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Chenoa Farnsworth

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Here is Blue Startups' Demo Day 2026 highlight reel! 🎥

NatureMe. Nice Industries. Trajectory. The Travel Nanny. Paws Abroad. CivicNexus. Pacific Hybreed. Lu'uLive. Manai. LessCAD (Matter Manifest). Wander. LaunchDetect.

12 startups from Cohort 18. More than 250 of you in the room at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox for the capstone event of Hawaii Tech Week.

Mahalo to Italo Robinson at Repeak Media for the reel, to our Demo Day sponsor Vensure Employer Solutions, and to all our Hawai’i partners.

Mahalo for supporting Blue Startups! 💙 taken in Entrepreneurs Sandbox by @cfarnswo

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13 days ago

Blue Startups Demo Day was a huge success!

More than 250 of you came out to cheer and support the founders in Cohort 18. Thank you for showing up and bringing the energy.

12 founders took the stage at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox for the capstone event of Hawaii Tech Week. Here is the Cohort 18 line up:

🐾 Marisa Hoskins, Paws Abroad

🎟️ Jessica Greenwalt, Nice Industries

🎮 Justin Bailey, Trajectory

🌿 Lama Masri, NatureMe

🏛️ Seiichi Nagai, CivicNexus

🦪 Melissa DellaTorre, Pacific Hybreed

👶 Beverly Yip, The Travel Nanny

🤿 Matthew Feeley, Lu'uLive

🧘 Frank Schmidt, Manai

⚙️ Bryan Wan, LessCAD (Matter Manifest)

🧭 Vincenzo Mazzoni, Wander

🚀 Justin Kellum, LaunchDetect

The Blue Startups Team: Chenoa Farnsworth, Maya Rogers, Henk Rogers, David Holt, Alexi Drouin, and Rustin Katsura are so proud of all 12 of you!

If a company caught your attention, please reach out. All 12 from Cohort 18 are listed in our startup gallery: https://lnkd.in/gRxpFWRe

Mahalo to our Demo Day sponsor, Vensure Employer Solutions. VensureHR is a workforce partner helping growing companies navigate payroll, HR, benefits, compliance, and the challenges that come with scaling a team.

Mahalo to HTDC (Hawaii Technology Development Corporation), Hawaii Tech Week, Hawaii Angels, and VToku for helping make this event possible and successful. Mahalo to our community of investors, mentors and leaders for showing up to support our founders.

Thank you for supporting Blue Startups!

💙💙💙 taken in Entrepreneurs Sandbox by @cfarnswo

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16 days ago

So proud of my little @parkerschoolhawaii ! It has grown and is thriving - went home to the Big Island to celebrate its 50 year anniversary! So grateful to see old friends and reconnect with a place and time that meant so much to me. Imua! by @cfarnswo

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21 days ago

Surf's up! 🏄‍♀️ Cohort 18 paddles out today...

12 companies pitch at Blue Startups Demo Day, the capstone of Hawaii Tech Week. Startups in travel, gaming, AI, ocean tech, sustainability, and more.

The lineup is ready to take off and ride the wave. 🌊

Paws Abroad - Marisa Hoskins and Adrian Hoskins
Nice Industries - Jessica Greenwalt
Trajectory - Justin Bailey, Ben Brostoff, and Reece Denzel
NatureMe - Lama Masri and Evan Rapoport
CivicNexus - Seiichi Nagai and Pierce Young
Pacific Hybreed - Melissa DellaTorre
The Travel Nanny - Beverly Yip
Lu'uLive - Matthew Feeley
Manai - Frank Schmidt
LessCAD (Matter Manifest) - Bryan Wan
Wander - Vincenzo Mazzoni and Kayla Scheffler
LaunchDetect - Noah Thompson and Justin Kellum

Demo Day capacity and registration is waitlist only.

Blue Startups Cohort 18 Honolulu Demo Day
📅 Friday, September 4, 3:00 to 6:00 PM
📍 Entrepreneurs Sandbox, 643 Ilalo St, Honolulu
🔗 https://luma.com/r4pzlr4z - (Waitlist) taken in Entrepreneurs Sandbox by @cfarnswo

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25 days ago

35 Hawaii Angels are coming to Blue Startups Demo Day tomorrow at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox as the capstone of Hawaii Tech Week.

That is not a coincidence. In February 2002, almost 25 years ago, Rob Robinson and Chenoa Farnsworth co-founded Hawaii Angels.

Ten years later, in 2012, Chenoa cofounded Blue Startups with Henk Rogers and Maya Rogers. The two organizations share a common goal and mission.

Last year, Hawaii Angels invested in Abra Hospitality and Olelo Intelligence from Cohort 18. This year, we already invested in Pacific Hybreed.

Hawaii Angels is an investor network with 75+ local angels and VCs who have deployed over $75M into startups in Hawaiʻi and beyond since 2002.

Blue Startups Cohort 18 Honolulu Demo Day
📅 Friday, September 4, 3:00 to 6:00 PM
📍 Entrepreneurs Sandbox, 643 Ilalo St, Honolulu
🔗 https://luma.com/r4pzlr4z - Free (Waitlist)

Mahalo to Joey Katzen, Chenoa Farnsworth, David Holt, Clif Purkiser, Alexi Drouin, and Rob Robinson for building the path these founders walk in on.

