Upcoming Events
Physical AI in Practice: Building for Healthcare’s Realities
Physical AI is moving into clinical workflows, regulated devices, and patient-facing products.
Join TAO's HealthTech Community on October 29 for an evening with people designing, building, and using it:
Short expert talks on what’s working and what isn’t
Moderated conversations about real deployment challenges
Physical AI demonstrations
Time to meet people working across healthcare, technology, and regulation
Founder/Investor Dinner & Poker Game
Founder/Investor Dinner & Poker ♠️
Great conversations. Good food. A little friendly competition.
Founder/Investor Dinner & Poker is a quarterly, invite-only gathering designed to bring together ambitious founders and local investors in a relaxed, fun setting. It’s an opportunity for founders to build meaningful relationships with investors, share what they’re working on, and make connections that could help take their businesses to the next level. For investors, it’s a chance to get to know the people behind the companies, discover what they’re building, and find new ways to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The evening features dinner, networking, and a low-stakes, tournament-style poker game. Never played poker? No problem! There’s absolutely no pressure to play. Come for the food, stay for the conversations, and connect with some of the most interesting people in Portland’s startup ecosystem.
Interested in joining us? This is an invite-only event. Email josh@upstartcollective.org to learn more about getting an invitation.
December Co-working with OEN
Entrepreneurship is often a lonely experience, but it doesn’t have to be.
Exchanging best practices with other founders and entrepreneurs in the same region, even if you have differing business types, can provide precious insights. You can learn from their experiences, pick up new ideas, and stay up-to-date on industry trends.
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is partnering with our friends at Miller Nash to host Co-Work with OEN on Wednesday, December 2nd from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm at Upstart Collective in downtown Portland.
Make it your headquarters for the day. Set up your laptop and co-work with other founders in their common spaces, private room, and comfy lounge areas.
Drop by and get answers to your legal questions with Miller Nash experts.
Connect with Yalda Moshiri, Angel Oregon Fund & Program Director and Cara Turano, OEN President & Executive Director, in person!
So, join for the full day, or just for a portion of the day, and get connected with other regional entrepreneurs.
Demolicious - October 2026
OCTOBER'S Demolicious will be at Big Pink!
::::::: Please use the form below to apply to pitch for 2026!:::::::::
Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.
How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.
You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.
The audience will be given a QR code to vote for their favorite pitch. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.
Doors: 5:00pm
Pitches: 5:30pm
Ends: 7:00pm
Teams Pitching:
TBD
Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!
founder.coffee @ 40lbs Coffee (downtown)
The objective of this meetup is for you to connect with your fellow founders, talk about what you are struggling with, and just get to know the community.
Hope to see you all there!
As a business owner, you are faced with many challenges. You're forced to make decisions every day that could make or break your business. founder.coffee is a way to network with other entrepreneurs to allow free-flowing information with the intent to collaborate and help each other. So often we're challenged, and there's very little we can do to express our challenges with the people we work with or the people we care about. Think of founder.coffee as your own personal support group for business owners. We're all here to help!
1st Annual World Mental Health Day
Portland's first citywide gathering for the people who carry mental health work: education, healthcare, community, technology, and everyone else who is human.
Join JOYELY for the 1st Annual World Mental Health Day, an afternoon of real conversation about where mental health in Portland stands and what it needs next. JOYELY's JQ Emotions Map comes to Portland for the first time, a panel of local leaders takes on what the city actually needs, and community organizations doing the work will be on hand at booths throughout the event. Food and drinks all afternoon.
The day includes a keynote from Haley Stewart, an introduction to the JQ Emotions Map with co-founder Bailey Romatoski, a talk on mental health in the age of AI with Dr. Ali Maaxa, and a local leaders panel spanning government, education, and mental health innovation. With special guest emcee, Nathan C Bowser!
UpStart Collective: Family Dinner
Every few months, UpStart Collective member, supporters, and partners gather around the table to break bread, raise a glass, and further connect over a catered meal. These are just another touch point for our community to gather and make meaningful connections. Note: This event is only open to UpStart Collective members and not open to the general public. If you’d like to be a member, please fill out the form today!
First Friday @ UpStart Collective
First Friday is back for the month of October. This monthly event brings together the startup community as a way to decompress, connect, and celebrate getting through another month as a founder.
No agenda.
No talks.
No panels.
Just conversation and spending time connecting.
Demolicious - September
SEPTEMBER'S Demolicious will be at Big Pink!
::::::: Please use the form below to apply to pitch for 2026!:::::::::
Demolicious is back! This monthly pitch event brings together founders and the community to learn about what is being built here and around Portland.
How this all works: If you are a founder, you will apply to pitch here. Don't worry. "Apply" simply means you want to pitch, but there's no real competitive process to be accepted. We just want to see what you're working on before we put you in front of a room full of people.
You will be given 3 minutes to pitch at the event.
The audience will be given a QR code to vote for their favorite pitch. The one with the most votes will go home with the Demolicious Championship belt.
Doors: 5:00pm
Pitches: 5:30pm
Ends: 7:00pm
Teams Pitching:
TBD
Will you be the next founder to pitch!?!
UpStart Collective is turning 4!
🎉 UpStart Collective, Oregon's #1 founder collaborative, is turning FOUR and it's time to celebrate! 🎉
Since 2022, UpStart Collective has been connecting founders with the resources, relationships, and community they need to build the next generation of incredible companies right here in Oregon.
This year has been one for the books. We moved into Portland's iconic Big Pink 🏢, expanded our footprint, and since March our community has doubled in size. What started as an idea to bring founders together has grown into one of the region's fastest growing startup communities.
With so much to celebrate, we're doing what we do best: opening our doors to the entire Portland startup ecosystem. 🍻
Join founders, investors, operators, community leaders, and friends as we raise a glass to four amazing years, celebrate the incredible companies being built here, and look ahead to what's next for Portland's startup community.
Here's to four years of building together and many more to come. 🚀
After the Idea: Session 2 of 10
After the Idea: What Comes Next?
A free workshop series for Portland founders
You have the idea. Now what?
After the Idea is a free ten-session workshop series at Upstart Collective, designed for founders at any stage of the idea, from napkin to early traction.
Each session covers one real problem founders face, in the order they face it: from communicating what you're building, to building the operations that run without you, to measuring what's actually working. Marketing systems is the framework. Business architecture is the point.
Session 2:
You have the idea. Now prove the problem is real. Don't be the founder who builds on assumption.
This session gives you the framework to find out if the problem you're solving actually exists outside your own head, and what to do if it doesn't.
This is not about tearing your idea down. It is about building it on something solid.
Every other Wednesday · 2 to 3pm
Upstart Collective, The Big Pink, 111 SW 5th Avenue, Portland, OR
Drop in any time. Each session stands alone. You don't need to have attended previous sessions to get immediate value. A founder who attends all ten leaves with a complete operating system for how to build something that lasts.
Free to attend. Registration required for building access. RSVP by August 18th.