICONFLORIST) — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/07/21/need-a-little-more-devops-in-your-life-go-to-devops-days-portland-with-a-discount/DevOps Days Portland — https://devopsdays.org/events/2026-portland-or/welcome/