Fellows mentioned in this story: Meli James

From Pacific Inno:

The last few weeks of 2023 were busy ones for Mana Up.

In mid-November, it wrapped Cohort 8, the most recent in its six-month product accelerator program, culminating in the annual Showcase event highlighting the participating businesses. A few days after that, Mana Up headed to Japan to hold a Hawai‘i-themed pop-up retail shop at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The pop-up, called the Aloha Market powered by Mana Up, was hosted in collaboration with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, as well as Japan Airport Terminal Co., CPB Foundation, Ulupono Initiative, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and Hawai‘i Tourism Japan. The shop ran for two weeks and featured Mana Up companies along with other popular locally based brands.

In more recent Mana Up news, it announced last week that it is seeking applicants for its next cohort.

Launched in 2017, Mana Up aims to help local companies scale globally while expanding economic opportunities in Hawai‘i. In addition to its accelerator program, Mana Up manages a venture capital fund that supports Hawai‘i-based businesses and has a retail arm, House of Mana Up, comprised of brick-and-mortar shops that sell products from alumni companies.

Pacific Business News caught up with co-founder Meli James to chat about Mana Up’s recent activities and what’s ahead. Here's what she had to say, edited for length and clarity.

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