United States / Funding / By state / Hawaii
Funding for startups in Hawaii
Hawaii runs 9 programmes of its own, and 5 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to Hawaii companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by Hawaii and local bodies
Blue Startups Accelerator
Blue Startups · Hawaii
Scalable tech startups get up to $250,000 in tiered investment plus a 12-week mentor-driven accelerator based in Honolulu.
Community-Based Economic Development (CBED) Loan Program
Business Development and Support Division (BDSD), Hawaii Dept. of Business, Economic Development & Tourism · Hawaii
Get a $50,000 to $125,000 state loan for a Hawaii small business in agriculture, food production, manufacturing, or wholesaling.
Enterprise Zones (EZ) Partnership Program
Business Development and Support Division (BDSD), Hawaii Dept. of Business, Economic Development & Tourism · Hawaii
Eligible Hawaii businesses get a 7-year General Excise Tax exemption plus declining state income tax credits, and county benefits vary by island.
HI-CAP (Hawaiʻi Capital Access Program)
HTDC and Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA), under the Dept. of Business, Economic Development & Tourism · Hawaii
Get state-backed loan collateral or direct capital for transformative Hawaii business projects, funded by the federal SSBCI program through 2030.
Mana Up Accelerator
Mana Up · Hawaii
Hawaii-based product companies get six months of mentorship, leadership development, and retail or global market access through House of Mana Up.
Hawaiʻi Small Business Innovation Research (HSBIR) Grants
Hawaiʻi Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) · Hawaii
Get up to $75,000 in state matching funds if you already hold a federal SBIR or STTR Phase I award and work in Hawaii.
Manufacturing Assistance Program (MAP)
Hawaiʻi Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) · Hawaii
Hawaii manufacturers get up to $100,000 reimbursed, 20% of qualified costs, to boost productivity and competitiveness.
MEDB BusinessSPACE
Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) · Hawaii
Hawaii space and defense-tech founders get free mentorship, government-customer connections, and commercialization strategy support.
Hawaiʻi Wave Dual Use Incubator
Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR) · Hawaii
Established Hawaii tech companies get seven months of mentorship to pivot their technology into federal defense and dual-use markets.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to Hawaii businesses
Grants 23
- AFWERX SBIR/STTR & Army xTechup to $15M
- Amber Grant for Womenup to $50k
- ARPA-E
- ARPA-H
- Comcast RISEup to $5k
- DHS SBIRup to $1M
- DoD SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- DOE SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- ED/IES SBIRup to $1M
- EDA Build to Scale (B2S)up to $5M
- EPA SBIRup to $400k
- Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program
- FedEx Small Business Grant Contestup to $50k
- NASA SBIR/STTRup to $1.27M
- NIH SBIR/STTRup to $4.19M
- NOAA SBIRup to $690k
- NSF SBIR/STTR — America's Seed Fund powered by NSFup to $1.25M
- Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) — Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiencyup to $25M
- SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC)up to $200k
- SBIR/STTR (America's Seed Fund)up to $2.15M
- US DOT SBIRup to $200k
- USDA NIFA SBIR
- Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)up to $200k
Loans & guarantees 15
- CAPLines (SBA 7(a) Lines of Credit)up to $5M
- CDFI Fund — Certified Community Development Financial Institution Network
- DOE Loan Programs Office (Office of Energy Dominance Financing)
- Export Working Capital Program (EWCP)up to $5M
- International Trade Loan Program (ITL)up to $5M
- Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL)up to $2M
- SBA 504 Loan Program (CDC/504)up to $5.5M
- SBA 7(a) Loan Programup to $5M
- SBA Community Advantage Loansup to $1M
- SBA Disaster Loans (Physical Damage & Economic Injury)up to $2M
- SBA Microloan Programup to $50k
- SBA-504 and 7(a) Combined Loan Cap ($10M)up to $10M
- EXIM Working Capital Guarantee Programup to $10M
- SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Programup to $14M
- State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)
Tax benefits 8
- Federal R&D Tax Credit (Section 41)
- New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)
- QSBS Section 1202 Exclusionup to $15M
- Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ)
- R&D Payroll Tax Offset (Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit)up to $500k
- Section 174A Domestic R&D Expensing Restoration
- State R&D Tax Credits (multi-state landscape)
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)up to $2.4k
Equity 7
- 500 Global Flagship Acceleratorup to $150k
- Antler US Residency
- gener8tor Investment Acceleratorup to $100k
- HAXup to $250k
- Neo Accelerator
- Techstars Standard Investment Termsup to $220k
- Y Combinator Standard Dealup to $500k
Support & credits 10
- AWS Activateup to $200k
- Google for Startups Cloud Programup to $350k
- Microsoft for Startupsup to $150k
- MassChallenge Accelerator Programs (Traction & Challenge)
- MBDA Business Center Network
- NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
- NVIDIA Inception
- Plug and Play Accelerator Programs
- SBA 8(a) Business Development Program
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program
The other Hawaii deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In Hawaii that means the Annual Report — Due by the last day of the calendar quarter containing the anniversary of organization or registration: an anniversary in Jan 1-Mar 31 is due Mar 31; Apr 1-Jun 30 due Jun 30; Jul 1-Sep 30 due Sep 30; Oct 1-Dec 31 due Dec 31 (HAR 16-36-11.9 and 16-36-11.10, implementing HRS 428-210). No report is due in the year the LLC was organized (HRS 428-210(d)). No report is due in the year the entity was formed or registered.
This page exists because Hawaii has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a Hawaii programme we are missing via the contact page.
Funders read the books before the pitch
Every programme on this page asks for financials in a particular shape. We keep Hawaii books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.