Meet the newest 10 local companies joining mana up's cohort 9!
The latest group to join the Hawai‘i product company accelerator includes three businesses from Maui. Also: a Hawaii accelerator roundup!
Children’s clothing brand Alikaleo Park might be new, but the husband-and-wife team behind it have a long legacy of creating Hawaii-made clothing. Alikaleo Park was launched by Alx and Sarah Kawakami, whose family established alohawear company Iolani Sportswear in 1953.
Children’s clothing brand Alikaleo Park might be new, but the husband-and-wife team behind it have a long legacy of creating Hawaii-made clothing. Alikaleo Park was launched by Alx and Sarah Kawakami, whose family established alohawear company Iolani Sportswear in 1953.
Ever since she was a child, Karli Rose Wilson has had very sensitive skin. Things as common as laundry detergent, soap, and perfume would trigger migraines or have her breaking out in hives.
For Roselani Aiwohi, her first steps in creating what eventually became her clothing company, Waiwaolani, was never intended as a business venture. Instead, it simply started as a way to help out an acquaintance.
Bizia Surf, a specialty surfboard retailer, first began as an initiative to put invasive albizia trees to new uses.
Kauai Hemp Co. launched in 2019, “with the goal of ushering in a new wave of agriculture in Hawaii by sustainably growing certified organic hemp and crafting premium CBD products,” said Judiah McRoberts, the company’s president.
As founder Kapua Browning tells it, Honua Skincare was born from a desire to combine her passions for skincare, Hawaiian culture and healing botanicals.
Janice Leilani LaFontaine said her company, Farm to Fudge, was born out of her own health challenges as she battled an autoimmune disease.
For marketing executive Jina Wye, seaweed has always been a big part of her diet. So when she first came up with the idea for Sea Crunchies, she said her initial goal was to reimagine some of her favorite seaweed snacks from her childhood.
Although Oahu-based artist Kris Goto launched her business just a few years ago, she’s been creating art as long as she can remember.
The Hawaii Ulu Cooperative was established in 2016, created by nine Hawaii Island farmers in an effort to “address our shared need for market development and value-added processing,” as CEO Dana Shapiro tells it.