Portland State of Charge — Battery & Climate

The gap between Oregon's battery technology and Oregon's capital has widened. Q1 2026 Portland-metro VC hit a 10-year low, down ~65% year-over-year. Oregon's battery founders have kept building anyway.

The PNW Battery Collaborative and E8 Angels are co-hosting Portland State of Charge as the Portland anchor for PNW Climate Week 2026 — an afternoon built around that gap.

Hosted by Duncan Miller (PNW Battery Collaborative Portland chapter; E8 Angels Oregon hub liaison). Panel moderated by Jim Huston, Portland Seed Fund (founder), E8 Angels (board), Intrepid Oregon, and Intel Capital (former managing director). Jim is the full spectrum of early-stage Oregon climate capital in one person.

Format:

Two acts. First, four Oregon battery founders each give an 8-minute lightning talk pitching what they're building — long-duration storage, EV infrastructure, battery manufacturing tech, public-company scale. Then the same founders sit on a moderated panel working through how Oregon battery tech actually gets funded: what the capital stack looks like today, what it took to get there, and what Oregon capital did or didn't do along the way.

Founder Lightning Talks:

Ben Brown (PhD) with Skip Technology

Joseph Cole (PhD) with Rose City Robotics

Lineup being finalized; more speakers announced in the weeks ahead.

Run of Show:

12:00pm: Doors open & check-in
12:15pm: Opening remarks
12:25pm: Lightning talks (4 × 8 min)
1:00pm: Moderated panel & audience Q&A
1:45pm: Announcements, resources, & job opportunities
2:00pm: Event concludes

Logistics:

This event is hosted at UpStart Collective on the 5th floor inside U.S. Bancorp Tower (Big Pink), 111 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR 97204

Please arrive between 11:45am–12:00pm to sign in; programming will begin promptly at 12:15pm

This event is free and open to everyone. RSVP is required.

Have questions? Email duncan.miller@pnwbatterycollaborative.org

================================

About the PNWBC: A community of battery entrepreneurs, scientists, policymakers, and enthusiasts united to make the PNW the nation's leading hub of battery innovation. Follow our LinkedIn page to learn about battery innovations & opportunities in the PNW and join the 1,200+ other collaborators who subscribe to our events calendar. The PNWBC is the PNW's largest association of battery professionals.

Donation: The PNWBC is run by battery enthusiast volunteers driven by a desire to help our local battery community grow. Please consider making a tax deductible donation, all proceeds go towards organizing site visits, workshops, panels, meetups, conferences, and more for our community. Every dollar enables us to do more, thank you! Make donations HERE.