♪♪
-Good morning, everybody.
-Good morning. -Good morning.
-My name is Markham McIntyre.
I am the director of the Office of Economic for
the City of Seattle,
and I'm very, very pleased to welcome you
to the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub.
[ Cheers and applause ]
It's really exciting to be here
because this is a gratifying moment where you actually see,
over the course of two years, an idea turn into a physical space.
So take a moment to look around you,
possibly give a fist bump to the person next to you
because this is how we revitalize Downtown.
It's bringing people together in person,
it's solving big challenges,
and it's trying to find new uses for vacant office spaces.
And truly, it's also an example of
how partnership really drives innovation.
We couldn't have done this without tremendous partnership.
So I want to start by thanking our partners at UDub's CoMotion,
at VertueLab, and at 9Zero.
Without all of this teamwork,
we wouldn't have been able to get this done.
Economic development is a team sport,
and this is a great example of that happening in action.
[ Applause ]
So let's get to the fun stuff.
I'm going to invite Mayor Harrell to come up here
and share his One Seattle vision
and how this excellent hub fits into it.
Mayor Harrell. -All right.
Usually, my name and fun
are generally not in the same sentence,
but I'll take what I can get. I'm very excited to be here.
I want to start with some thanks.
Markham, for your leadership
in the Office of Economic Development and your vision.
Francois, I'm going to introduce --
better introduce you after you speak after me.
So I'm just --
I would like to say thank you for your leadership.
I have a few jokes I'm going to say about you, so get ready.
Duncan, it was nice meeting you and talking to you a little bit.
Thank you, CEO of 9Zero.
And Aina Abiodun, I know you by reputation
and it's a good -- great reputation;
the executive director of VertueLab,
thank you for being here.
So by all --
not all of you have heard, I think, the African proverb,
"If you want to go fast, go alone,
if you want to go far, go together."
This effort that I see right now is the -- as your mayor,
whether you voted for me or not, I'm your mayor,
exemplifies the kind of collaboration we want to see.
Business, education, climate warriors,
people committed to something bigger than themselves.
This effort that we're trying to do in our Innovation Hub is,
it epitomizes us, Seattle, at our best.
Today is an exciting day for Seattle in our green economy.
It's a signal to call businesses and entrepreneurs
around the world.
If you're in the business of combating climate change
and developing clean energy technologies, we want you here.
It's as simple as that. We are the Emerald City.
We've had one of the greenest governors in our state.
We fight climate change through policy and implementation,
through investments.
We want you here.
This innovation hub will include business and technology,
an incubator, an investor and funders gathering space,
an industry-specific coworking space,
all located in University of Washington-owned real estate
in Downtown Seattle that has been vacant for four years.
This is where the magic happens.
And I'm very proudful, as your mayor --
I'm going to emphasize that again
because I was born and raised here,
and I've seen us get through some tough times.
And we have to celebrate these victories,
this collaboration that you're seeing.
Again, our Office of Economic Development
and a very tough budget year;
I think many of you heard, we face around a $240,
$250 million deficit in our budget.
But we realize we still have to make investments like this.
So the $200,000 that we've invested is clearly that.
It's not a give,
it's an investment, an investment in our future.
Now is clearly the time to take bold
and urgent action to tackle climate change.
We see this, our children see this, and in my case,
my grandchildren see this;
record fires like we're experiencing in Los Angeles,
rising temperatures around the world,
health disparities
that are exacerbated by toxins in the environment.
We have an opportunity now to advance technologies
that decarbonize the global economy
and build resilience into our infrastructure;
smart people getting together with great values.
The green economy is important
because it's not just about deploying
clean energy technology.
It's about inventing, and commercializing, manufacturing,
exporting that technology around the world.
This hub is a major step in the right direction.
One of the things, sort of the cool things,
about my job is I get to meet people from
around the world constantly.
In the last two weeks,
I've met delegations from Australia, and Korea,
and other countries,
and they are looking at what we are doing here in Seattle.
