内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2026/coffee-town-meets-its-matcha-robots-help-power-ex-axon-leaders-seattle-beverage-startup-vale/

内容总结：

从执法设备到抹茶帝国：前Axon总裁西雅图再创业，计划打造“抹茶版星巴克”

曾为警察制造泰瑟枪和执法记录仪的卢克·拉尔森（Luke Larson），如今将事业重心转向了另一种“能量源”——抹茶。这位前Axon公司总裁正雄心勃勃地计划将他的新品牌Vale，从西雅图起步，打造成一个全国性的饮品帝国，其愿景被形容为“抹茶界的星巴克”。

拉尔森的创业履历不凡。在担任Axon总裁期间，他领导公司销售额从约1亿美元增长至10亿美元，直至2022年因健康原因离职休整。正是在瑞士的两年间歇期，他在家人推荐下首次尝试高品质冷萃抹茶，从此改变了看法。

2025年5月，拉尔森在西雅图南湖联合区开设了首家Vale咖啡馆。与传统的咖啡连锁不同，Vale的扩张策略更为激进：今年夏天将运营23个便携式抹茶吧台，计划年底前扩展到100个，明年达到1000个。公司近期还租赁了原Atomo Coffee的烘焙工厂作为生产空间。

拉尔森的最终野心在于自动化。他计划部署数千台自助抹茶机，放置于办公楼、公寓大厅等场所。这些机器由机械臂操作，从贴标、调配饮料到加盖铝盖全程自动化，提供从经典冷萃抹茶到特调拿铁等10种选择。据亲测，一杯售价7美元的草莓抹茶拿铁口感惊艳，既保留了抹茶风味又避免了咖啡因带来的心悸感。

“其他公司正在离开西雅图，而我们正在投资西雅图。”拉尔森表示，公司计划在未来12个月内再招聘100人，重点吸纳来自星巴克、亚马逊和微软的技术人才。目前Vale拥有73名员工，包括前Axon首席技术官等核心成员，并且公司计划在两年内保持私有状态。

中文翻译：

卢克·拉森过去在Axon公司为执法部门研发泰瑟枪和执法记录仪时，曾因此充满干劲。如今，他对抹茶——这种古老的日本绿茶粉——满怀热情，痴迷者们声称它能带来平静、专注的能量，且没有咖啡带来的紧张感。

拉森的雄心本身就值得关注，他计划将Vale打造成一个诞生于西雅图的饮品帝国——想想星巴克，但换成抹茶——从几家本地咖啡馆和移动吧台起步，扩展到全国范围内的数千台自动化机器网络。

这是他曾经完成过的壮举。作为Axon的总裁，拉森在2022年卸任前，帮助公司销售额从约1亿美元增长到10亿美元。

拉森认为Vale处于消费品、餐饮服务、科技与自动化的交汇点——也是一个从零开始打造事业的机会。

“在其他公司离开西雅图的时候，我们却在投资西雅图，”拉森在Vale位于先锋广场的总部对GeekWire表示，他尤其看好从星巴克、亚马逊和微软等公司招聘技术人才。

从执法记录仪到抹茶吧

拉森在华盛顿州福克斯市长大，曾作为海军陆战队步兵军官两次前往伊拉克服役，并在第一次服役期间因英勇表现被授予铜星勋章（配V字标志）。他于2008年加入Axon，担任公司首批摄像头的产品经理。

2017年，他升任Axon总裁，并帮助这家总部位于亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔的公司，在西雅图建立了重要的工程团队。除了致力于开发有助于缓和警方武力使用的工具和技术外，Axon还因其极客风格的太空主题办公室和独特的招聘策略而在西雅图备受关注。

2022年，拉森因健康问题离开Axon，休了六个月的病假，随后与妻子和三个女儿移居瑞士，进行了为期两年的休假——这段时间让他得以思考人生的下一篇章。

正是在那段时间，拉森在妻子和嫂子的鼓励下第一次尝试了抹茶。他的最初反应并不乐观——他不喜欢。但经人介绍认识了厨师杰弗里·海登后，这位毕业于美国烹饪学院、曾在米其林星级餐厅工作过的大厨让他相信，高品质的冷泡抹茶完全是另一种体验。

