Mentors Mahalo, NASA Alumni, HVCA Awards (+ EMW Special Ends Dec 31)

EMW 2026 SUPER EARLY BIRD SPECIAL ENDS DECEMBER 31

Aloha from Blue Startups!

If you’re planning to join us at EMW 2026 (April 8-9, 2026 in Hawaii), now is the time to lock in your ticket. Super Early Bird pricing ends December 31, 2025 and this is the best price you’ll see for Hawaii’s Premier Tech Event.

With Meet the Drapers, Startup World Cup, and more, EMW 2026 will be even bigger and better than past years, with more founders, more investors, more deal flow, and more visibility for Hawaii’s Tech Ecosystem.

Whether you’re a founder, investor, leader, mentor, or ecosystem builder, this is your call to action. You’ve got just a few weeks left in the year to secure your spot at East Meets West 2026 at the lowest rate. Register now! 

MAHALO to our Amazing Mentor Community!

Blue Startups is a mentor-led accelerator program. From Honolulu to San Francisco, from Open House to Demo Day, the heart of our accelerator is its mentors. Each company is paired with a lead mentor who walks alongside them, and every team has access to a network of more than 250 global mentors, reaching from Hawaii and Asia to Silicon Valley.

We hosted our Mentor Party to celebrate this incredible community of mentors, speakers, and supporters who power the Blue Startups accelerator. From thoughtful conversations to new connections, the evening was a reminder of what makes this ecosystem special: people who show up, give back, and invest their time and expertise into the next generation of founders.

To every mentor in the network who gives time, insight, and feedback, THANK YOU.

G-Space Featured by NASA 

Huge news! G-SPACE (Cohort 17) has been featured on NASA for its Microgravity Analytics Tool.

This is a major endorsement from NASA for our Blue Startups alum, led by founder Dr. Ioana Cozmuta. G-SPACE is building a community driven, open access platform that supports students, early career researchers, and experienced investigators alike as they turn data into discovery.

We are incredibly proud to see a Blue Startups company recognized on this level. This is exactly the kind of deep tech aerospace innovation we love to support.

Community

HVCA Entrepreneur Awards

Blue Startups is proud to support the Tech Entrepreneur of the Year award at the  26th Annual Hawaii Entrepreneur Awards by the HVCA.

The Hawaii Venture Capital Association honors founders, investors, operators, and community champions building Hawaii’s innovation economy. From Lifetime Achievement to Student Entrepreneur of the Year, these awards spotlight the individuals and companies whose work is creating opportunity, driving investment, and inspiring the next generation of builders in Hawaii.

If you want to support the community that supports our founders, mark your calendar and be there on February 25, 2026 at Waialae Country Club.