Hawaii Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurship Collaboration
The Basics of the Partnership
Through a physical presence on the JABSOM campus, HITEC reaches out to UH faculty and students offering them a venue to visit seeking information and resources. We hope HITEC will serve as a convener, bringing together scientists and researchers from all disciplines for informal discussions as well as seminars, workshops, and formal events.
Access to experts
The HiBEAM Board of Directors and membership is comprised of a prestigious group of individuals with specific expertise in start-up companies. They come from different facets of business, including venture capital, management, banking, law, accounting, and marketing and communications. On set dates and times HiBEAM members, HiBEAM portfolio company leaders, and experts from the community will make themselves available in the Center Office for consulting and mentoring on specific issues.
HiBEAM personnel in residence
The HITEC office is located in 401F on the 4th Floor of the Medical Education Building. HiBEAM staff will keep office hours there, offering guidance and expertise to everyone from serious entrepreneurs, to those students or faculty who are just in the initial stages of exploring the potential of their research and/or technology.
Ongoing Initiatives
Workshops, Speaker Series and Brown Bags
Through HITEC, we hope to encourage the intersection of different disciplines of science and innovators with accomplished entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. We will cultivate this environment by hosting informal ‘brown bag' lunch discussions, sponsored speaker series, and hands-on workshops.
Springboard Forums
Many inventors, researchers and young entrepreneurs who have an idea need access to experienced people to talk with about "next steps." Normally, the HiBEAM Springboard Forum provides free assistance for life sciences and technology companies in early stages of development. However, at the Center we will expand these forums to assist researchers at an even earlier phase in their process. Our first HiBEAM Springboard Forum occurred on June 23, 2006, when a group assembled to assist two JABSOM faculty researchers who would then present at our June 28, 2006 Technology Showcase. The June 23 forum will be the model for the Center's Forum.
Individuals invited to present at a Springboard Forum will have access to 1-2 hour coaching sessions with a small group of HiBEAM members and mentors who have expertise in different areas of entrepreneurship. This group may include seasoned entrepreneurs with industry expertise, scientists, venture capitalists, corporate and patent attorneys, and/or marketing professionals. The panel of experts will be tailored to the individual needs of each entrepreneur or researcher. The goals of the forum are to help the researchers understand what information they need for the next steps of commercialization and to identify potential avenues for assistance in these specific areas. The panel will also provide candid recommendations for the refinement of a business plan, if the presenter has one. To see a list of past Springboard Forum presenters, click here.
Technology Showcase
The Technology Showcase is an event we anticipate holding on an annual or semi-annual basis for researchers and inventors to showcase their new technologies to entrepreneurs, funders, and other interested parties. We held our first Technology Showcase at the Hawaii Convention Center on June 28, 2006. Through regular showcases, we will attempt to attract and gather the newest innovations from the technology and life science fields and allow interested parties a preview. The showcases bring inventors together with entrepreneurs to cultivate the commercialization of new technologies and inventions. Sometimes it just takes the right people together in a room to take a simple discovery, add some magic sauce, and turn an idea into a business venture. We hope to showcase and highlight the best and brightest in our UH community.
Entrepreneurs Manual
HiBEAM is developing a multi-media manual for entrepreneurs that outlines a roadmap/checklist for evolving an idea into a prototype and starting a company. This guide will include examples of best practices, templates for incorporation, term sheets, and other startup documentation along with discussions on how to create effective presentations, negotiation skills and other tidbits of wisdom collected by HiBEAM participants over the years. This resource will be a checklist of steps that need to be accomplished in order to build a successful company in Hawaii.
Interactive Website
The Center will actively seek to make itself a UH campus resource, by proactively promoting their programs, services, and educational seminars. HiBEAM's new website will feature upcoming programs, classes and events sponsored by the Center. A future component to the site will be permission-access to downloadable materials designed to assist the entrepreneurs.
See our events calendar for a list of HITEC events.
