Celebrate Hawai‘i’s entrepreneurs with @ManaUp Showcase 2025! 🎟️ Get tickets for the Nov 6 Marketplace at Bloomingdale’s Ala Moana + register for 70+ giveaways at ManaUpShowcase.com 📺 Watch the broadcast on HouseofManaUp.com and shop exclusive Showcase Specials 💸 Save 10% sitewide with code SHOWCASE10 (thru Nov 9)
Blue Startups
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Honolulu, Hawaii 4,892 followers
Accelerate your startup in paradise
About us
Blue Startups is a technology accelerator founded by Henk Rogers, founder of Blue Planet Software (sole agent of Tetris®). Blue Startups concentrates on helping scalable-technology companies in SaaS, travel, and sustainability compete on a global scale. Blue Startups follows the mentor-driven accelerator model, reaching networks in Hawai‘i, Asia and Silicon Valley. Blue Startups is fast becoming a nexus of entrepreneurial activity between Asia and the Continental U.S. We focus recruitment on Asia and the U.S. and are particularly interested in companies addressing both markets. Blue Startups is a member of the Global Accelerator Network, an invite-only community of the world’s most respected organizations that provide startups with the best resources to create and grow their businesses, wherever they are. Startups accepted into a GAN accelerator have access to a variety of exclusive perks including over $1M worth of free services, introductions to a network of investors and access to soft landing spaces worldwide.
- Website
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http://bluestartups.com
External link for Blue Startups
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2012
- Specialties
- Startups, Fundraising, Venture Capital, Accelerators, Travel, Sustainability, Female Founders, and SaaS
Locations
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Primary
Get directions
55 Merchant St., 17th Floor
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, US
Employees at Blue Startups
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Kelly Lees
CEO/CMO/Lecturer/AI + Marketing
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Stanton Monlux
GTM Strategist | Strategic Accounts | Fundraising | Business Development | Sales Team Management | Program Management | Content Marketing | User…
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Dan Freedman
Identities: engineer, founder, investor, mentor, father, partner, friend, pianist, pilot
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Paul Dumais
CTO & Co-Founder at Abra Hospitality | AI Practice Leader at Kealani Solutions
Updates
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Cohort 17 making waves! Abra was featured in Luxury Travel Advisor with an article titled "The Tech Driven Personalization Hoteliers and Advisors Desperately Need Finally Arrives". Read more at the link below. https://lnkd.in/eTB5tYaT
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A short customer story from Blue Startups Cohort 16 alum EKOS.AI showcasing the power of having an AI community manager. Interested in learning more? Contact Melis Dural, Founder & CEO of EKOS.AI.
Founder & CEO at EKOS.AI | AI-Powered Community Management & Engagement Platform | Backed by Techstars
A short story... DM me if you want to learn more. 💡 When Sophie’s Customer Network Started Running Itself — and Showing Her What Was Missing Sophie managed a 2,000-member customer network — events, resources, and chapters to keep everyone connected. Every week was a scramble: reminders, tagging content, trying to guess what people needed next. Then she turned on her AI community manager. By the following week, it was already: 🔹 Sending personalized event reminders to the right segments 🔹 Recommending resources based on engagement 🔹 Guiding members toward relevant chapters and discussions 🔹 Highlighting the top searches with no existing resources or chapters — revealing exactly what to create next Sophie launched three new chapters and uploaded two guides based on those insights. Engagement jumped 40%. Automation didn’t just save her time — it made her community smarter. It turned noise into signals, and signals into strategy. That’s the power of intelligent community management. 👏
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Full house of 2,000+ at the Startup World Cup Grand Finale 2025. Cohort 16 alumni and portfolio company Maiven Energy (led by Jacqueline Hall) delivered a killer presentation. Amazing to watch our founders flourish post-program. 🙌 #BlueStartups #StartupWorldCup
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Know an entrepreneur making an impact in Hawai‘i? Nominations are now open for the 26th Annual Hawai‘i Entrepreneur Awards! Celebrate the innovators and visionaries building a stronger Hawai‘i. Nominate today at HVCA.org
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Relive the energy of Cohort 17’s Demo Day at Honolulu Tech Week! Watch our founders share their vision, growth, and next big steps on stage in front of Hawaiʻi’s thriving startup community. From bold ideas to inspiring stories of resilience, this Demo Day embodies what it means to build with aloha. Watch full recording ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gaG3VZ6J Honolulu Tech Week Hawaii Technology Development Corporation Entrepreneurs Sandbox
Blue Startups Cohort 17 Demo Day Honolulu
https://www.youtube.com/
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At #SFTechWeek, the East Meets West Venture Panel by Blue Startups showed the world what happens when innovation flows across the Pacific from Hawaiʻi to Silicon Valley to Asia and beyond. From Maya Rogers (Tetris) to Holly Liu (Kabam), Chris Yeh (Blitzscaling), Nobu Morita (NEC X), and Casey Lau (Web Summit)—the insights on venture investing across the Pacific were world-class. Huge mahalo to Digital Garage for hosting us, and to the standing-room-only crowd who showed up. Momentum is only building as we look ahead to East Meets West 2026 in Honolulu on April 8-9. TECH WEEK by a16z
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Blue Startups is excited to host the “East Meets West Venture Panel,” an event at TECH WEEK by a16z We’re bringing leaders from Hawaiʻi, Japan, and Silicon Valley to talk about how innovation, capital, and culture move across the Pacific. Speakers 🎮 Maya Rogers — CEO, Tetris 💡 Nobu Morita — Venture Builder, NEC X 🎯 Holly Liu — Co-Founder, Kabam & PKO Investments ⚡ Chris Yeh — Co-Founder & Author, Blitzscaling Ventures 🎙 Moderated by Casey Lau — EVP Asia Pacific, Web Summit 📍 DG717 Digital Garage, San Francisco 🗓 Tuesday, Oct 7 | 1:30–4:00 PM PT 👉 Register: https://lnkd.in/g7Px3qYw #SFTechWeek #EastMeetsWest #BlueStartups #Startups #Venture #HawaiiTech #JapanTech
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🎤 Pitch perfect in Palo Alto! Our founders brought the energy, the innovation, and the aloha spirit to Demo Day 🌺🚀 Big mahalo to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for hosting us in your beautiful space, and to everyone who came out to support our cohort. Your presence made it unforgettable. 🙌 #BlueStartups #DemoDay #StartupLife #HawaiiToTheBay #AlohaTech