CoMotion, University of Washington

What CoMotion, University of Washington does

CoMotion is the technology transfer and commercialization office of the University of Washington, a public research university headquartered in Seattle. The organization operates as an institutional platform that supports UW faculty, researchers, graduate students, and affiliated startups in converting academic discoveries into commercial outcomes through a structured pipeline covering innovation disclosure, IP strategy and patent prosecution, licensing negotiation, gap funding, mentorship matching, and physical incubation. CoMotion does not itself develop proprietary technology products; instead, it provides the institutional infrastructure for protecting, licensing, and commercializing intellectual property generated across UW's schools and departments.

CoMotion's service portfolio is organized around four interconnected program areas. CoMotion Labs operates four sector-specific incubators — Life Sciences at Fluke Hall (opened 2012), Hardware at Fluke Hall (opened 2021), Tech+ at Startup Hall, and Climate Tech at a downtown Seattle facility (opened 2025) — offering wet labs, dry labs, prototyping equipment, coworking, and offices. The Husky FAST Start licensing program (launched 2020) provides standardized, startup-friendly IP licensing templates vetted by external counsel. Funding programs include the CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund (grants of up to $75,000 per project, co-funded at over $1.1 million annually with the Washington Research Foundation), the Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Program, and gap-financing support for spinoff formation. Educational offerings span NSF I-Corps Hub Northwest, Idea to Plan (one-day workshop), Plan to Launch, and the weekly Fundamentals for Startups lecture series.

CoMotion is funded through University of Washington allocations rather than commercial sales; direct revenue is generated through licensing royalties (the office retains 20% of licensing income, with the remaining 80% distributed to inventors, departments, and the Provost's office), hourly event-space rentals at Startup Hall and Fluke Hall ($125/hour), and licensing transactions against an online catalog of UW technologies. Cumulative institutional outputs as of mid-2025 include 306 UW spinoffs founded since 1994, $9.9 billion in capital raised by those spinoffs, 10,376 total innovations disclosed, and 5,322 U.S. patent filings. CoMotion is led by Vice Provost for Innovation and Director François Baneyx, with a staff of 51-100 organized across innovation management, licensing, patents, training, mentorship, marketing, and operations functions.

Name

CoMotion, University of Washington

Legal name

University of Washington

Website

https://comotion.uw.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

CoMotion is the University of Washington's technology transfer and commercialization office, providing faculty, researchers, and affiliated startups with IP protection, licensing, incubation facilities, gap funding, mentorship, and training to commercialize academic innovations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Licensing Revenue: CoMotion distributes UW technologies under five licensing products including licenses to existing companies, option and evaluation licenses, express digital content licensing, Husky FAST Start for spinoffs, and material transfer agreements. Revenue is generated through licensing fees and royalties which are shared with inventors (26.67%), departments and schools (26.67%), and the Provost (26.67%), with 20% retained for CoMotion's patent budget and commercialization services.
2. Event Space Rental: Rental of event spaces at Startup Hall and Fluke Hall to UW community and external organizations. Event space rental at $125/hour, with additional fees for after-hours staffing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CoMotion is the University of Washington's technology transfer and commercialization office. It helps UW researchers, students, and startups transform academic discoveries into market-ready products and companies through innovation training, IP protection and patenting, licensing, startup incubation (CoMotion Labs), gap funding, mentorship, and material transfer agreements.

Product overview

CoMotion is the University of Washington's innovation and technology transfer office, providing a comprehensive suite of interconnected programs and services that support researchers and entrepreneurs throughout the commercialization journey. The organization operates as a platform-plus-programs model, combining direct services (IP advising, licensing, funding) with physical incubation infrastructure through CoMotion Labs. Core programs include: CoMotion Labs, a multi-industry incubator with four sector-specific locations (Life Sciences, Hardware, Tech+, and Climate Tech); the Licensing Marketplace for browsing and licensing UW innovations; Husky FAST Start for startup-friendly licensing; Innovation Gap Fund and Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Program for gap funding; and training programs including NSF I-Corps Hub Northwest, Idea to Plan, Plan to Launch, and Fundamentals for Startups. Additional offerings encompass the Entrepreneurial Faculty Forum for mentor connections, Material Transfer Agreements, Student Resources, and the Mobility Innovation Center for smart city initiatives. Together, these programs transform ideas from the lab to the marketplace, supporting everything from innovation disclosure through startup launch and growth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CoMotion Labs: Multi-industry incubator for early-stage startups including life sciences, hardware, tech+, and climate tech sectors
• Husky FAST Start
• CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund
• CoMotion Mentor Program
• CoMotion Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Program
• CoMotion Innovation Training

