Several years ago, Belkin International acquired Zensi, a “smart home” energy and water sensing startup from the lab of UW CSE+EE professor Shwetak Patel. Zensi’s technology became the heart of Belkin’s WeMo home automation ecosystem.
Today, Belkin announced the creation of WeMo Labs in Seattle.
“‘With a thriving tech industry and an immense talent pool surrounding UW’s world-renowned Computer Science & Engineering and Electrical Engineering programs, Seattle is ground zero for recruiting the top data scientists, software engineers, and developers in the country,’ said Patel, who also serves as Belkin’s Chief Scientist. ‘WeMo Labs will continue to benefit from a long-standing relationship with the Ubicomp Research Lab and other UW organizations such as the eScience Institute.’
“‘Establishing a larger presence in Seattle and collaborating with the University of Washington is a direct investment in the future of WeMo,’ said Chet Pipkin, founder and CEO of Belkin. ‘We’re looking for this team to help us fast track groundbreaking technologies from the lab to the marketplace, keeping WeMo at the forefront of the Internet of Things.'”
Read more here. GeekWire article here. Seattle Times article here.
And check out a great GeekWire compendium of companies that have recently opened engineering offices in Seattle – here.