I say this often that Downtown is powered
by people and innovation, and in establishing --
by establishing this hub right here, we are very intentional.
This hub helps fuel our revitalization efforts Downtown
and reinforces that Downtown is a vibrant center
of creativity and progress.
Again, we look forward to helping small businesses
and medium-sized businesses.
This will be an attraction tool for recruiting
similar businesses in the green economy
and again, help create good living wage jobs.
I began my comments by saying that if you want to go far,
you do it working together; this is what we are trying to do.
So again, thank you OED for driving these policies
into action so we could see it.
And I don't think Senator Nguyen is here.
He's in Olympia doing his job,
but I want to thank him.
He watches everything that I say because he's a friend.
So I'm going to say this to you, Senator Joe.
Joe Nguyen, we couldn't be here without your work.
He was integral to creating this hub.
He passed a proviso in the 2024/2025 state biennium budget
that provided an additional $85,000 in seeding --
in seed funding for this effort.
So thank you again.
I am humbled by this effort that I see.
I'd like to now introduce Francois Baneyx,
the vice provost for innovation in UDub
and the Director of CoMotion.
But before he gets up here,
I want to do his bio a little justice.
He served at the University of Washington
in his capacity as the vice provost since 2019.
He's a professor of chemical engineering
and an adjunct professor of bioengineering
with international recognition of his research.
By the way,
these are classes I intentionally avoided
when I was a University of Washington student.
As Dr. Baneyx drives
and coordinates innovation activities,
builds connections with the economic development community,
and engages with industry, government, nonprofits,
and the regional and global innovation ecosystems
to shape the university's innovation strategies.
And his personal story --
he's going to tell you about 45 minutes of his personal story.
I'm joking, but he came from a small village in France,
somewhat humble beginnings.
And now he is leading the city and indeed leading this world
and the university and some of this work that we're doing.
So I'm sure at some other time,
over a beer or a cup of coffee, we'd hear that personal story.
I'm proud to share this podium with you.
I present to you, Francois.
-Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
It's really a pleasure to be here.
So from my talking point,
and I know that we have many history buffs here.
So if you recall, in November 1861,
something important was founded here.
It was the Territorial University of Washington.
And this is why we still have a presence here.
And we have some activities in this four-block or so,
or I can't remember.
I will be corrected.
You know, and in 1895,
we moved to our new campus a few miles north.
But it's been 130 years,
and we are really happy to be back here for good.
So you know, so I'm really happy to be here.
As Mayor Harrell mentioned, I am the vice provost for innovation
and the director of CoMotion.
I will tell you a little bit about CoMotion,
which is the collaborative innovation hub
at the University of Washington.
What we do is to help UDub researchers make a difference
in the world,
you know, in the society, and in the economy
by translating their discoveries into impacts.
And so that means that we have a system
in which we do innovation training.
We do intellectual property strategy protection.
We are doing innovation investment.
That means that we bet
and we provide some seed funding to some of this pre-startup.
And we have incubation services through CoMotion Labs.
So this is very exciting because this is making a difference
since, you know, when was it?
Since the Bayh-Dole Act, essentially.
So about 32 years ago,
the University of Washington has launched 288 deep-tech spinoffs.
And these spinoffs have gone on to raise $9 billion
of additional funding through raises,
through mergers, and acquisition, and IPOs.
So this is significant.
But more importantly, they have gone on to create jobs
and they have gone on to make lives better for people.
So we want to continue this.
And one of these startups called Banyu Carbon
was recently featured on Monday, as a matter of fact,
in The Seattle Times.
So if you guys had a chance to read this piece
about carbon sequestration, you'll learn about Banyu Carbon.
It was started by oceanographers
that are using the ocean essentially as a sponge
to capture CO2 and to release it
so they can decrease the amount of CO2 present
in the atmosphere.
You know, it's not a big surprise
that startups want to do that.
You know, you have all seen the consequences of the LA fires.
I mean, it's terrible.
