--- kind: section source_pdf: oregon-prosperity-council-report-june-2026.pdf fingerprint: 8ac9aef8ca1b page_range: [212, 214] breadcrumb: ["Appendix E: Submissions & Feedback", "17. Portland Seed Fund"] source_links: pdf: "https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212" raw_pages: - "../../.extracted/pages/page-0212.txt" - "../../.extracted/pages/page-0213.txt" - "../../.extracted/pages/page-0214.txt" --- # 17. Portland Seed Fund ## TL;DR *(generated · confidence: high)* Portland Seed Fund urges Governor Kotek to line-item veto the SB 1507 provision decoupling QSBS from federal tax code, arguing it is poorly researched and unfair tax policy. The fund claims the provision targets fewer than 1,000 Oregonians, overestimates revenue since most venture capital is out-of-state, and will incentivize Oregon entrepreneurs to leave at a time when other states are competing for talent. PSF notes its portfolio returned $150 per dollar of state investment. **Key points** *(each cites a PDF page)*: - Portland Seed Fund (with sister Intrepid Oregon Fund) is the most active VC investor in Oregon per CB Insights ([p. 212](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212)) - Fund invested in 225+ Oregon home-grown startups since 2010 ([p. 212](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212)) - PSF portfolio companies returned $150 per dollar invested by the State within 5 years (per ECO Northwest) ([p. 212](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212)) - State of Oregon is a Limited Partner in Portland Seed Fund alongside approximately 200 private investors ([p. 212](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212)) - QSBS provision affects fewer than 1,000 Oregonians when out-of-state venture capital is excluded from calculation ([p. 213](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=213)) - Majority of venture capital deployed in Oregon comes from out-of-state investors, not subject to the QSBS tax ([p. 212](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212)) - 43 portfolio companies and multiple former PSF founders signed letter supporting line-item veto of SB 1507 ([p. 213](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=213)) Amounts: $150 per dollar invested · $25k-$250K range · Dates/FTE: March 19, 2026 · December 3, 2025 · since 2010 · 5 years · Programs: SB 1507 · QSBS · Prosperity Roadmap · Parties: Portland Seed Fund · Intrepid Oregon Fund · Oregon Venture Fund · Oregon Growth Board > **Source:** PDF [pp. 212-214](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212) · raw: [212](../../.extracted/pages/page-0212.txt) · [213](../../.extracted/pages/page-0213.txt) · [214](../../.extracted/pages/page-0214.txt) Breadcrumb: Appendix E: Submissions & Feedback > 17. Portland Seed Fund --- March 19, 2026 Governor Tina Kotek State of Oregon Dear Governor and Staff, Portland Seed Fund is writing to urge a line-item veto of the SB 1507 provision regarding disconnecting QSBS from the Federal tax code. It is poorly researched, irresponsibly drafted, and unfair tax policy. While failing to generate substantial future revenue, it sends an immediate signal that Oregon is the least entrepreneur-friendly state, a message we can ill-afford in this challenging economic climate and the exact opposite of your stated goal December 3, 2025 when you announced your Prosperity Roadmap. We find ourselves perplexed and beyond disappointed as to why lawmakers would decouple the QSBS exemption - easily the most potent incentive for entrepreneurs and their investors to build growth companies – without involvement by Portland Seed Fund or two other major stakeholders, Oregon Venture Fund and the State’s own venture capital expert, the Oregon Growth Board. It is our belief that “the train had left the station” before anyone with standing in the industry was aware of this and able to get the word out to the thousands of high-growth entrepreneurs we touch. Portland Seed Fund (with its sister Intrepid Oregon Fund) is the most active venture capital investor in Oregon (Source: CB Insights). As a small, home-grown fund investing in 225+ home- grown startups since 2010, our portfolio companies have returned $150 per dollar invested by the State within 5 years (Source: ECO Northwest), making it one of Oregon’s highest performing economic development tools on an ROI basis. The State of Oregon is a Limited Partner (LP) in all Portland Seed Funds, alongside ~200 private investors, who literally constitute the “private” in public-private partnerships. This fails to capture the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by our portfolio companies almost exclusively from private investors, fueling high- velocity high-wage job growth in Oregon. SB 1507 drafters failed to understand the mechanics of the Federal QSBS law as written, the current state of the private capital markets and the mechanics of venture capital in Oregon. The QSBS provision greatly over-estimates the revenue that would be generated in current and future biennia. The vast majority of venture capital deployed in Oregon comes from California and other states, whose investors will not be subject to this tax (but are included in the forecast). Most Oregon based-investors are individual angels who write checks in the $25k-$250K range, where the multiple millions come almost exclusively from out of state. By our calculations, when out-of-state venture capital is subtracted, the QSBS provision is funded on the backs of fewer than 1,000 Oregonians. Not only will the actual v. forecasted dollars fall far short, this seems to us to be unfair and unsound tax policy with tremendous future risk. Even as the forecast won’t deliver the revenue projected, Oregon entrepreneurs and investors are now incentivized to leave the State. The magic formula of resident entrepreneurs competing successfully to win hundreds of millions of out-of-state investment to deploy in Oregon will cease. Keeping the QSBS provision as written is tantamount to slaying the geese that lay the golden eggs for Oregon - at a time when other States are wooing entrepreneurs away with incentives and, frankly, a cursory knowledge of and respect for the role they play in the State’s capital stack and prosperity. We want to help make this right. Portland Seed Fund and the 43 portfolio company signatories below will make ourselves available to your team, lawmakers and Prosperity Council members to better understand the importance of QSBS and the flawed assumptions that went into the provision’s hastened passage. Please contact us. Sincerely, Portland Seed Fund General Partner/Managing Directors Angela Jackson, Jenn Lynch, Steve Eichenlaub, Jim Huston Contact information: Angela Jackson / angela@portlandseedfund.com / 503-319-5875 (cell) Jenn Lynch / jenn@portlandseedfund.com / 503-419-3007 Portland Seed Fund and Intrepid Oregon portfolio company signatories: gearUP Sports Hydrolix Op Connect Hemex Health ChEmpower Corporation Photon Marine Bold Reuse Caravel Bio, Inc. Digs Solid Carbon, Inc. Brandlive Lumen Learning Range Revolution CleanHaus Surgivance Handful Verify Ventures Zing Drone Solutions Tripgrid Inc. Radious Trova Trip Poached Jobs Indow Neurosom Tonsil Tech Community Energy Labs Synplexity Mebot AI Transformative Optics Corporation Archer RE Inc. HILOS Inc. Toolbelt Inc. Rapta, Inc. N4EA Kapha Bio Steamchain Former PSF founders who have exited companies Rita Hansen (Founder/former CEO, Onboard Dynamics) Allie Magyar (Founder/former CEO, Hubb) Peter Kirwan (Founder/former CEO, Collexion, new co CEO MeBot) Ben McKinley (Founder Brandlive, now Cascade Web Development) PSF companies outside Oregon/Washington Backpack Healthcare Cartogram TiLT --- Parent: [Appendix E: Submissions & Feedback](./INDEX.md) · PDF: [pp. 212-214](https://www.oregon.gov/gov/Documents/Oregon%20Prosperity%20Council%20Report_June%202026.pdf#page=212)