Blogging the Aloha State and Beyond
My last “Civil Geeks” column is a continuation of the previous piece addressing the practical and positive reasons why Hawaii startups often make the leap to the West Coast. In part two, I talk to entrepreneurs about why they decided to head across the ocean. Once settled in San Francisco,...
My latest (and penultimate) column for Civil Beat addresses comments I’ve constantly heard throughout the growth of Hawaii’s nascent innovation economy. When a local startup announces that it’s relocating to Silicon Valley, there are a lot of congratulations but also a few complaints. A startup’s ability to succeed outside Hawaii...
The 16th Annual Hawaii Venture Capital Association Deal of the Year Awards were presented last night at the Waialae Country Club. I was there to support my friend and Smart Yields cofounder Vincent Kimura, who was nominated for — and won! — the award for Cleantech/Agtech Entrepreneur of the Year. While the...
Blue Startups, Hawaii’s first and longest-running technology venture accelerator, is hosting an Open House event at its downtown Honolulu headquarters tomorrow to introduce the members of its latest and largest cohort of early stage startups… including one I co-founded. There are ten companies in this sixth accelerator round, five of them...
You might not think of a YouTube star as being a startup, but for the Big Island-based GVS Accelerator, an online musical comedy series is a promising investment. The GVS Accelerator hit the road earlier this summer in search of its second cohort of companies. But rather than looking for the next hot...
On Sunday, I described the GVS Accelerator as one of Hawaii’s lesser known accelerators. Or at least lesser known on O’ahu, as it is based on Hawaii Island. A event tomorrow night in downtown Honolulu hopes to change that. GVS founder and accomplished Hollywood director David Cunningham is hosting a pau...
If you’ve got a great idea for a hot new startup but say that you haven’t been able to find the right people to pitch, then you’re just not paying attention. Two of Hawaii’s leading startup accelerator programs are again putting out the call for entrepreneurs who might consider applying for...
A locally built app for hungry people in a hurry helps customers order ahead, while also helping businesses find and keep new customers. Dodecki only hit the Apple App Store in March and came out for Android in May, but has already added its 100th restaurant. “It’s really picking up,” says Dodecki cofounder...
Hello, my name is Ryan, and I’m addicted to domain names. It started innocently enough. I had a silly idea for a startup. Obviously, I had to come up with a clever name, and a clever name that wasn’t already taken. When I found that SillyIdeaforaStartup.com was available, obviously I...
Email is a mess. Friends don’t let friends use Evite. (See also: email.) And Facebook event invitations are only slightly less spammy than Facebook game requests. We really should be spending time together in person, so what’s a party planner to do? A new app called Hobnob has a simple answer: invitations via...
Tomorrow in San Francisco, several Hawaii startups (from the Blue Startups and XLR8UH accelerator programs) will take the stage at 500 Startups to pitch their companies in the heart of Silicon Valley. Among them is FlyWire, touting “line of sight” high-definition cameras that are affordable, portable, flexible, and extensible. FlyWire was founded...
It’s been quiet on the Startup Weekend front, with the last Honolulu event held in February and a Maui event in May. But Hawaii will be back in the mix next month as part of the Global Startup Battle, taking place Nov. 14-16. The Honolulu event will take place at BoxJelly in...
The Maui-based technology fund mbloom, cofounded by local entrepreneur Arben Kryeziu and California-based Nick Bicanic, today announced its first two investments: $350,000 each in Flikdate, a real-time video dating service, and Ozolio, a live HD webcam hosting service. The mbloom team definitely knows the companies they’re investing in well: Bicanic is the founder and CEO...
The first Startup Weekend Honolulu of 2014 wrapped up tonight at The Box Jelly, with the final pitches and judging closing out 54 hours of creativity and entrepreneurial activity. And the winners are: Honorable Mention: Tidy Panda An app to fix the bad roommate problem, sorting out chores and facilitating...
Last night brought the official launch of IslandFunder, a crowdfunding startup focused specifically on Hawaii projects. The gala event, at Five-O Bar and Lounge in Waikiki, featured Jason Alan, Jahlivity, and Rebel Souljahz. But while it was the coming-out party for the startup, the site already has funding campaigns underway:...
Gibi Technologies, founded by two sisters from Honolulu, is in the running to have its pet-finding gadget and app boosted by the nation’s largest retailer. The Gibi is a waterproof, rugged yet lightweight GPS device and accompanying mobile app to track lost pets. And the device has already persevered to...
Startup Weekend Honolulu went down over a 54-hour jam session in Kakaako, in conjunction with other Startup Weekend events happening around the world. The goal? To pitch, design, code and launch a startup in less than three days. The event was hosted at The Greenhouse Innovation Hub on Auahi Street. On...
Honolulu-born web entrepreneur Eric Nakagawa is back in town, laying the groundwork for his next internet startup with partner Joyce Kim. Called “Simple Honey,” there are few details on what exactly what the company will do, although Nakagawa has described it as a “high profile travel project.” The “About” page tagline reads, “Making...
After over two years of development, Hawaii-based Blue Lava Technologies has finally released iLovePhotos, its desktop photo organization and sharing application for the Mac. The launch comes on the heels of the company’s well-received debut at DEMOfall in San Francisco, a leading launchpad for startups. Here are a few of...
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