We're seeing not only a huge impact on the economy,
but we are also seeing the loss of lives.
And this is really what we're looking at, you know,
for the future if we don't take action
and if we don't change the course of the current trends.
So no single approach or technology will do it all.
We can have carbon sequestration -- of course,
it matters -- but we'll have to think about
renewable energy and energy alternatives.
We'll have to think about energy efficiency,
especially with computing and AI.
If you know how much power these farms of hyperscalers use,
it's very tremendous.
We'll have to think differently about how we do transportation
and how we do agriculture and grow the food that,
you know, feeds us. So all of this will be possible
within this climate innovation hub
because it takes talented people to come together
to create this new type of innovation
that are going to be game-changing,
and that all together will make our future,
and the future of our children, and next generations better.
So to make sure that we do not forget that
and that we do not forget our North Star,
we're featuring in this room art from climate-engaged artists.
You can look at them.
Please circulate around the room
because they will remind you every day of what is at stake
if we do not do anything.
And some of the artists are here joining us,
so please engage with them and talk about their art.
We are so grateful for you doing this.
So we're excited to partner with the City of Seattle to activate
this space and specifically,
work with the Office of Economic Development to do so.
We want to help contribute to Downtown revitalization.
We're excited to work with 9Zero
to fold in their programming activities,
and their networking,
and all the wonderful work
that they're doing into CoMotion Labs activity.
And we're excited to work with VertueLab as well,
with their connection to capital and to private
and public interest.
So we can get this done. We can do it all together.
And if we do so and if you plant 1,000 flowers,
a few of them will bloom and they will make a difference.
So let's do that together.
And now, it is my great pleasure to introduce Duncan Logan,
who will tell you more about 9Zero.
And I don't have any story to share about Duncan,
save for the fact that he's Scottish.
Thank you.
-A Frenchman to a Scotsman.
So I've been an entrepreneur all my life,
and I know firsthand
how tough it is to get an idea from zero to one.
I also know that building a company in isolation
is a losing strategy.
It takes a village to build something meaningful.
It takes a community with all the key components,
some deliberate and some often by chance.
As Steve Jobs would say,
those serendipitous encounters between scientists and techie,
VC and entrepreneur are often what it takes to be successful.
9Zero is the front door to climate tech.
It is the front door to come through to find people
who share your passion.
My advice to be successful is to get to a place
that is crowded with success.
That place will be here at the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub.
Our purpose at 9Zero is to build a space
both physically and digitally
to bring together all the key components
for more climate solutions to thrive.
I want to thank the 90-plus members
who have already signed up here in Seattle
and are working on climate solutions today,
not the talkers hoping for a better future,
but those who are actually committed to doing something.
And here today,
specifically David Alspaugh of Inductive Robotics,
turning every parking spot into a charging spot.
Jeanine Ash of Capture6,
water-positive direct air capture.
Ash Glover of Ojaswe,
turning everyday meals while supporting regenerative farms
and healing the planet.
And Hans Stedman of Revolve Star,
reusing second-hand solar power to build energy independence.
You can meet those entrepreneurs over with their companies
at the site after.
COVID has changed the way we work,
but, fundamentally, we are still social animals
and we are still a product of our environment.
I encourage you all to choose that environment wisely.
Surround yourself with people who share your passion.
They will motivate you, inspire you,
and bring out the best in you. For far too many people,
working from home is simply working alone.
Seattle is an obvious choice to add to the 9Zero network,
but I do want to acknowledge one Seattleite,
Jonathan Azoff of SNOCAP Ventures,
for his role and enthusiasm
as the catalyst of bringing 9Zero here
and getting this partnership going.
Not only are we excited to work with VertueLab,
but also to be in this great city
with easy transit to the airport,
which as a regular visitor, I love.
You have a highly talented workforce
who actually understand the real challenges of climate change,
a phenomenal university with a great program in CoMotion.
And Mayor Harrell, your office has done an amazing job
to welcome 9Zero here.