拉森带着一个新公司的想法回到西雅图，并于去年推出了Vale，2025年5月在联合湖南区开设了第一家咖啡馆。

虽然第二家咖啡馆正在第一山规划中，但Vale的增长目标更为明确。今年夏天，该公司将运营23个便携式、配备员工的抹茶吧，并计划到年底扩展到100个，到明年达到1000个。为支持这一增长，Vale最近在西雅图市中心以南租下了3.6万平方英尺的生产空间——这里曾是Atomo Coffee的烘焙坊。

海登担任这家初创公司的工艺主管，Vale目前有73名员工，其中约一半是一线抹茶吧工作人员，其余则包括软件工程师、机械工程师和机器人专家。前Axon高管包括首席技术官杰伊·赖茨以及人事与传播主管悉尼·西格梅斯。

作为主要投资者，拉森计划在未来两年内保持公司私有化，之后再寻求外部资本。

他的长期计划涉及机器人。

拉森希望建立一个自动化自助抹茶机网络，他设想这些机器将安装在办公楼、公寓楼以及其他无法支撑传统咖啡馆的空间。

来自机器的抹茶

Vale从日本静冈县采购仪式级抹茶，拉森将这一地区比作太平洋西北地区，它坐落在富士山脚下。海登领导的一个团队开发了一份特色饮品菜单——从经典冷泡抹茶到拿铁，再到季节性创意饮品，如热带主题夏日饮料——通过一个单一的移动应用程序，在咖啡馆、抹茶吧和机器上提供。

在Vale总部旁边，位于第一大道南505号办公楼的大厅里，距离流明球场仅一个街区，放置着一台外观未来主义的抹茶自动售卖机。它表面光滑、边缘圆润，大小相当于一辆小型汽车，触摸屏位于两个磨砂面板之间，面板后露出一个取饮口。

从机器背面窥视，可以看到一只机械臂来回移动。它首先在一个塑料容器上贴上个性化的标签，以匹配顾客输入的信息。接着，从10个自动化出口中选择饮品，注入容器。然后，容器会被盖上类似易拉罐的铝制盖子，最后被放置在窗口供顾客取走。

拉森设想这台机器就像《星际迷航》中的复制器，技术隐于幕后，重点始终放在客户体验上。

“我们想颠覆你对机器能做出什么饮品的预期，”他说。

一杯7美元的草莓抹茶拿铁，经GeekWire品尝，几乎成功做到了这一点。用燕麦奶调味的这款冰镇果味奶油饮品，与我之前用吸管啜饮的传统热、苦抹茶相比，是一个令人惊喜的改变。

拉森希望这种口味同样能吸引越来越多将抹茶视为咖啡替代品的年轻消费者——尤其是偏爱冷饮、且担心咖啡因习惯带来紧张感的年轻饮者。

他相信西雅图是找到这些消费者、并打造服务于他们的团队的合适地点，因为Vale计划在未来12个月内招聘多达100名员工。

“我相信西雅图最好的日子还在前头，”拉森说。“要打造我想建立的那种公司，我认为世界上没有比这更好的城市了。”

