The University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs has selected the second batch of startups for its Climate Tech Incubator. The founders tackle a wide range of sustainability challenges including increasing EV adoption, reducing plastic use, supporting local food and beverage production, and developing climate-smart strategies in cities.
The six-month program is located at the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub, a public-private partnership in the city center. This space supports business climate beyond the incubator and hosts regular community events.
Eight young startups participating in the program receive support in building teams, developing their business plans, building strategic relationships and preparing to pitch their pitch to investors. The team will share their progress at a demo day in September.
Jared Silvia, partner at Gliding Ant Ventures and former CEO of BlueDot Photonics, is an advisor to CoMotion.
“If our region is serious about being a leader in climate technology, we need to find more ways to support more innovators,” said Silvia. “The Climate Tech Incubator is a great addition to the ecosystem that supports it.”
Here are the participants:
Astraeus Ocean Systems is an ocean ag-tech startupwhich provides water quality monitoring and modeling of shellfish and seaweed cultivation activities. The founding team of the Bellingham, Wash.-based company. includes two research scientists with Ph.D. and a leader in business development.
Benchmark Star helps facility managers comply with clean building regulations automatically following regulations and simplifying resource data reporting. The effort launched at the Seattle Climate Innovation Hub hackathon last year and is led by Renee Gastineau, who has worked on clean energy for more than a decade.
Climate Solutions International is the brainchild of Jan Whittington, UW urban planning professor. Whittington has developed strategies to help cities take action on climate change while making their infrastructure more resilient to global warming. The World Bank funded him to use this method in 300 cities in 30 countries, and his startup is turning that technology into a business.
EVQ is a one-stop, AI-powered platform that assists drivers find, buy and use electric vehicles, mystifying battery charging and other barriers to EV ownership. The Seattle startup came out of Coltura, a nonprofit that promotes EV policies and research founded by EVQ CEO Matthew Metz.
FlameWise manufactures portable kilns for individuals and communities turning unwanted waste into biochar that sequesters carbon and provides benefits to the soil. Fireplaces are a more cost-effective alternative to burned piles. Seattle’s Korina Stark launched the effort following the challenges of managing wood waste on her 20-acre wooded property.
OceanMade offers ocean-based pots for nurseries, landscapers, gardeners and small farms who want to avoid plastic waste. Kelp containers also support root growth and decompose naturally into the soil after planting. CEO Emily Power previously worked at Microsoft for nearly eight years before founding Seattle in 2021.
REearthable produces biodegradable plastics from waste limestone returned to mining operations. Materials from the Seattle-area startup are ideal for cosmetics, food packaging and other applications. CEO Charlotte Wintermann is an entrepreneur with a background in sales, marketing and business strategy.
Quest Ferments produces fermented beverages and kombucha made in Seattle with locally sourced ingredients. Co-founders Jeanette Macias and Lyz Macias launched their startup in 2019 and now sell their drinks online and at farmers markets as well as their “fill station.”
Related: UW’s CoMotion Labs houses six climate-first startups and a green tech incubator
