Today, Pow Wow Pitch, North America’s premier pitch competition for emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs, presented in partnership with RBC, Shopify, and Mastercard, announced a new partnership with the Mana Up to put the spotlight on Indigenous entrepreneurs in Hawai‘i, USA.

Mana Up is a local accelerator for Hawai‘i-based consumer brands scaling to global markets  through multiple programs such as the Mana Up Product Accelerator, House of Mana Up shop -including four brick-and-mortar locations and e-commerce, and the Mana Up Venture Fund.

The Mana Up Showcase is an annual celebration of Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurs and rising talent with in-person events in Honolulu on November 8th and 9th and a global livestream on November 19th. The featured entrepreneurs are from Mana Up’s latest entrepreneur growth accelerator, a 6-month program during which local companies get connected to mentors, workshops, sales channels, and resources to help them grow their businesses. 

This year the Mana Up Showcase has expanded the event lineup to include with the first-ever Hawai‘i Pow Wow Pitch competition held on November 8th at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, offering the opportunity for Indigenous and Native-identifying entrepreneurs to win cash prizes, get a “golden ticket” for the 2024 Turtle Island Pow Wow Pitch Finals competition and more.

To enter, participants and entrepreneurs can pre-register their business at powwowpitch.org/manaup. To participate, entrepreneurs will have 1-Minute to Pitch their businesses live, in front of an audience and panel of judges for a chance to win!

The top six pitchers will be paired with mentors before pitching in front of the judges and the Mana Up community. Prizes include 5,000 USD for 1st Place, 2,500 USD for 2nd Place, 1,000 USD for 3rd Place, 500 USD for the Youth Prize and 500 USD for the Fan Favourite. In addition, the 1st Place Winner will also get a Golden Ticket to the 2024 Turtle Island Finale to pitch for the Grand Prize of $25,000. 

Bringing Pow Wow Pitch to Hawai’i through Mana Up marks a significant milestone in bridging Indigenous communities. This collaboration not only celebrates cultural unity but also amplifies Indigenous entrepreneurship on a broader scale. Together, Pow Wow Pitch and Mana Up have created a powerful synergy, opening new horizons for Indigenous business endeavors spanning borders.

“We’re honored to introduce Pow Wow Pitch to Hawai’i,” expressed Sunshine Tenasco, Founder of Pow Wow Pitch. “This expansion beyond our borders not only fosters unity among Indigenous communities but also enriches our collective entrepreneurial spirit. Our gratitude to Mana Up for joining hands with us on this remarkable journey is immeasurable.”

“The Mana Up Showcase is our annual opportunity to celebrate Hawai‘i’s incredible talent and invite our community to be part of their success. We feel very fortunate that Pow Wow Pitch selected Hawai‘i as the location to debut its pitch competition within the US/Canada region, amplifying the message that Hawaiʻi’s entrepreneurs are part of a global movement that honors culture, sustainability and other shared values,” says Meli James, Mana Up co-founder. 

All entrepreneurs who pitch, regardless of whether they advance to the Top Six,  will have a chance to advance to the 2024 Pow Wow Pitch digital semi-finals and join the Pow Wow Pitch community. All pitchers will get access to a free Indigenous Startup Program, gain access to tools and support, and have the chance to have their products and services featured in the Pow Wow Pitch annual Mailer Box and on the Pow Wow Pitch Marketplace launching later this year for socially-conscious customers looking to ‘Buy Indigenous.’

The event’s local partner will be Vertaccount, a Hawai‘i-based accounting and bookkeeping services company. Mana Up Pow Wow Pitch is part of the Mana Up Showcase 2023 that is presented by King’s Hawaiian, and supported by Bank of Hawaii, Waiākea Hawaiian Volcanic Water, Shopify and Hawaiian Airlines. 

To learn more and pre-register for the Mana Up Pow Wow Pitch at the Mana Up Showcase, visit powwowpitch.org/manaup. To attend the Mana Up Pow Pow Pitch as a viewer, visit manaupshowcase.com. 

About Pow Wow Pitch

Pow Wow Pitch is an entrepreneurship program for emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs, which provides a safe, supportive, collaborative, empowering and culturally supportive environment that addresses the unique challenges of Indigenous entrepreneurs and aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs. Pow Wow Pitch enhances, develops, and accelerates the growth for current and aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs in a sustainable way through programs and resources. In addition, community leadership through volunteerism is promoted to reflect respect and reciprocity as the foundation of the Pow Wow Pitch. For more information, visit https://www.powwowpitch.org/.