And we look forward to building a thriving climate ecosystem
right here in Downtown Seattle.
And now, we have been saving the best till last.
Allow me to introduce an incredible entrepreneur
and leader, Aina Abiodun.
Thank you.
-Thank you, Duncan,
and thank you to our partners and collaborators,
Mayor Harrell, Office of Economic Development,
all the folks that have really collaborated
to make this possible.
So thank you all for being here.
I see many familiar faces.
This is a historic collaboration, and I thank those
who could make it today and those who came before.
I honor the Coast Salish peoples
who stewarded this land long before we got here,
and on which we stand, and to whom we owe deep gratitude.
While the Seattle Hub is new,
we at VertueLab are not new to collaboration.
Our role as a nonprofit uniquely positions us to bridge public
and private interests,
and to catalyze equitable economic opportunity,
both as a venture capital funder
and as an accelerator of climate startups.
We are here in this space right now because we all,
all of us here, have an urgent mission for our economy,
for our entrepreneurs, and for our communities.
If you've heard me talk before,
you've probably heard me mention mission economy,
a phrase coined by economist Maria Mazzucato.
It's the idea that in order to move at the speed
and scale that a project requires
to do really, really hard, maybe even impossible things,
we must coalesce around a conviction
and a shared clear mission.
And we need all hands on deck.
I see our mission here as simple.
We must adapt under any and all circumstances,
regardless of where the political, economic,
or climate winds blow,
regardless of whether we here
had a natural disaster this past month or not.
We now know that no community, city, state,
or country will be spared.
Climate adaptation is of course literally everything
that must be made resilient in our built environment;
our energy systems, our food systems,
the air we breathe, and our economy.
But adaptation is also about
how we change the way we do our work.
A big systems shift is required to do the work ahead.
We need to move from working in silos to working together.
We all need to move from individual work
to collective work that is equitable and just.
To adapt, we need our entrepreneurs, our investors,
our world-class institutions,
and a committed public sector
that is working on this transition together.
We together, a group of passionate,
innovative people and institutions,
can create the solutions we need to thrive.
We together, a coalition of private
and public sector partners,
can show up every day to make sure we all survive.
We together can build this road to resilience.
With this hub,
we join the ranks of cities around the world
including Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles,
Minneapolis, and so many more on the global stage
who've built powerful,
successful hubs for their technology missions,
attracting talent, building prototyping
and manufacturing facilities in their regions,
and shipping their products around the world.
These cities have garnered the support of government,
of investors, of academic institutions,
economic development entities,
and community in creating successful ecosystems.
As we adapt, we take inspiration from so many of these folks
while also leaning into our unique strengths in business
and technology and infrastructure and policy.
And we are here creating a Seattle Hub,
which shines a bright light on what is possible
in our beautiful Pacific Northwest.
We are so excited to be on this rocket ship with you all
and wholeheartedly embrace this mission
that will give us the focus
and the space and the investment we need to dig deeply
and build right here in this city.
So I'm with you, Mayor Harrell.
We must and we will adapt,
but importantly, we will adapt together.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Powerful words. Thank you, Aina.
Teamwork makes the dream work,
and you see the team right here in front of you.
It's very, very exciting to reach this milestone
in this dream,
but the real work lies ahead to build abundant clean energy
and decarbonize our economy.
We have some refreshments for you all
to talk about how we're going to do that.
For media that are interested in more details,
we're going to do some pull-asides,
I believe over there.
But before we break, in the spirit of One Seattle,
we're going to take an us-ie --
it's not a selfie, it's an us-ie --
to kind of represent the people energy
that we've brought here today.
So thank you very much for coming.
Kelly, am I taking this? -Yes.
-Okay. I'm going to attempt to do this.
So if everyone can squeeze in a little bit,
I'll use my long arms.
Get together, get close.
This is part of the networking.
If I missed you, I apologize in advance.
Three, two, one. Cheese.
-Cheese.
-I'm going to take a few.
Okay. Thank you so much.