Univ. of Washington selected for new federally funded Northwest innovation training hub

The University of Washington is part of a new federally selected Northwest Region Hub to support the commercialization and deployment of technologies in fields including medical tech, energy, clean tech, agricultural and food tech, and maritime and related technologies.

The hub was announced today and is part of the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps). The eight universities selected for the Northwest cluster will collectively receive up to $15 million over five years.

The University of California, Berkeley, will lead the hub and other participants include the UW, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Oregon State University; and the University of California campuses in Davis, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Irvine.

CoMotion, the UW center supporting entrepreneurs and technology commercialization, currently runs I-Corps, a related program providing innovation training and a customer discovery workshop.

CoMotion will administer the UW’s hub funding, which will support I-Corps programming that includes weekly instruction, mentorship, customer discovery interviews, and opportunities for practicing pitches for investors.

François Baneyx, the UW’s vice provost for innovation, called the new regional hub a “game changer.”

“We are excited about building synergies between institutions with complementary strengths and transmuting our diversity of thought into companies that improve people’s lives and drive prosperity,” Baneyx said in a statement.

The National Science Foundation also announced the creation of two additional hubs in the Southeast and New England. The network of NSF I-Corps hubs now totals 13 and covers 48 states.