Oregonian file photo/2015

Above: nLight's factory north of Vancouver

By Mike Rogoway | The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Silicon Forest hasn't had a tech IPO in 14 years, a historic drought that reflects the region's failure to produce any large, local companies even as other West Coast regions produced scores of other prominent businesses.



That losing streak could end as soon as this month, with Clark County laser manufacturer nLight Corp. (above) planning its long-anticipated IPO.



The company's revenues grew by nearly 40 percent last year, reflecting a surge in demand for high-output lasers from manufacturers in the industrial, aerospace, defense and electronics industries.



The lasers' capabilities are improving rapidly and nLight's revenues grew nearly 40 percent last year, to $138 million. The company employs more than 1,000 worldwide, many of those at its headquarters north of Vancouver and at an outpost in Hillsboro.



Here's a look back at past tech IPOs in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and the amount each company raised:



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VintageTEK

Tektronix, 1963: $10 million raised

The godfather to Oregon’s tech industry went public in 1963 and continued growing for two more decades, spinning off scores of other companies.

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Oregonian file photo

Floating Point Systems, 1978: $9.5 million

Former Tektronix engineer Norm Winningstad started the supercomputing company in 1970 and it grew into one of the region’s biggest tech businesses, with revenues peaking at $127 million in 1985. Floating Point lost its direction in subsequent years, though, and Cray Research acquired Floating Point’s assets for $3.25 million in 1991.

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Oregonian file photo

Electro Scientific Industries, 1983: $18 million

Oregon’s oldest tech company (yes, it’s older than Tek) has re-emerged in the last year as a specialty laser manufacturer. Above: Former CEO William Walker in 1981.

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Mentor Graphics Corp., 1984: $55 million

The Silicon Forest's last $1 billion company, Mentor's software helps engineers design complex electronics. It sold to Siemens last year for $4.5 billion but continues operating at its Wilsonville campus. Above: Former CEO Thomas Bruggere in 1984.

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Sequent Computer Systems, 1987: $29 million

Sold to IBM in 1999 for $810 million.

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Oregonian file photo, 1988

Lattice Semiconductor Corp, 1989: $14 million

Founded by alumni of Tektronix and Intel, Lattice makes programmable computer chips and is now Portland's biggest tech company. In 2016 and 2017 it tried unsuccessfully to sell to Chinese investors, but President Donald Trump shut down the deal on national security grounds.

Above: A Lattice Semiconductor computer chip called a GAL, for generic array logic, is surrounded by testing process.

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Oregonian file photo, 1996

InFocus Corp., 1990: $24 million

Sales at the digital projector manufacturer peaked near $900 million in 2000 but plunged amid overseas competition. It went private in 2009 and continues operating, at a severely diminished level, in Tigard.

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Oregonian file photo/1998

Planar Systems, 1993: $21 million

A pioneer in computer monitors and electronic displays for industrial equipment, Planar sold to a Chinese company in 2015. It now specializes in jumbo displays for command centers, digital ads and corporate lobbies.

Integrated Measurement Systems, 1995: $38 million

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FEI Co., 1995: $21 million

The electron microscope company sold in 2016 for $4.2 billion. (Above: President Barack Obama using an FEI microscope at Intel in 2011.)

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Oregonian file photo, 1991

Radisys, 1995: $20 million

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Oregonian file photo, 1996

Electric Lightwave Inc., 1997, $128 million

The Vancouver company capitalized on nascent telecom competition in the ‘90s with the IPO and tremendous borrowing. It couldn’t pay down $1 billion in debt, though, and sold for pennies on the dollar.

Webtrends, 1999: $46 million

Webtrends sold in 2001 to a company called NetIQ for $1 billion in stock – but shares plunged with the dot-com crash and the deal was ultimately valued at just $250 million. Webtrends eventually spun back out and helped seed a new generation of Portland technologist. It sold core technology to Oracle last year.

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Oregonian file photo/2000

Digimarc, 1999: $84 million

MedicaLogic, 1999: $100 million

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Oregonian file photo, 2004

Pixelworks, 2000: $58 million

Once among Oregon’s most promising tech companies, the onetime Tualatin business – which emerged from the state’s electronic display industry – faltered repeatedly at delivering the products it promised would speed the transition to high-definition video. Its Oregon operations have dissolved but it’s still a public company, based in Silicon Valley.

Corillian, 2000: $32 million

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Cascade Microtech, 2004: $74.2 million

Another company that emerged from Tektronix, Cascade Microtech made equipment for testing and designing semiconductors. It sold in 2016 for $350 million.

-- Mike Rogoway; 503-294-7699; @rogow

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