September 11, 2022 at 3:24 PM (HST)
FoundHer, a business accelerator supporting Native Hawaiian and AAPI women entrepreneurs, has announced five women-led businesses for the 2022/23 cohort.
“We are excited to embark on a new year for FoundHer and elevate these five women in the Native Hawaiian and AAPI entrepreneurial community,” said FoundHer Director Darien Siguenza. “We are launching this second cohort of hers to showcase how Hawaii is at the forefront of innovation for equity in her accelerator as we begin to expand beyond Hawaii into the continental United States. I am proud to be able to do it.”
In June 2022, FoundHer invited female business owners across Hawaii to apply for a cohort.The team vetted, met face-to-face with hundreds of applicants, and [Ep-ik] From Haʻa and Co on Molokai Style, Kamuela Gourmet, Island Swim, Kauai, Hawaii. The year before, Foundher’s businesses averaged 200% growth across his three islands, creating 12 of her jobs in the local economy.
Native Hawaiian and AAPI women-led businesses are growing, increasing 43% from 2014 to 2019. That’s twice her proportion of non-minority women-owned businesses and nearly five times her rate of all businesses. Many native her Hawaiian and her AAPI female business owners face gender biases exacerbated by racism. FoundHer She launched in 2020 to address these issues and develop opportunities for AAPI and Indigenous women entrepreneurs. In addition to our unprecedented Family Care Assistance Program and “unconditional” capital grants, we also offer traditional accelerator services such as mentorship and skill building.
