Accelerator and Small Business Training programs can help launch your tech company providing in depth training, mentoring and a modest investment. Hawaiʻi is home to nationally recognized accelerator programs, each with different entry requirements and focus.
Oct 17, 2025 – New FY26 Funding Opportunity, RFP-26-002-HTDC Accelerator & Small Business Training (BUSINESS PROGRAMS). This opportunity is for organizations who are operating cohort structured accelerator and small business training programs designed to support and mentor startups in HTDC priority areas of interest.
RFP Funding Notice visit website: https://hands.ehawaii.gov/hands/opportunities/opportunity-details/26244
Current awardees for FY25 may visit this online portal for mid-term & final reporting.
Hear the Stories
Check out our video series on Hawaiʻi News Now with one on one conversations with local businesses and their experience with the accelerator program.
HTDC Supported Accelerators
The following is a list of various Accelerators and Small Business Training programs available to local companies and that HTDC has supported with funding:
Blue Startups
Blue Startups is a Top 20 Accelerator in the US (Techcrunch) focused on helping scalable-technology companies compete globally. Blue Startups aims to stimulate economic growth in Hawaiʻi and create new business opportunities by providing promising entrepreneurs with mentorship, access to business expertise, product testing, peer review, pitch development, introductions to investors, and seed funding.
ManaUp
Mana Up’s accelerator is a six-month intensive program designed to uncover high-impact sales opportunities, tackle operational challenges, and develop executive leadership. The program includes weekly workshops, connections to a network of industry experts, guidance in crafting an engaging narrative for expansion, and access to distribution and sales channels.
XLR8HI
XLR8HI has helped Hawai’i residents gain the skills and connections they need to achieve business success in a fun and inclusive environment. Their interactive workshops and programs are designed to accelerate your entrepreneurial mindset, while community events connect you with fellow entrepreneurs and thought-provoking insights from a lineup of innovation and business experts.
Hawaiʻi FoundHer
FoundHer was created by women for women and provides research-tested resources critical to the success of an early-stage wāhine-led business. This program is managed by Purple Mai’a.
BusinessSPACE
MEDB BusinessSPACE accelerates Hawai‘i’s most innovative STEM and Tech entrepreneurs’ entry and growth into the space economy through tailored mentorship, access to government contracting opportunities, and strategies for scaling. MEDB equips companies at any stage with the insight, resources, and direct connections to secure government subscriptions, contracts, and investments. By giving local innovators a competitive edge, BusinessSPACE ensures Hawai‘i’s entrepreneurs play a vital role in advancing national space priorities while building a thriving, resilient economy here at home. This program is managed by MEDB.
Hawaii Wave, Dual Use Incubator
The Hawaii Wave Dual Use Incubator assists mature Hawaii-based companies in transitioning their civilian technologies for strategic applications. This is a program run by PICHTR.
Kuleana AI Lab
This program is a hands-on 10-week guided journey program designed for Kaua’i small business owners in agriculture and consumer packaged goods (CPG). At Kuleana AI Lab we’re dedicated to unlocking the power of artificial intelligence for the community of Kauai. We do research, provide education in various forms, and do AI-related development all to help demystify AI, making it accessible and understandable to everyone from local business owners to curious individuals.
PREVIOUSLY FUNDED PROGRAMS
PACE
The Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE), established in 2000 at the Shidler College of Business, is the central unit that coordinates and offers educational opportunities for entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercialization to students at all 10 campuses of the University of Hawai‘i System (UH). The Center’s comprehensive portfolio of programs offer mentorship, training and resources, and are designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking across disciplines and inspire entrepreneurs to move their ideas from conceptualization to commercialization.
Elemental
Elemental provides funding and in-depth support to promising climate technology startups with social impact potential. Over the past 14 years, Elemental has invested in more than 150 portfolio companies and built a vibrant community of entrepreneurs with world-changing solutions.
Ka Maka ʻĪnana
Design is the foundation that everything we see is built upon, from public service programs, to policy, to architecture, to emerging technologies. Ka Maka ʻĪnana seeks to inform the way we think about and practice design to embed equity and cultural grounding in all of the things that we create.
Quest Accelerator
The Quest Accelerator develops and accelerates critical technologies in the State of Hawaii. This inaugural accelerator program is a center of gravity for innovation in the government and private sector.