Will be there. 🤙

Johnny Chankhamany, Katherine Cho, Mike Curtis, Tim Dang, Paul Dumais, Miki Hardisty, David Hijirida, John Hoegger, Stefan Holzer, Cal Jones, Lane Kawaoka, Brian Kirsch, Lyle Kosinski, Mark Munoz, Brandon Park, Pamela Ryan, Liya Safina, Iven Sugai, Josh Sullivan, Michelle Dumais, Jennifer Veltri Kirsch, Dr. Kate Schmidle, and Dan Frederick. taken in Entrepreneurs Sandbox by @cfarnswo

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a month ago

Hawaii Tech Week has started 🚀 with the Executive Forum at the world-renowned Halekulani Hotel. A curated room and event of speakers and ~100 leaders at the cutting edge of tech in Hawai’i. taken in Halekulani Hotel by @cfarnswo

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a month ago

@cfarnswo talks about needing to speak up taken in Honolulu, Hawaii by @cfarnswo

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a month ago

Happy Birthday, Chenoa! Here is what we believe... Hawaiʻi would not have a tech industry without her.

Chenoa Farnsworth cofounded Hawaii Angels in 2002 with Rob Robinson, and Blue Startups in 2012 with Maya Rogers and Henk Rogers. For 24 years she has been building the tech industry here in Hawai’i. Her personal mission is to put female founders on the stage, here in Hawaiʻi and around the world.

This past year alone:

- East Meets West 2026 was the biggest event yet. 500+ attendees, 150+ founders, 70+ investors, 50+ speakers.
- Chenoa took the Meet the Drapers stage with Tim Draper and Marc Benioff, and the room gave her a roaring ovation.
- She hosted the women's breakfast at EMW with Ashley Lukens, with over 100 women leaders from all over the world.
- Her episode on The HumanizeHer Podcast with Erica Lockheimer went viral with almost 500,000 views on YouTube.
- And she just launched Cohort 18, 12 companies out of +800 applications, to pitch at Demo Day at Hawaii Tech Week.
- Most importantly, she was awarded the world famous Hawaii Angels Cup for her lifetime of contributions :)

Mahalo from the team, David Holt and Alexi Drouin, and from the entire Blue ʻOhana, all the founders, mentors, and investors building alongside her.

Have an amazing day, Chenoa.
Mahalo! 💙 taken in Honolulu, Hawaii by @cfarnswo

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2 months ago

🎉✉️ the most excited I've ever been to receive an email and to get into anything 💖

Last month, I applied to Blue Startups with Nice Industries. This month, Nice was one of seven companies selected for investment as part of Cohort 18 🎉

Blue Startups backs founders who are building businesses that make a positive impact on the people they serve, the people they employ, and the communities they're part of.

And they're dedicated to creating economic opportunity for Hawaii!

My family is from Hawaii, and it's a place that deeply shaped who I am. So much of how I think about community, balance, and generosity comes from that part of my identity.

I can't think of a more perfect organization to support me and Nice at this stage of our journey.

✈️ I’m packing my bags and flying to Hawaiʻi, where we’ll be hosting Nice People at a spectacular home in one of Honolulu’s most iconic high-rises. It’s one of the many experiences we’re creating to celebrate community builders, social impact leaders, and the people who believed in us from the beginning.

Thank you Blue Startups, Chenoa Farnsworth, David Holt, Maya Rogers, Henk Rogers, for believing in us. I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity. 🌺 taken in Honolulu, Oahu Hawaii by @cfarnswo

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2 months ago

by @cfarnswo

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2 months ago

Okay, Tetris fans, try not to go crazy! 🕹️

I was definitely holding back my inner fan moment today.

I had the incredible opportunity to visit the headquarters of Tetris for an amazing lunch meeting with the CEO and President of Tetris, Maya Rogers and a wonderful prior HumanizeHer podcast guest, Chenoa Farnsworth, co-founder of Blue Startups whom I first met in Hawai'i for our gathering and she has become a phenomenal person I’m getting to know even more.

She and her co-founder, Maya, are doing absolutely amazing work with Blue Startups for Hawai'i and beyond, and they are bringing up new ideas that are even more exciting!

🤓Some learnings to share with you all:

The Power of Connection 🤝
The beauty of this whole experience is how it came together. I first met Chenoa back in March when I wanted to build community in Hawai'i, and she has been so helpful in connecting me with so many people and helping me connect further. Thank YOU Chenoa .

Today was supposed to be just a casual lunch between her and I, but she completely surprised me by bringing Maya along. What an absolute gift! 🎁

🌺Keeping it Real
The luncheon was amazing. We kicked things off by getting to know each other through our family stories which there are plenty, making it highly entertaining, of course. Lots of laughs and get this moments. 🤣

I absolutely loved how quickly we were able to keep it real before transitioning over to the business side of things.

I am so incredibly thankful to be invited into this community, and I'm looking forward to getting to know this community even more and supporting the amazing work they are doing.

💬The Takeaway:
Here’s to the power of networking and the unexpected. I think the lesson here is: when you focus on giving back and don't expect anything in return, that is exactly when the true magic happens. ✨

💡And yes, I definitely need to have Maya on the podcast next! 🎙️ by @cfarnswo

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2 months ago

Blue Startups Cohort 18 starts soon... Meet the two people running it.

Chenoa Farnsworth co-founded Blue Startups in 2012 and leads the firm as Managing Partner. 17 cohorts later: 150+ portfolio companies, $1B+ in follow-on capital, and a Top 20 US accelerator ranking from TechCrunch.

David Holt is Blue Startups' Program Director. Each founder's 12 weeks in the accelerator run through him: every event, class, and session, plus the 250+ mentor network, office hours, all the way to Demo Day.

And of course, none of it exists without Henk Rogers and Maya Rogers, who co-founded Blue Startups with Chenoa Farnsworth. The team behind Tetris bet on Hawaiʻi founders and startups more than 14 years ago.

Up next... a new cohort of founders here on Oʻahu. Follow Blue Startups, Chenoa Farnsworth, David Holt, and Alexi Drouin for more behind-the-scene content on our Cohort 18 startups as we announce them. taken in Honolulu, Hawaii by @cfarnswo

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3 months ago