{"id":118393,"date":"2020-05-13T16:57:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T02:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=118393"},"modified":"2020-05-13T16:57:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T02:57:37","slug":"startups-virtual-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/05\/13\/startups-virtual-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Startups awarded more than $60k in prizes in 1st virtual competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_118400\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118400\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-pono-potions.jpg\" alt=\"headshots of three people\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-118400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-pono-potions.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-pono-potions-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-pono-potions-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-118400\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pono Potions team members<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Innovation and entrepreneurship play a major role in shaping society amid COVID-19. Three startup projects received a big boost thanks to the <a href=\"http:\/\/pace.shidler.hawaii.edu\/uhvc\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> Venture Competition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by the <a href=\"http:\/\/pace.shidler.hawaii.edu\/\">Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship<\/a> (<abbr>PACE<\/abbr>) in the <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Shidler College of Business, the program was held virtually for the first time in its 20-year history. Three teams used their digital prowess to win a share of more than $60,000 in prizes. Hawaiian Electric and the <abbr>HEI<\/abbr> Charitable Foundation were the competition\u2019s title sponsors.<\/p>\n<h2>Competition winners<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First place<\/strong>: <em>Pono Potions<\/em> is a company that manufactures artisanal flavored syrups that are made with locally-sourced ingredients from <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span>. Team members include <strong>Peter Hessler<\/strong> (Travel Industry Management), <strong>Madonna Castro-Perez<\/strong> (law) and <strong>Christilei Hessler<\/strong> (<abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa alumna and attorney). The award is a $10,000 Hawaiian Electric and <abbr>HEI<\/abbr> Charitable Foundation cash prize and more than $23,000 in legal, marketing, design and startup support services.<\/li>\n<li><figure id=\"attachment_118401\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118401\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-manaola-innovations-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"two headshots of people\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-118401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-manaola-innovations-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-manaola-innovations-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-manaola-innovations.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-118401\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Manaola Innovations, Inc. team members<\/figcaption><\/figure><strong>Second place<\/strong>: <em>Manaola Innovations, Inc.<\/em> is a company that designs discreet, adjustable garments that help reduce stress and anxiety. Team members are <strong>Everett Amundson<\/strong> (communicology) and <strong>Kendra Horvath<\/strong> (entrepreneurship, marketing and international business). The prize includes a $5,000 Hawaiian Electric and <abbr>HEI<\/abbr> Charitable Foundation cash prize and more than $15,000 in legal, marketing, design and startup support services.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Third place<\/strong>: <em>What\u2019sFresh!<\/em> is an online marketplace for fresh fish and small-scale agriculture. Team members are <strong>Lauren Pierce<\/strong> (economics) and <strong>Spencer VanDerKamp<\/strong> (management information systems). The prize includes a $2,500 cash award in honor of pioneer Billy Richardson by <abbr>HiBEAM<\/abbr> and more than $8,000 in legal, marketing, design and startup support services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&ldquo;When the pandemic hit, we knew that canceling this competition was not an option. More than ever, our students will need the money and prizes to build their companies,&rdquo; said <abbr>PACE<\/abbr> Executive Director <strong>Peter Rowan<\/strong>. &ldquo;It\u2019s our mission to educate and invest in entrepreneurial thinkers who can find innovative solutions to the problems we\u2019ll face. These students are our future for a resilient <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> Venture Competition gave me the resources and mentorship to lay the foundation for a sustainable business model,&rdquo; said <em>Pono Potions<\/em> President <strong>Peter Hessler<\/strong>. &ldquo;Being able to accomplish this with the help from <abbr>PACE<\/abbr> during a pandemic was the most challenging and fulfilling experience in my life. I will invest the prize money in professional labeling and bottling equipment as we get ready to expand into retail and online stores in the next six months.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>More than 300 viewers tuned into the live stream broadcast of the final event, which was held on May 7. The semester-long competition is made possible thanks to more than 50 business professionals who volunteered their time and energy as coaches, judges and instructors. In addition to the title sponsors, Blue Logic Labs, <abbr>HiBEAM<\/abbr>, Impact <abbr>HUB<\/abbr> Honolulu, Pineapple Tweed, Sultan Ventures and Vantage Counsel provided prizes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uhfoundation.org\/give\/giving-opportunity\/covid-19\">Support the <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> Student Relief fund and COVID-19 research<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_118402\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118402\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-whats-fresh.jpg\" alt=\"two headshots of people\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-118402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-whats-fresh.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-whats-fresh-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/manoa-shidler-pace-whats-fresh-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-118402\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">What\u2019sFresh! team members<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The three startup companies are Pono Potions, Manaola Innovations, Inc. and What\u2019sFresh!.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1411,734,425,146,660,9],"class_list":["post-118393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-covid-19","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-pacific-asian-center-for-entrepreneurship","tag-shidler-college-of-business","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118393"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118416,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118393\/revisions\/118416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}