EAST MEETS WEST

SAVE THE DATE – APRIL 8-9, 2026

Mark your calendars! East Meets West, Hawai‘i’s premier startup event, returns on April 8-9, 2026 in Honolulu. Join us for more innovation, networking, and big ideas as we bring together investors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders from across the Asia-Pacific and U.S. Stay tuned for speaker announcements, agenda updates, and ticket info—coming soon!

For sponsorship inquiries please contact [email protected]

Missed EMW 2025 or want to relive the magic?

Catch all the sessions and highlights on our YouTube channel — full recordings now available!

Welcome and Introductions

How Blue Startups and local leaders are building Hawaii’s innovation ecosystem.

Speakers: Chenoa Farnsworth, Monte McComber, Dane Wicker

Postcards From Hawaii’s Future

Education, sustainability, and generative AI shaping Hawaii’s next chapter.

Speakers: En Young, Gabriel Yanagihara, Tiffany Huynh

Moderated by: Olin Lagon

Next-Gen Engagement in the AI Era

How Gen Z and Gen Alpha are redefining marketing, authenticity, and community.

Speaker: Katie Penn

Moderated by: Liya Safina

AI – The Good, The Bad, and The Hype

What’s real, what’s dangerous, and what’s investable in AI—straight from top minds.

Speakers: Chris Yeh, Brian Bell, Jacqueline Hall

Moderated by: Chenoa Farnsworth

SHŌGUN: An East Meets West Story

Behind the scenes of FX’s hit show Shōgun with Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks.

Moderated by: Maya Rogers

The Perfect Game

The real Tetris story + building a mission-driven life—from gaming to planet-saving.

Speaker: Henk Rogers

Moderated by: Maya Rogers

Startup World Cup Pitch Competition

Top startups compete in the Startup World Cup Finals for a $1M investment prize.

Contestants: Symbrosia, Protosure, Nalu Scientific, Beagle Technology, AI Connect, Skidattl, Maiven Energy, Gloing, Reef AI

Introduction by: John Lim – Pegasus Tech Ventures

Building for Scale: Perspectives from East to West

How leaders across continents scale teams, tech, and impact—without losing soul.

Speakers: Caroline Tran, Zander Brumbaugh, Pamela Ryan

Moderated by: Mark Munoz

Mahalo to Our EMW 2025 Speakers

We want to extend a heartfelt mahalo to all of the incredible speakers who took the stage at East Meets West 2025.

Your thought-provoking insights, engaging stories, and inspirational perspectives helped shape one of our most dynamic conferences yet.

MAHALO EMW 2025 SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

COMMUNITY SPONSORS

Blue Startups Alumni Job Opportunities

Dataplor:

• Outbound Sales Development Representative, Senior Sales Executive – Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) & Geospatial Data (Remote)

Hostfully:

• Mid-Level Quality Assurance Engineer, Senior Backend Developer (Java), Senior Frontend React Developer (Remote)

Instantteams:

• Teams Customer Service Agent (Remote)