Meet the team

Jim Huston

Managing Director, Founder

Two-decade track record in investment management for Intel (Internet Infrastructure and Software) and Exxon (Clean tech).

Jim has over 20 years of experience in early stage investing and advising for technological companies. Before establishing PSF with Angela Jackson in 2011, Jim was Managing Director at Bay Area growth capital firm Blueprint Ventures, and Director of Strategic Investments at Intel Capital. From those positions, Jim led the investment of more than $67 million dollars into 19 companies that saw returns of more than 2.5 times the invested capital. Along with his executive position at PSF, Jim also sits on the board of Onboard Dynamics...

He has earned an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a B.S. in engineering from the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, and has served as an adjunct professor at Portland State University and Lewis & Clark Law School.

Angela Jackson

Managing Director, Founder

Has had the passion to foster business since childhood.

Angela has 15 years of experience as a venture capitalist, angel investor, and as an advisor to startups in the technology, consumer products, cleantech, and mobile service industries. She co-founded PSF with Jim Huston in 2011, but also serves as the Director of Portland State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and manager of the Portland State University Business Accelerator. Her position at Portland State University allows her to monitor prospective and existing portfolio companies that originate from the university...

Prior to her career as a consultant, Angela was principal at the incubator/investment fund, Emergent, had started and operated numerous small companies, and drove key partner relationships and channels at Auctionpay during a period of rapid growth. Angela previously served as Chair of Angel Oregon and President of Keiretsu Forum Portland chapter. Currently, she sits on the boards of the Angel Capital Association, Crowd Supply and TIE Oregon. She has earned a B.A. in English and History from Boston University, and an M.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon.

Jenn Lynch

Managing Director

Ten years experience with B2B SaaS in product design and functionality.

Jenn has 5 years of experience as both an angel investor and venture capitalist through her work with PSF and her own fund, Upstart Labs. She currently serves as the manager for PSF’s curriculum for entrepreneurs where she leverages her network of experienced executives and service providers. Jenn’s early career was spent as a web developer, product manager, and product marketer at software companies including BrassRing, Yahoo! Hotjobs, and Unicru. She later went on to manage design and professional services at Portland-based interactive marketing agency, StepChange Group (now called Dachis Group)...

Jenn also remains active in the local community by sitting on the boards of Oregon Public Broadcasting, Schoolhouse Supplies, and the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety. She has earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Journalism from the Medill School at Northwestern University.

Steve Eichenlaub

Managing Director

Decades of experience operating and investing in seed and early stage start ups.

Steve has been associated with PSF since 2014 as a limited partner in PSF II and III in support of Portland Seed Fund’s mission. Now, as a Managing Director of Portland Seed Fund IV and Intrepid Oregon Fund I, he brings extensive venture capital, operating, and M&A experience, accumulated over decades in both start-ups and publicly-traded corporations, to bear on investing in and nurturing the next generation of compelling start-ups. For example, just prior to PSF he was COO at M-SIX, a Portland-based SaaS startup, helping grow the company up to and beyond its successful exit. Ahead of that, for over a decade he was a Managing Director in Intel Capital, leading and managing the strategy, deal structuring and post-investment efforts on over 100 investments tied to the strategic interests of Intel Labs...

He then worked inside Intel Labs applying seed startup concepts to convert raw technologies into viable prototypes with a compelling business value proposition that would then “exit” to an Intel product group. Throughout, his passion is to learn from others, and to help maximize business value built on founder vision and resilience, resulting in well-differentiated solutions to important problems. Steve holds a B.S. in Electrical and Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley, and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

Shashi Jain

Venture Partner

Fostering Innovation, Investing in Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs, and Empowering Communities Through Technology and Education.

Shashi Jain is a Venture Partner at the Portland Seed Fund, guiding investment and development of early-stage deep technology companies. Prior that that, he served Intel Corporation as a Senior Strategic Innovation Manager, pathfinding new applications in Internet of Things, Healthcare, AI for Space applications and Blockchain. He is an experienced corporate entrepreneur with a track record of incubating ideas that go to production. He builds frameworks such as the KPI Compass, Decision Quality Canvas, and the Startup Ladder for building and measuring innovation programs...

Outside of work, he organizes the Portland 3D Printing Lab community, 3D prints prosthetic hands for kids via the eNABLE community, teaches innovation and entrepreneurship to high school students through TYE Oregon, and actively mentors early stage startups. He co-Founded Makerforce, a non-profit that brings together Makers and Manufacturers to respond to emergencies like the COVID19 pandemic.

Contact Us

Phone
(503) 419 3007

Email

[email protected]