A top Oregon early-stage investment firm has closed its own second fundraising round. Bend-based Seven Peaks Ventures said in a Thursday morning release it has collected $28 million “to foster growth of early-stage technology startups in the Pacific Northwest and Western U.S.” Contributing to the fund were the state of Oregon and the Oregon State University Foundation, among others. At the same time, the firm will introduce an adviser and corporate resources platform that helps entrepreneurs fortify…

Software giant Adobe Systems is quietly negotiating a buyout of San Mateo-based marketing automation company Marketo, Reuters reports, citing unnamed sources close to the deal. Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners Management bought Marketo in 2016 for $1.8 billion, a 64 percent premium over the company’s share price at the time. San Jose-based Adobe would likely pay “significantly more” than $1.8 billion to buy Marketo today, Reuters reports, citing its sources. Adobe, Marketo and Vista…

In its hiring process, Google measures a candidate’s cognitive ability, problem-solving process, role-related knowledge and enigmatically, a subjective measure called “Googleyness.” A pair of older workers are suing the company for age discrimination, claiming “Googleyness” is an internal code word for “young.” The case has stretched on for more than three years. Judge Beth Labson Freeman recently certified that the workers could take a collective action against Google, which would require…

San Jose’s median down payment, by far the highest in the nation, is now 39 percent higher than San Francisco’s and more than double Los Angeles’.

A well-pedigreed San Francisco startup that offers innovative hybrid storage services is launching in Portland. Omni both operates storage facilities and allows customers storing items to rent out those items through its own marketplace. The company employs workers who pick, deliver and keep track of the rented items. Portland is the second city for the service, which launches here this weekend. Omni has developed its Portland infrastructure throughout the summer. The four-year-old company leased…