{"id":116702,"date":"2020-04-24T09:28:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T19:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=116702"},"modified":"2021-04-08T18:25:21","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T04:25:21","slug":"mentorship-coaching-funding-uh-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/24\/mentorship-coaching-funding-uh-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn about mentorship, coaching, funding for UH<\/abbr> startups"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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UH<\/abbr> Ventures Accelerator’s spring 2020 cohort.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three programs are coming together for University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> students, faculty, staff and alumni interested in making their innovative visions come to life.<\/p>\n

HATCH, Purple Prize and UH<\/abbr> Ventures Accelerator provide participants with mentorship, education and funding. For the first time, these accelerators are participating in combined, virtual information sessions on April 28 and May 27, 12–1:30 p.m. Visit this website to register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“This is a great opportunity for participants to learn about incubators and accelerators, meet past cohort entrepreneurs and ask questions of the organizers—all in one place,” said Steve Auerbach<\/strong>, interim director of the UH<\/abbr> Office of Innovation and Commercialization<\/a>. “With today\u2019s current events, innovation and entrepreneurship will play a significant role in helping to restart and reshape our post-COVID-19 world.”<\/p>\n

HATCH<\/h2>\n

HATCH<\/a> is the world\u2019s first aquaculture accelerator program focused on developing sustainable aquaculture startups. Three sites will host this fall\u2019s cohort, including a Natural Energy Laboratory of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Authority (NELHA<\/abbr>) location in Kailua-Kona on Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island. The other two sites are in Norway and Singapore. Approximately 10 worldwide startups will be selected to participate in the 15-week program and will receive up to $130,000 in funding. Funds are provided by the HATCH Fund, UH<\/abbr> Ventures, NELHA<\/abbr> and Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Technology Development Corporation.<\/p>\n

Purple Prize and (K)new Futures Challenge<\/h2>\n

What started as a dream to offset carbon emissions by planting ʻulu<\/span> or breadfruit trees<\/a> quickly turned into reality for a UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa graduate student, thanks to resources provided by the (K)new Futures Challenge<\/a>. Led by Purple Prize<\/a>, in partnership with the Purple Maiʻa<\/span> Foundation<\/a> and the UH<\/abbr> Office of Indigenous Innovation, the program deploys “ancestral practices in contemporary contexts to optimize impacts that strengthen regional resilience,” according to Kamuela Enos<\/strong>, director of the UH<\/abbr> Office of Indigenous Innovation. Selected participants will be led through a multi-week program where they will develop a prototype, while concurrently being immersed and instilled with a deep understanding of Hawaiian cultural principles and ethics.<\/p>\n

Established in 2016, Purple Prize empowers the people of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to create technology startups rooted in Hawaiian values. While the Purple Prize competition is open to everyone, the (K)new Futures Challenge focuses on UH<\/abbr> students.<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> Ventures Accelerator<\/h2>\n

The Â鶹´«Ã½Ventures Accelerator<\/a> is designed to mentor, educate and fund early-stage, UH<\/abbr>-affiliated ideas. Powered by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship at the Shidler College of Business at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, the 12-week program provides education, resources and potential funding for startups that qualify. Five projects were selected for its spring 2020 cohort<\/a> and four addressed challenges related to COVID-19. According to Auerbach, accepted cohort companies are eligible for equity investment from UH<\/abbr> Ventures, LLC and may join the UH<\/abbr> Ventures portfolio companies, which UH<\/abbr> has been supporting and investing in since 2014.<\/p>\n

Auerbach said all three programs “inspire cross-disciplinary collaboration, foster the development of novel and innovative ideas and solutions for Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s challenges and create more opportunities to impact Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n