Fellows mentioned in this story: Meli James, Cohort VII

From Hawai‘i Business Magazine:

Consumer products accelerator Mana Up is unveiling its seventh cohort of Hawai‘i companies this week. The 11 startups feature a diverse range of locally made products, from hand sanitizers to mushroom “superfoods.”

Mana-Up co-founder Meli James says it was another record-breaking year, with 135 applicants. Normally, the accelerator chooses 10 companies for each cohort, but it’s exceeded that in each of the past two years. Last year’s sixth cohort featured 12 companies.

“It’s been really wonderful to see not only the caliber of companies, but also the number of companies that started during the pandemic,” says James. She says a quarter of them started in the last 12 to 18 months.

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