HONOLULU, HI— On May 3, 2018, the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Shidler College of Business announced the winners of the 2018 UH Business Plan Competition at the Waialae Country Club. Four teams competed for prize packages totaling more than $40,000 in cash and in-kind awards.
The HEI Charitable Foundation and the Hawaiian Electric Companies were the title sponsors. Other sponsors include Convergent Law Group, HiBEAM, Pineapple Tweed and the University of Hawaii Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.
The results are:
FIRST PLACE – Prize package includes $10,000 cash and over $17,600 value in legal and marketing services, and co-working space membership
- Team: Rendezview
- Team members: Alberto Gonzalez Martinez, Dylan Kobayashi, and Ryan Theriot. RendezView is an innovative software solution that creates collaborative meeting environments where multiple users work together in real time with multiple files in the same virtual space from their own devices.
- Team leader contact: Alberto Gonzalez Martinez, agon@hawaii.edu
SECOND PLACE – Prize package includes $5,000 cash and $8,000 value in legal and marketing services
- Team: Rose Gold Gems
- Team members: Kahiau Machado, Kylie Shimada, and Rose Wong Rose Gold Gems is the “Warby Parker” of jewelry, disrupting the luxury jewelry market by offering affordable 14k solid gold, diamonds, and gemstones through a direct to consumer distribution model.
- Team leader contact: Rose Wong, rosewong@hawaii.edu
THIRD PLACE – Prize package includes the $2,500 HiBEAM Bill Richardson Pioneer Prize and $3,000 value in legal and marketing services.
- Team: Swipewrap
- Team members: Tom Knapp-Ramos and Jonathan Uejbe Swipewrap is a software service that enhances the digital gifting user experience with personalized, 3D unwrappable gift boxes, which users can unwrap with their fingers on their smartphone.
- Team leader contact: Tom Knapp-Ramos, tknappra@hawaii.edu
The UH Business Plan Competition (BPC) is an intense, experiential program that provides a platform for University of Hawai‘i students and faculty who seek to learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur and start a business venture. Through the competition, participants practice the art of testing the feasibility of a business idea, developing a business plan, and pitching it to investors.
BPC is one of 20+ programs offered by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) at the Shidler College of Business. PACE offers mentorship, training and resources to all UH students and faculty, and its programs are designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking across disciplines and inspire entrepreneurs to move their ideas from conceptualization to commercialization.
2018 UH Business Plan Competition Finals Recap from Shidler College of Business on Vimeo.