Products and services

• CoMotion Labs Multi-industry incubator providing infrastructure and services for early-stage startups, with preference for UW spinoffs. Offers wet and dry labs, prototyping support, offices, conference rooms, business coaching, mentors, and networking without taking equity or IP from member startups.
• CoMotion Labs Life Sciences Incubator Sector-specific incubator at Fluke Hall on UW campus for life sciences, biotechnology, and medtech startups; provides wet lab space, specialized equipment, and industry-specific resources.
• CoMotion Labs Hardware Incubator Sector-specific incubator at Fluke Hall for sustainability, energy, health, and consumer hardware startups; offers prototyping support, tools library, and maker equipment.
• CoMotion Labs Tech+ Incubator Tech-focused incubator in Startup Hall for IT, software, AI/ML, fintech, edtech, and social impact startups; provides coworking space and tech-focused resources.
• CoMotion Labs Climate Tech Incubator Climate-focused incubator in downtown Seattle Financial Center building for energy, storage, climate computing, mobility, and industrial innovations.
• Husky FAST Start Licensing Program Startup licensing program with Fair, Aligned, Standardized, and Transparent (FAST) terms for UW spinoffs building companies based on UW-managed intellectual property.
• Licensing Marketplace Online catalog of UW innovations available to license by companies or individuals, with ready-to-purchase express digital content end-user agreements.
• CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund Gap funding partnership with Washington Research Foundation providing over $1.1 million per year of up to $75K grants to UW project teams transitioning between academic research and seed stage investment.
• CoMotion Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) One-year funding and support program for UW postdoctoral researchers to explore commercialization potential of their innovations.
• NSF I-Corps Hub Northwest National Science Foundation-funded I-Corps program delivered through CoMotion that accelerates academic research projects toward commercialization using customer discovery methodology and entrepreneurial training.
• Idea to Plan Program One-day in-person workshop introducing CoMotion's innovation services, commercialization pathways, and the beginnings of customer discovery.
• Plan to Launch Program Program for teams that have participated in other CoMotion programs and demonstrated clear interest in starting a company; consists of two in-person/hybrid sessions and five virtual workshops.
• Fundamentals for Startups Weekly lecture series held Fridays over lunch during the academic year featuring experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts; available via YouTube live stream.
• Intellectual Property Advising & Protection IP protection services spanning sciences, engineering, and social innovations; includes patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, NDAs, and material transfer agreements; customized IP plans developed with researchers and faculty.
• Licensing & Agreements Distribution of UW technologies under five different licensing products: licenses to existing companies, option and evaluation licenses, express digital content licensing, Husky FAST Start for spinoffs, and material transfer agreements.
• Entrepreneurial Faculty Forum Forum of faculty entrepreneurs who mentor UW faculty with entrepreneurial aspirations, helping demystify startup formation and foster connections.
• Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) Contracts that protect IP when research materials are transferred to or from other institutions or corporate entities; includes incoming, outgoing not-for-profit research, outgoing for-profit research, and human biological materials transfers.
• Event Space Rental Rental of event spaces at Startup Hall and Fluke Hall Idea Lab to UW community and external organizations; $125/hour standard rate with after-hours attendant fees.
• Mobility Innovation Center Partnership between UW, Challenge Seattle, and regional transportation agencies to develop smart city transportation technologies and explore creative mobility solutions in Puget Sound.
• Curinos FinTech Incubator Fintech incubator at Startup Hall in partnership with Curinos offering mentorship, industry insight, and access to technology programs like Databricks to support early-stage fintech startups.

