The Portland Development Commission seeds $30k each into six local spin-outs.

Six university spin-outs from the Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University have received up to $30,000 from the Portland Development Commission (PDC) to help them get off the ground.

The funding comes through the PDC’s University Startup Commercialisation Grant Programme, launched earlier in the year, which looks to foster a stronger relationship between the institutions and Portland’s startup community.

The companies selected are as follows:

OHSU

  • Nzumbe, developing faster drug-screening to assist with therapy discovery.
  • Odyssey Science Innovations, which is looking into workplace wellness programmes.
  • Gamma Therapeutics, developing diagnostics for cardiovascular disease.

PSU

  • APDM, developing medtech to assist in monitoring gait.
  • SweetSense, a provider of water, energy, and environmental market monitoring services.
  • Hawthorne Materials, a developer of X-ray imaging technology.

Patrick Quinton, PDC executive director, in a statement, said: “The creation and adoption of new products, services and business models drives economic prosperity. We’re happy to partner with OHSU, PSU and the winning companies to support locally-based innovation and technologies that will ultimately bolster Portland’s economy.”