New Tech Northwest Spotlight: Barclo

What inspires you to build companies through a venture studio model rather than a traditional startup path?

At Barclo, we believe the linear, investor-first path of accelerators, incubators, and the traditional U.S. fundraise process doesn’t serve the kind of innovation our time demands. That model rarely allows for design partnerships, revenue-based pilots, or collaboration with corporates, NGOs, and academic institutions that want to be customers sooner. 

And with the complexity and global competition around turning science into technology and products — from quantum to other future compute and intelligence breakthroughs — the old playbook isn’t enough. Instead of betting fully on the (necessary but painful) hoop-jumping for capital, we are hedged and diversified on revenue and traction sources. In that way, we are a traction engine, pairing the venture studio model with our advisory approach to build with founders, shape commercialization strategies, and unlock future-forward markets faster.

What’s the boldest idea your venture studio is pursuing so far, and what are you learning from it?

So far we are learning that our boldest idea is planting and growing a future-tech venture studio in the Pacific Northwest when most folks don’t know what that means in practice. But we’re here for this kind of awareness & activation based ecosystem building. It’s a show more than a tell. Through our Quantum Curio initiative, we’re introducing this region to frontier technologies many assumed were still years away. And we got Seattle on the map with the only globally recognized quantum industry events on the global Quantum2025.org calendar that’s part of the global 100 year celebration of quantum science. 

Something happens when you give people names, faces, and demos in their own backyard: curiosity sparks, fear gives way to wonder, and connections start to form across the ecosystem. High-potential founders with deep research backgrounds often tell us that just knowing there’s another path to commercialization is refreshing. What we’re learning is that when you make the abstract tangible & help people become more future fluent, you unlock both the confidence and momentum needed to build from the ground up.

What is your biggest breakthrough moment in building and launching multiple ventures with innovative founders and teams?

Our biggest breakthrough doesn’t come from a cohort (yet!) — Qubits Ventures is raising their second fund, and we’re part of their global commercialization strategy. The breakthrough is that we are chosen to be their western hemisphere commercialization studio in the first place. That belief is rare, and it’s highly coveted. 

Our fund partner and mentor, Nardo Manoloto, has built 36 successful companies across two decades and is globally respected for it. His conviction, paired with Qubits’ backing, turns potential into something kinetic. It’s a signal that this region can compete on a global stage, not just orbit big tech incumbents, and that we have a way to make that potential real.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about starting a company through a venture studio, what would it be?

Get clear not only on what you want to build, but on who you want to be if it works. If you’re acquired, do you want to stay, and in what role? Are you and your team aligned on what an exit means, especially if your IP is tied to a lifetime of research? In deep tech, those “then what” questions are as important as the “what” and the “why.” The founders who work through that early are the ones best positioned to thrive in a studio model.