The Best of Startup Paradise
Profiles of the 25 winners and finalists of the 2020 Hawaii Venture Capital Association's Awards.
Entrepreneurship
Coworking is the New Normal in Hawaiʻi
Less than five years ago coworking was considered to be a “movement” and possibly a trend that many believed would fade away. Fast forward to 2020 and coworking is it’s own industry that has disrupted the framework of office real-estate…
Local, Asian and Mainland Entrepreneurs and Investors Connect at East Meets West
Be prepared for much more than an exchange of business cards when entrepreneurs and investors from Asia and the Mainland meet with local businesspeople for the sixth annual East Meets West conference in Honolulu. “You’ll actually build relationships and have…
Local Businesses With Neighbor Island Headquarters
Who says you need to be based on O‘ahu to make it? These entrepreneurs opted for Neighbor Island headquarters and are expanding their businesses from hyperlocal hubs. The culture of capitalism worldwide has an urban-centric narrative that says to really…
Student Entrepreneurs Honored for Actual Businesses, Not Just Ideas
Anyone who saw Austin Yoshino jogging on Oct. 24 at the UH Mānoa campus while wearing headphones probably assumed he was listening to music or a podcast. He wasn’t: The 21-year-old was listening to his self-recorded practice pitch in preparation…
Climathon Working Locally To Create Global Impact
Local Participation In Honolulu, a diverse group of stakeholders convened to design the first Climathon for Honolulu. The group determined that reducing the human impact of tourism in Honolulu would be a great target area to start. This year, participating…
Purple Prize Honors Innovations Guided by Hawaiian Values
The 12 contestants blended technology and Native Hawaiian values to tackle environmental challenges and the erosion of indigenous identity. At stake: $75,000 in total prize money, the third annual Purple Prize and a chance to help improve Hawai‘i. Alec Wagner,…
Saving Discarded Food to Fight Hunger
Goodr: Startup profile No. 5 covering Elemental Excelerator’s latest cohort. Every year, an estimated 72 billion pounds of edible food ends up in landfills – and Goodr wants to rescue as much of it as it can to feed people…
Jupiter Intelligence Shows Companies How Climate Change Will Impact Them
Startup profile No. 3 covering Elemental Excelerator’s latest cohort. Jupiter Intelligence uses human and artificial intelligence to help companies look into the future and see the potential impact of climate change on their businesses. “The world needs that kind of…
Amply Makes It Easier for Fleets to Convert to Electric Vehicles
Startup profile No. 4 covering Elemental Excelerator’s latest cohort. Amply, part of Elemental Excelerator’s latest cohort, aims to remove one of the biggest challenges that fleet operators face when switching to electric-powered vehicles. “If you’re doing electric-vehicle charging, it’s a…
Elemental Excelerator Announces Its Latest Cohort
Hawaii Business Magazine will profile five of the startups over the next few days Elemental Excelerator, a global clean technology accelerator based in downtown Honolulu, today announced $6 million in funding for the 17 startups that comprise its latest cohort.…
Blue Ocean Barns Fights Climate Change with Seaweed
Startup profile No. 1 covering Elemental Excelerator’s latest cohort. Cattle are a major source of methane, but Blue Ocean Barns says its seaweed-based feed additive for cows will reduce their formation and emission of that powerful greenhouse gas. “Blue Ocean…
Order Food Direct from O‘ahu Farmers
Farm Link Hawai‘i: Startup profile No. 2 covering Elemental Excelerator’s latest cohort. Farm Link Hawai‘i lets stores, restaurants and consumers connect to farmers on O‘ahu, order food and then have it delivered. Farm Link founder Rob…
5 Steps to Being in Business with Your Spouse (Without Getting Divorced)
Family relationships are often challenging, but especially when that family is in business together. And working with your spouse might be the biggest challenge of all, but also the most rewarding. Jean Santos speaks from experience: She and her husband,…
The Enterprising Story of Hawaii’s Blind Vendors
The first shop opened in 1938 and today dozens are owned and operated by entrepreneurs with grit, ingenuity and vision. If you’ve passed through a federal state or county office building or a state airport, you’ve probably seen Hawaii’s enterprising…
28 Companies and Nonprofits Honored at Hawaii Venture Capital Association Awards
Carbon Lighthouse, Shaka Guide and Lanikai Brewing Co. were among 28 people, businesses and nonprofits honored Friday night at the 19th Annual Hawaii Venture Capital Association Awards Gala. The keynote speaker, Elizabeth Burton, chief investment officer for the Employees' Retirement…
The Best of Startup Paradise 2019
28 profiles of entrepreneurs, startups and organizations that were nominated or won awards from the Hawaii Venture Capital Association. HVCA…
Summer Camp for Student Entrepreneurs
The Nalukai Summer Startup Camp is unique. During the intensive 10-day program, Hawaii high school students stay in a student dormitory and learn how to create and launch businesses and products while being mentored by experienced entrepreneurs, Hawaiian practitioners and…
The Next Generation of Hawaiian Designers
A new generation of Hawaiian creative consultants is challenging our expectations for indigenous design. The phrase “Hawaiian design” calls to mind familiar visual tropes: kapa patterns, hula dancers, maybe even (cringe) tiki kitsch. But a new generation of native Hawaiian…
Entrepreneurs & Investors Convene at Annual East Meets West Conference
The fifth annual East Meets West event, organized by Blue Startups, is a two-day conference where entrepreneurs and investors convene – indoors and outdoors Chenoa Farnsworth attends 10 to 15 business and tech conferences across the U.S. and Asia each…
Spotlight on Small Business:
Preparing Your Business for 2019
If you want history to repeat itself, then do nothing and maybe it will. But if you want 2019 to be better for your business than 2018, identify what worked well in the past year and what did not: Consider…
Hawaiʻi's Local Youtube Stars
Young celebrities (and some older ones) understand the path to successful careers in show business, fashion or music looks a lot different than it did a generation ago. They start with video and social media, then branch out in all directions.
Student Invention That Aims to Prevent Stillborn Births Wins Entrepreneur Competition
Nathan Neeley is still a student at Brigham Young University Hawaii but he’s already developed a device that can alert a pregnant woman if something is wrong with her baby. He won first place pitching his company, Rubi, Nov. 8th…
Mana Up Names 2nd Cohort of Hawaii Companies Aiming for Worldwide Growth
The startup accelerator aims to feed the global demand for Island brands. Startup accelerator Mana Up today announced its second cohort of 11 local companies, whose products include coffee, clothing, jewelry and stationery – made with Hawaii themes and inspiration.…