About Mana Up

Mana Up is an accelerator and venture fund for Hawaiʻi-based products growing to markets globally, with the mission to increase economic opportunity and jobs for the people of Hawaiʻi. To date, 85 local companies have participated in the six-month accelerator program that provides expansion opportunities and helps solve business challenges. For more information about the accelerator program, visit www.manauphawaii.com, and to shop House of Mana Up, visit https://houseofmanaup.com.  

Mana Up is supported by Kamehameha Schools, Castle & Cooke Hawai’i, Bank of Hawaii, ALTRES, Hawaiian Airlines, Kaiser Permanente Hawai’i, Hawai’i Technology Development Corporation, Innovate Hawai’i, American Savings Bank, Ulupono Initiative, Young Brothers, UHA Health Insurance, Pineapple Tweed, Shopify, Foodland and Dole.

About Vertaccount

Vertaccount is a boutique Finance and Accounting Outsourcing provider with offices and affiliates in Hawaii, New York, Singapore, Australia, Philippines.

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On April 30, Pow Wow Pitch, North America’s premier pitch competition for Indigenous entrepreneurs, presented in partnership with RBC, Shopify, Meta and Mastercard, announced Melinda Williamson, Owner and Founder of Morning Light Kombucha from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, as the 2022 Pow Wow Pitch Gathering of Nations Winner. Melinda has won $1,000 and is advancing to the Finals for a chance to win $25,000 to grow her business.

More than 30 Indigenous entrepreneurs from across North America pitched their businesses live at the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 30th for their chance to win cash prizes and advance to the Pow Wow Pitch Finals. 

“The experience was unbelievable,” said Melinda William, Founder of Morning Light Kombucha. “To finally travel again, meet so many entrepreneurs I look up to, and sell at the Gathering of Nations was incredible. But the cherry on top of it all was that I won first place at Pow Wow Pitch! I am beyond grateful and feel so much love from everyone in the Indigenous community.”

Melinda’s business, Morning Light Kombucha, is a Native American and female-owned, small-batch kombucha company located in Hoyt, Kansas, which prides itself on sourcing from local farmers, harvesting their own ingredients, and giving back to Indigenous communities.

Melinda hopes to win the grand prize to buy a canning line to continue to expand her business. 

“Since the pandemic, our business has exploded across Kansas and ‘Indian country’ with our hand-canned line,” said Melinda. “If we were to win the $25K, we would buy a canning line to get more Kombucha into Native hands and grow our impact.”

Winning the second-place $750 prize was Cece Meadows, Founder and CEO of Prados Beauty and the third-place $500 winner went to Dan Simonds, Founder of Wampum Wear. Cece, Dan and all those who pitched in Albuquerque are still in the running for the 2022 Pow Wow Pitch and will find out in July if they will advance to the semi-finals.

“Congratulations to Melinda on her Gold Ticket win to advance to the 2022 Pow Wow Pitch Finals,” said Sunshine Tenasco, Founder of Pow Wow Pitch. “Morning Light Kombucha is an incredible business leading by example. We look forward to spotlighting and sharing Melinda’s business with the Pow Wow Pitch community and growing together.” 

Indigenous entrepreneurs from across Canada and the United States are invited to submit their 1-minute pitch to qualify for Pow Wow Pitch before June 21, 2022, at powwowpitch.org/pitch to win $200,000 in prizes from $500 to $25,000. 

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On Saturday evening, Pow Wow Pitch, North America’s premier pitch competition for Indigenous entrepreneurs, presented in partnership with RBC, Shopify and Facebook, announced Austin Charles Serio, Co-Founder & CEO of ShockTalk from the Chicoran Shakori Tribe as the 2021 Pow Wow Pitch USA Winner.

Austin has won 500 CAD and has advanced to the Finals along with Danielle Pieratos, Co-Founder of Harvest Nation, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Minnesota and Tara Tekahentakhwa Tarbell, Founder of Niawen Skincare, Akwesasne Mohawk, New York. The three entrepreneurs are advancing to the Finals for a chance to win $25,000 to grow their businesses.

