The state will be hosting a free event for entrepreneurs at the state Capitol today. Startup Entrepreneur Day is open to the public and will include a tech fair featuring local businesses.

The fair will be held between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Capitol. Preselected businesses will participate in a “shark tank,” with state lawmakers as the sharks, between noon and 1 p.m. in Room 309. (A shark tank is an exercise by which founders of a company pitch their business idea to a panel of potential investors.)

The event is being put on by High Technology Development Corp., a state agency supporting Hawaii’s commercial technology industry; and Startup Paradise, a collaboration of Hawaii’s startup boot camps and investors.

Robbie Melton, who heads the High Technology Development Corp., said the event provides networking opportunities to local businesses not featured in the tech fair or shark tank.

“It is a chance to celebrate entrepreneurship, learn from the companies presenting and to hear what is important to the legislators,” she said.