Beyond the Hub: How Do We Build an Ecosystem Where Startups Flourish?
- Date
- 2026.10.06
- Time
- 16:35 - 17:00
- Location
- Knowledge Theater（ KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL ）
Innovation hubs and startup support programs are expanding around the world. Yet buildings and programs alone do not necessarily create sustainable ecosystems in which startups continuously emerge, grow, and contribute to new industries.
In this session, Tim Rowe, who has helped build innovation hubs and communities around the world, and Carole Tran, who connects Japan’s deep-tech ecosystem with international networks, will explore what it takes to move beyond the physical hub and translate innovation into tangible outcomes—from startup creation and research commercialization to global growth and industry formation.
How can research, capital, talent, corporations, communities, and global markets be connected as a functioning system? By examining both the potential and the limitations of innovation hubs, the session will explore how deep-tech ventures can move from the laboratory to the market—and ultimately to the world.
Tim Rowe
CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center)
- Biography
Tim Rowe is the founder and Executive Chairman of CIC, a global leader in building and operating innovation campuses globally, focused on supporting the growth of startups and entrepreneurs. Since 1999, he has grown CIC from a single 2,700 SF location in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts to a global company that manages nearly 2 million square feet of shared workspace, wet labs, and event space. Among the notable organizations that spent their early days at CIC are Android and HubSpot. Rowe currently serves as the chair of Venture Café Global Institute, and was the founding chair of LabCentral, MassRobotics, and the first president of the Kendall Square Association.
Rowe holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a BA from Amherst College. He speaks fluent English, Spanish, Japanese, and basic Mandarin Chinese.
Carole TRAN
Hello Tomorrow Japan
- Biography
Born and raised in France, Carole studied Japanese language and business before making Japan the center of her professional journey.
Having been based in Japan for the past three years, she first led the development of the Japanese branch of a French tech startup. For over a year and a half, she has represented Hello Tomorrow Japan, where she fosters connections between the Japanese and international Deep Tech ecosystems.
Driven by the belief that innovation thrives through collaboration, her mission is to build bridges between Japan and the rest of the world, with a particular focus on strengthening ties between Japan and Europe, two dynamic and highly complementary innovation ecosystems.