Week ending Jun 26, 2026 - Oregon startup news

Two weeks straight, we've lost the people who showed us this was even possible — first Josh Baer, and now Om Malik, the guy who made writing about tech a real job. The models keep leaving, and I don't have a clean way to say what that feels like. So this week is a tribute first — and then, because Om would've wanted us to keep going, a hometown robot company walking onto the public markets at $2.5 billion.We start where it hurts: a tribute to Om Malik — GigaOm, True Ventures, the patron saint of thoughtful tech blogging — and why, if you write about any of this, you owe him one. From there we pivot to the kind of news Om loved: Agility Robotics, the OSU spinout building bipedal humanoids, going public via SPAC at a $2.5B pre-money and roughly $620M in proceeds, with Digit logging 65,000+ hours for the likes of Toyota and GXO. I tease the Prosperity Council report — Gov. Kotek's council dropped its final 10 recommendations early, the startup community had a seat at the table, and one rec hits close to home (full breakdown Monday). Plus quick hits on Astrid Scholz and Juan Barraza's TEDxMtHood talk — and in Secrets, some honest reflection on how much more I should be doing for this community, after catching up with Mitch Daugherty, Charles Voloshin, Shay Carrillo, and Skip Newberry.CHAPTERS:00:00 Oregon startup news02:10 Remembering Om Malik06:10 Oregon Prosperity Council report08:15 Agility Robotics IPO12:40 SecretsLINKS:Agility Robotics goes public — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/24/agility-robotics-plans-to-go-public-via-spac-at-a-2-5-billion-valuation/Agility Robotics — https://www.agilityrobotics.com/Amy Jermain sits down with Astrid Scholz — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/23/amy-jermain-sits-down-with-astrid-scholz-to-talk-growth-hacking/TEDxMtHood: Juan Barraza — https://siliconflorist.com/2026/06/24/tedxmthood-juan-barraza/Remembering Om Malik — https://om.co/Portland Startup Slack — https://pdxslack.comFIND RICK TUROCZY ON THE INTERNET AT…- https://patreon.com/turoczy- https://linkedin.com/in/turoczy- Portland Oregon startup news on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/portland-oregon-startup-news-silicon-florist/id1711294699- Startup Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1Tk7bbzaNYowGouI9ucKC3- Startup Stories on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-stories-with-silicon-florist/id1849468494- The Long Con on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-long-con/id1810923457- The Long Con on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/48oglyT5JNKxVH5lnWTYKA- https://bsky.app/profile/turoczy.bsky.social- https://siliconflorist.substack.com/- https://pdxslack.comABOUT SILICON FLORIST ----------For nearly two decades, Rick Turoczy has published Silicon Florist, a blog, newsletter, and podcast that covers entrepreneurs, founders, startups, entrepreneurship, tech, news, and events in the Portland, Oregon, startup community. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a startup or tech enthusiast, or simply intrigued by Portland's startup culture, Silicon Florist is your go-to source for the latest news, events, jobs, and opportunities in Portland Oregon's flourishing tech and startup scene. Join us in exploring the innovative world of startups in Portland, where creativity and collaboration meet.ABOUT RICK TUROCZY ----------Rick Turoczy has been working in, on, and around the Portland, Oregon, startup community for nearly 30 years. He has been recognized as one of the “OG”s of startup ecosystem building by the Kauffman Foundation. And he has been humbled by any number of opportunities to speak on stages from SXSW to INBOUND and from Kobe, Japan, to Muscat, Oman, including an opportunity to share his views on community building on the TEDxPortland stage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj98mr_wUA0). All because of a blog. Weird.https://siliconflorist.com#pdx #portland #oregon #startup #entrepreneur