英文来源：

Luke Larson used to get a charge out of working on Tasers and body-worn cameras for law enforcement at Axon. Now he’s buzzing over matcha, the ancient Japanese green tea powder that devotees say delivers calm, focused energy without the jitters of coffee.
Larson’s ambition is noteworthy in its own right as he plans to build Vale into a Seattle-born beverage empire — think Starbucks, but make it matcha — scaling from a handful of local cafes and mobile bars to a nationwide network of thousands of automated machines.
It’s a move he’s pulled off before. As president of Axon, Larson helped grow the company from roughly $100 million to $1 billion in sales before stepping down in 2022.
Larson sees Vale as sitting at the intersection of consumer products, hospitality, technology and automation — and a chance to build something from the ground up.
“While other companies are leaving Seattle, we’re investing in Seattle,” Larson told GeekWire from Vale’s Pioneer Square headquarters, where he’s especially bullish on hiring tech talent from companies including Starbucks, Amazon and Microsoft.
Body cams to matcha bars
Larson, who grew up in Forks, Wash., served two tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer and he was awarded the Bronze star with V for valor on his first tour. He joined Axon in 2008 and was product manager for the company’s first cameras.
He rose to president at Axon in 2017 and helped build out the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company’s significant engineering presence in Seattle. Alongside its mission to build tools and technology to help de-escalate police use of force, Axon attracted attention in Seattle for its geeky spaceship-themed office and its unique recruiting tactics.
In 2022, Larson left Axon following a health scare, taking a six-month medical leave before relocating with his wife and three daughters to Switzerland for a two-year sabbatical — time that gave him space to think about his next chapter.
It was during that period that Larson first tried matcha, at the urging of his wife and sister-in-law. His initial reaction wasn’t promising — he didn’t like it. But an introduction to chef Jeffrey Hayden, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who had worked at Michelin-starred restaurants, convinced him that high-quality, cold-served matcha was a different experience entirely.
Larson returned to Seattle with a new company idea, and last year launched Vale, opening its first cafe in South Lake Union in May 2025.
While a second cafe is in the works on First Hill, Vale’s growth target is more pronounced. The company this summer will operate 23 portable, staffed matcha bars with plans to scale to 100 by year’s end and 1,000 by next year. To support that growth, Vale recently leased 36,000 square feet of production space south of downtown Seattle — a space formerly used by Atomo Coffee as a roastery.
Hayden serves as the startup’s head of craft and Vale has 73 employees, roughly half of them frontline matcha bar workers, with the rest split among software engineers, mechanical engineers and roboticists. Former Axon leaders include CTO Jay Reitz and Sydney Siegmeth, head of people and communications.
Larson, who is the majority investor, plans to keep the company private for another two years before seeking outside capital.
His longer-term play involves robots.
Larson wants to build out a network of automated self-serve matcha machines that he envisions in office towers, apartment buildings and other spaces that wouldn’t support a traditional cafe.
Matcha from a machine
Vale sources ceremonial-grade matcha from Shizuoka, Japan, a region Larson likens to the Pacific Northwest, sitting at the base of Mount Fuji. Hayden leads a team that has developed a specialty drink menu — from classic cold matcha to lattes and seasonal creations like a tiki-themed summer drink — served across the cafe, matcha bars and machines through a single mobile app.
Next to Vale’s HQ in the lobby of an office building at 505 First Ave. S., just a block from Lumen Field, sits a futuristic-looking matcha-dispensing machine. With its smooth finish and rounded edges, it’s about the size of a small car, with a touchscreen centered between two frosted panels that reveal a drink-delivery portal.
A peek inside the back of the machine reveals a robotic arm that moves from end to end. First it applies a personalized label to a plastic vessel to match what the customer typed in. Next it fills the container with the drink of choice from a selection of 10 automated taps. The container is then topped with a soda-can-style aluminum lid before it’s placed in the window for retrieval.
Larson envisions the machine as something like a “Star Trek” replicator, where the technology fades into the background and the focus stays on the customer experience.
“We want to shatter your expectation of what can come out of a machine,” he said.
A $7 strawberry matcha latte tasted by GeekWire came pretty close to doing just that. Flavored with oat milk, the iced, fruity, creamy drink was a nice surprise compared to more traditional hot and bitter matcha I’ve previously sipped from a straw.
Larson hopes the taste lands equally well with a generation of consumers increasingly drawn to matcha as an alternative to coffee — particularly younger drinkers who prefer cold beverages and are wary of the jitters that can come with a caffeine habit.
He’s betting Seattle is the right place to find them, and to build the team to serve them, as Vale plans to hire up to 100 people over the next 12 months.
“I believe that Seattle’s best years are ahead of it,” Larson said. “To build the type of company that I want to build, I don’t think there’s a better city in the world.”