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The recent CNN Money article ranking Hawaii as one of the top 10 most entrepreneurial states validates that the islands attract and inspire the creative class.
Those close to the local entrepreneurial community have known for some time that Hawaii is a rising star in the startup world. It’s affirming to see it in print.
The ranking validates what we have known for some time: Entrepreneurs today can and will work from anywhere. The recent cohort of Blue Startups confirms that new companies coming out of Hawaii are globally competitive.
Blue Startups is Hawaii’s first venture accelerator, a program that combines an intensive 12-week mentoring program with investment and in-kind services for startup companies.
It was founded by Henk Rogers of Blue Planet Software (sole agent of Tetris), with funding from the state of Hawaii and private investors.
We at Blue Startups are energized to be part of Hawaii’s broader entrepreneurial grassroots movement with co-working spaces, incubators, investors and accelerators nurturing our rising entrepreneurs.
These programs include: Energy Excelerator, Kinetiq Labs, mBloom, Nalukai Foundation, Manoa Innovation Center, Box Jelly, Aloha Startups, Startup Hawaii, HiBEAM, Entrepreneurs Foundation, Sultan Ventures, Upside Fund, Founder’s Institute, and more. The Hawaii business community has rallied around these programs.
More than 50 mentors and experts have volunteered their time with Blue Startups. People have given their time, money and resources to see these programs come to life. As a result, we are beginning to see momentum build in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Hawaii. We are focused on building Hawaii’s reputation as a great place to start a high-growth company — a startup paradise.
At our first Startup Paradise Demo Day — a joint event showcasing the companies of Blue Startups and the Energy Excelerator — 15 promising new companies were presented to investors in Hawaii and Silicon Valley. The response was overwhelming. After operating under the radar in Hawaii, it was rewarding to showcase these companies on a national stage and wow the audience of investors and community members.
We have been focused on two things since launching the accelerator program: working with our companies to provide the very best advice, mentorship and funding for rapid growth; and raising awareness offshore. We live on islands in the middle of the Pacific. This presents benefits as well as challenges.
Countering the positive CNN article, a recent CNBC report came out ranking Hawaii 50th in the nation for business based largely on cost of doing business, cost of living, and infrastructure issues. We still have a lot of work to do to attract and retain innovative businesses.
We talked with entrepreneurship guru Brad Feld (Foundry Group Partner and author of "Building Startup Communities") about raising the level of awareness on what we are doing here in Hawaii to a national and international level. He advised us to be relentless connectors and marketers of our brand. We are working on this, but we need everyone’s help. Because we are so small and geographically isolated, staying on the radar is challenging. But it’s not impossible. If we build world-class companies here, and talk about them relentlessly, more will come.
Positioning Hawaii as startup paradise fosters a general climate that supports entrepreneurs, superseding any one entity or group. If we "own" startup paradise collectively, as a community, that ownership and excitement will transmit across our shores toward a truly global reach. Be part of this momentum and get in touch. Our work has just begun.
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