Executive Summary
Since its launch in 2012, the Oregon Capital Scan (OCS) has served as a forum for stakeholders to examine the state’s capital landscape and identify opportunities to strengthen it. The Oregon Capital Scan has deepened the understanding of how capital flows across our state, and where it doesn’t. The OCS serves as both a research platform and an educational tool, providing a shared foundation for collective action to make Oregon’s capital ecosystem more transparent, inclusive, and effective in supporting business growth.
The 2025 OCS marks a reset for the series. This year’s report, contracted through ECOnorthwest, assesses available data to ensure clarity, reliability, and transparency in how findings are presented. This year’s approach focuses the analysis on three target industry clusters: high tech, forestry and wood products, and food and beverage, linking capital patterns to business stages and industry structures, in an effort to link capital sources at a more granular level (see the capital ladder graphic and a description of key capital types found in the introduction section). The report also includes a focused regional analysis of the Southern Oregon Coast Economic Development District to illustrate rural capital dynamics that are difficult to parse in statewide averages. This approach will help establish a strong foundation for future research, creating a platform to track capital dynamics, identify data gaps, and guide the continued evolution of the Oregon Capital Scan.
Each section of this web report includes interactive charts and data visualizations (accessible through the navigation menu and hyperlinks throughout the report), allowing readers to dig deeper into the data behind these findings. Statewide data is included where it provides useful context, along with an “Oregon Overall” section that summarizes key indicators. However, this year’s focus areas prioritize depth over breadth, revealing where capital flows effectively support growth, and where gaps remain.
The takeaways below provide some key takeaways from this year’s analysis, for a more in-depth look, use the navigation panel on the left to jump to individual sections.
Focus Areas
Use the navigation on the left to view details of each of these focus areas.
High Tech Industry Cluster
This industry cluster is divided into two sections: hardware and software. However, these subindustries are increasingly intertwined. - Oregon companies underperformed in securing COVID-era CHIPS funding relative to its substantial industry size. - The hardware sub-industry cluster had few observable capital infusions into early stage companies, suggesting either that unobservable private capital flows propel this industry or that capital at this stage is currently limited. - Oregon’s software industry is expanding faster than the national growth rate, but receives an undersized share of national investment, particularly at the mid-stage level, where Oregon accounts for only 0.8% of the nation’s deals completed and just 0.02% of total investment dollars.
Forestry & Wood Products Industry Cluster
Oregon’s forestry and wood products industry cluster has deep roots in the state’s economy. Today, the industry is diminished from its once dominant scale, but still plays an outsized role for many communities. - Oregon had the third largest productivity gain in Wood Products in the nation since 2014. - Oregon has been receiving an outsized share of federal Wood Innovation grants - Observable capital flows, in particular debt capital, are minimal from early- through late-stage businesses compared to other Oregon industries.
Food & Beverage Industry Cluster
Oregon’s food and beverage sector continues to evolve from its agricultural roots toward higher-value, brand-driven products, but many smaller firms continue to face high capital costs and limited access to financing needed to scale production. - Capital availability appears robust in the Food and Beverage Industry Cluster; stakeholders report that capital access is a primary roadblock to business expansion. - Despite having a strong food system and food service industry, food and beverage manufacturing still lags behind the nation in terms of GDP and productivity, missing out on traded sector value add.
Southern Oregon Coast
The Southern Oregon Coast region represents an undersized share of the state’s employment and even less of the state’s GDP when compared to its share of the population. - The Southern Oregon Coast region saw a proportionally smaller amount of equity deals as compared to the state overall. - Stakeholders note that although debt capital is available, lower household incomes and limited local wealth make it difficult for many in the region to obtain business capital. - The region saw increased business formation activity since the pandemic.