Boost isle startup ecosystem to bring kamaaina back home

Around this time of year, lots of kamaaina come home. The trek usually involves the younger generation returning to visit parents and grandparents, aunties and uncles.

The holidays are happy times, but for those visiting for a fleeting few days or weeks, they also can be a bittersweet reminder of a home close to the heart yet still so far — at least, that’s how I felt in the 10 years that I lived away. The job opportunities were just better on the mainland. What finally brought me home was a startup.

Startups and innovation- related businesses are the principal drivers of growth in today’s global economy. With all the momentum that’s been building in our local startup ecosystem of accelerators, investment funds and entrepreneurial events, Hawaii is poised to benefit from this trend. Fittingly, kamaaina who came home are leading the charge.

Take Tina Fitch, who grew up on the Big Island and worked abroad after college. She already has launched and left one venture, Switchfly, growing it from a local software company into a global platform based in San Francisco and used by top travel and hospitality brands.

“When I started getting into the tech field, it seemed like the perfect industry to bring back home, so that in the future people like me wouldn’t have to leave this place that they loved in order to pursue professional opportunities,” Fitch says.

Now she’s back home again and has launched her second venture. Hobnob takes all the hassle out of organizing for any occasion by creating beautiful invitations delivered by text and a mobile platform for sharing pictures and messages before, during and after the event. In less than two years, Hobnob has attracted attention and investment from distinguished mainland venture capital firms while still maintaining its Hawaii home base with a team of 10.

Another kamaaina to come home in the startup space is David Cunningham. A successful filmmaker, Cunningham returned to his native Kona and in 2014 founded GVS Transmedia Accelerator. Incubating projects statewide, the accelerator has become a hub for film and digital media collaboration. The converted warehouse space includes a green screen, full sound studio, a gigabit hub for remote collaboration and high-speed file transfers, and even a stunt school next door. GVS recently announced that one of its graduates, a feature film project starring leading Hollywood actors, has wrapped principal photography on the Big Island. The film is also being edited and produced there.

“This project has put to work dozens of local people, giving them opportunities to work on a Hollywood-level film in high-level production positions,” Cunningham says.

Hawaii should be proud of kamaaina who’ve come home and are helping our startup economy grow. The state has supported these early champions by funding the startup ecosystem. Fitch met her Hobnob co-founders (also kamaaina) while mentoring at Blue Startups, a public-­private venture between the HI Growth Initiative and private investors. Cunningham’s accelerator is a similar public-private venture that also includes Hawaii County as a partner.

Coming home shouldn’t be something kamaaina do only for the holidays. We ought to do everything we can to inspire kamaaina to bring their valuable experiences home to launch new businesses and help grow the number of high-wage jobs for the next generation. Continuing to invest in the startup ecosystem might help some kamaainas’ holiday wishes come true.

Companies looking for talented kamaaina with technology skills are invited to participate in the annual Holiday Tech Job Fair on Dec. 28 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Japanese Cultural Center’s Manoa Grand Ballroom.

Visit 808ne.ws/2i93jSW.

Sara Lin, formerly a journalist in New York, Los Angeles and Honolulu, is now an associate with the Hawaii Strategic Development Corp. Reach her at sara.n.lin@hawaii.gov.