Tech startups in Portland

Portland makes top five of “under the radar” tech cities

By Barbara Leech

In a recent national ranking of "under the radar” tech hub cities, Portland secured a place within the top five. But this comes as no surprise to those living and working here, since more and more innovative, technology-based businesses are finding success, experiencing growth and receiving their well-deserved share of notoriety.

“We are starting to see the results of tech business growth that began years ago. The last few years have been very successful for many start-up tech companies and for growth of established ones, ” Don Gooding, executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development (MCED), Portland says. “There is a general attractiveness to living and working in Portland too, so the success of these tech companies has started a ripple effect. A shift to come back and work here. I see 2015 as a breakout year for Portland as tech hub.”

The ranking, which examined a 2013 report from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on entrepreneurship, zeroed in on the density of tech startups in U.S. metro areas, weeding out places like Provo, UT, that are on practically on everybody’s radar right now. Portland took the number five spot as a surprisingly innovative tech city with a lot of new business happening just under the national radar.