Quantifiable outcome

• 306 UW spinoffs created with $9.9B funding raised since 1994
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• CurinoscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026Curinos FinTech Incubator partnership at Startup Hall supporting early-stage fintech startups in financial services innovation. The program offers mentorship, industry insight, and access to technology programs like Databricks. This is the second year of the program following successful 2025 cohort.
• Challenge SeattlecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Challenge Seattle (private sector initiative of 17 Seattle region CEOs) and UW to establish the Mobility Innovation Center, advancing smart city transportation solutions in Puget Sound.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Hub NorthwestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoMotion serves as the NSF I-Corps Hub Northwest site, accelerating academic research projects ready for commercialization through customer discovery methodology and entrepreneurial training.
• Plug and PlaymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSilicon Valley innovation group that has expanded into Seattle region with new accelerator program at CoMotion Labs, providing access to startup ecosystem and corporate innovation partners.
• Seattle Climate Innovation Hub PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDowntown Seattle climate tech incubator opened in 2025 as collaborative home for climate tech startups, with partnership support from city and regional stakeholders to boost green economy.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Stanford Office of Technology Licensing (OTL): Stanford OTL is the technology transfer and licensing office for Stanford University, providing IP protection, licensing, and startup formation support analogous to CoMotion. Both offices operate within elite research universities, share the non-equity-taking or low-equity model, and target faculty/student startups. Stanford OTL is a clear direct peer given parallel scope and process.
• MIT Technology Licensing Office (TLO): MIT TLO handles invention disclosures, patenting, and licensing for MIT researchers, mirroring CoMotion's IP advising and licensing functions. Both offices serve a top-tier research university ecosystem, support similar startup formation services, and operate standardized licensing templates for spinoffs. Directly comparable in mission and operating model.
• Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD): Harvard OTD manages IP, licensing, and startup formation for Harvard University researchers, offering services parallel to CoMotion's IP advising, licensing marketplace, and spinoff support. Both are embedded within leading research universities and follow comparable commercialization pathways.
• UC Berkeley Office of Technology Licensing: UC Berkeley OTL handles invention disclosures, patent prosecution, and licensing for UC Berkeley researchers. Like CoMotion, it serves a major public research university, supports faculty/student startups, and runs spinoff programs. Direct peer given overlapping mission and university context.
• Columbia Technology Ventures: Columbia Technology Ventures manages IP protection, licensing, and startup creation for Columbia University, providing services equivalent to CoMotion's portfolio. Both offices operate at research-intensive universities with comparable faculty, postdoc, and student entrepreneur programs.
• Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV): JHTV is Johns Hopkins University's commercialization arm for inventions, licensing, and startup formation, with a strong life-sciences tilt comparable to CoMotion's Life Sciences Incubator. Both offices pair IP licensing with incubator infrastructure and gap funding programs.
• Caltech Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships: Caltech OTT performs IP management, licensing, and startup formation for Caltech inventors. Despite smaller absolute scale, the operating model mirrors CoMotion's disclosure-to-licensing pathway with deep industry partnership ties — a like-for-like university TTO peer.
• University of Michigan Office of Technology Transfer: U-M OTT provides technology transfer, IP protection, and startup support for University of Michigan researchers — the same core mandate as CoMotion within a major public research university ecosystem. Direct peer in scope, process, and university-type alignment.
• Georgia Tech ATDC (Advanced Technology Development Center): Georgia Tech's ATDC is a university-anchored technology incubator offering cohort-based incubation, mentorship, and corporate partnerships comparable to CoMotion Labs. Both organizations commercialize university research via physical incubator infrastructure and serve as a bridge between academic IP and private markets.
• Cornell Center for Technology Licensing (CTL): Cornell CTL manages IP and licensing for Cornell University, providing standardized startup licensing templates, Material Transfer Agreements, and spinoff support — directly parallel to CoMotion's Husky FAST Start, MTA, and licensing services. Strong same-mission peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UWCoMotion
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/uwcomotion
• Facebookfacebook.com/UW.CoMotion
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/university-of-washington-center-for-commercialization
• Instagraminstagram.com/uwcomotion/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CoMotion, University of Washington