This Summer, 1,642 Indigenous entrepreneurs from across Turtle Island (Canada, the United States and Mexico) submitted one-minute video pitches of their businesses to win funds and support. In August, Pow Wow Pitch announced the Semi-Finalists and paired them with mentors to refine their business pitches in preparation for their presentation to the judges. 

On Saturday, Indigenous entrepreneurs from the USA pitched to a panel of judges, including RBC Vice President of Real Estate and Construction Services Carla Woodward; Shopify Senior Lead of Community and Underrepresented Entrepreneurs Brandon Davenport; NACCA National Program Manager Kevin Rose, Square Small Business and Community Advocate Martin Guerrero; and, Pow Wow Pitch Alumni and Owner of Sequoia Soaps Michaelee Lazore.

Pow Wow Pitch’s Founder Sunshine Tenasco announced the judges’ selection of the entrepreneurs advancing to the Finals and the USA Winner. 

Austin Charles Serio, Co-Founder & CEO of ShockTalk and the 2021 Pow Wow Pitch USA Winner. ShockTalk provides Native American and Alaska Native peoples with culturally appropriate patient-provider relationships through a telemental health platform.

“I applied to Pow Wow Pitch to join a community championing Indigenous values of respect and reciprocity,” said Austin Charles. “ShockTalk is about linking Indigenous communities to good medicine through strong relationships. Bringing good medicine into the world requires tending to all relations with respect and reciprocity, which is not necessarily compatible with the Silicon Valley approach to move fast and break things.” Austin intends to use prize funds to support piloting the platform across various Indigenous communities to improve its performance and involve communities in its development.

Also moving onto the Finals is Danielle Pieratos, Co-Founder of Harvest Nation, an indoor aeroponic farm bringing equity to and localizing food systems through CSA farm box shares for families.

“Prize funds would go toward prototyping an automated grow light track that will reduce energy needs and the number of lights by half,” said Dani Pieratos. “This will reduce our startup costs by $250,000 as we launch our first farm in North Western Minnesota to serve our reservation community and supply neighbouring towns with fresh, healthy heirloom produce.”

The final USA entrepreneur advancing to the Finals is Tara Tekahentakhwa Tarbell, Founder of Niawen Skincare, a hand-harvested and handcrafted culturally medicinal skincare brand underpinned by Niawen self-ceremony and cleansing rituals.

“I applied for Pow Wow Pitch because I knew I would kick myself for not applying,” said Tara Tarbell. “I am an introvert and had to overcome my fear of pitching in front of others. But, I had to try because feeling the fear and doing it anyway is what Niawen Skincare was built on. Prize funds would go elevate our website, scale digital marketing efforts, and develop an empowering sisterhood work environment of Native women.”

“Congratulations to Austin, Dani and Tara on advancing to the 2021 Pow Wow Pitch Finals,” said Sunshine Tenasco, Founder of Pow Wow Pitch. “Your resilience, creativity and commitment to celebrating and sharing our diverse Indigenous culture while making an impact is a testament to how our unique style of business can and will create a better future for us all.” 

“Pow Wow Pitch is a tremendous showcase of Indigenous innovation and entrepreneurship,” says Dale Sturges, National Director for Indigenous Financial Services at RBC. “Indigenous entrepreneurs play a critical role in creating innovative solutions, sustainable communities, economic prosperity. It’s an honour for RBC to be part of the Pow Wow Pitch this year as we play our part to put a spotlight on Indigenous innovations and share their inspiring entrepreneurial stories with Canadians at large. We’re so proud of all of our participants, finalists and winners, and we will continue to support their growth and success in the future.”

“We’re honoured to be a part of the Pow Wow Pitch competition and play a role in supporting these incredibly innovative entrepreneurs as they start and scale their businesses,” said Garrick Tiplady, Vice President and Country Director, Facebook & Instagram Canada. “Congratulations to the semi-finalists and we wish them the best of luck in the next round!” 

Click here to watch the USA Semi-Finals.

Austin, Tara, and Dani are advancing to the 2021 Pow Wow Pitch Final set to air on October 20, 2021. The entrepreneurs are pitching to win one of the following prizes: $3,000 for the Alumni Choice Prize, $5,000 for 3rd place, $10,000 for 2nd place, and $25,000 for 1st place. 

Everyone can also register for free to watch the Pow Wow Pitch Finals to watch the youth pitch for the big prizes, airing on October 20. Click here to register now.

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