Mahalo to the team at XLR8HI and Sultan Ventures for welcoming Pūpūkahi Tech into preX Cohort 11 — and to the fifteen fellow Hawaiʻi companies we learned alongside, from Maui Cocktail Kits to Rootstall to New Leaf Careers.
Five weeks of investment readiness
From mid-June through July, our Executive Director, Alika K. Kāne, represented Pūpūkahi Tech in preX, XLR8HI's virtual investment-readiness program for Hawaiʻi-based businesses.
Over five weeks, the cohort worked through live sessions on AI, business models, and bank financing, plus one-on-one office hours where we sharpened our go-to-market strategy and refined our pitch.
Pitching Pono Proof
The program closed on Sunday, July 19, when Alika pitched Pono Proof — our project building the verification infrastructure that proves where Hawaiʻi-grown products actually come from, starting with Kona coffee — to a panel of investors curated to match our work.
Built with a University of Hawaiʻi student team and partners across the coffee industry, Pono Proof lets any buyer scan a code and see a product's full origin story.
What we brought home
What we brought home matters more than the pitch itself: a clearer story, a sharper strategy, and a stronger network of Hawaiʻi founders building for these islands.
That's what we'll put to work in our programs — technology access, digital education, and fluency in AI, Web3, and cryptocurrency — for the communities we serve.
Mahalo nui to everyone who coached, questioned, and cheered us on.
Outcomes
- ›Completed XLR8HI's preX Cohort 11 alongside fifteen Hawaiʻi companies
- ›Pitched Pono Proof to a curated panel of investors on July 19
- ›Refined go-to-market strategy, pitch, and business model through live sessions and office hours
- ›Expanded our network of Hawaiʻi founders building for these islands
