Mana Up Launches Cohort 5 with 10-Hawai‘i-based Companies

Hawaii Business Magazine will unveil the companies this week online, starting with two today.
Steve Petranik,

Hawai‘i-based consumer product accelerator Mana Up this week announced a diverse mix of local companies in its fifth cohort. The 10 companies based on O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i Island offer products that range from a locally sourced and brewed kombucha to a nontoxic nail polish with a patented formula.

“We’re excited for Cohort 5, as there is an incredible mix of founders, products, and industries that have a lot of potential to grow while being based in Hawai‘i,” says Meli James, co-founder of Mana Up.

The 10 companies will be revealed online this week, with two or three each day, complete with a brief story and video for each.

The program for this cohort will be conducted differently by Mana Up, James says. “We are adjusting our program so that all of our workshop sessions will be conducted over video chat. The goal is to accomplish the magic of the community that comes together in person by facilitating creative ways for our founders to build that camaraderie and trust, as well as be able to absorb the content-filled workshops that are typical of a Mana Up program.”

There will be other differences. “E-commerce and direct to consumer marketing is more important than ever in our current environment,” she says, “so we have increased the amount of content on digital strategies for cohort 5 companies to build their audiences and gain exposure to broader audiences.”

 

 

Here are the companies that made it into Cohort 5:

This article appears in the May 2020 issue of Hawaii Business Magazine.
Categories: Entrepreneurship

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