Gallery: Double-Threat Pitch-Off
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It was a standing-room crowd last night at the YWCA of 'Oahu for the "double-threat pitch-off," a joint event organized by Sultan Ventures and Blue Startups. The former brought the Small Business Administration's "InnovateHER" competition to Hawaii for the first time, and the latter hosted the regional finals of the international Mobile Challenge Asia Pacific. Two sets of startups pitched their companies and concepts to two sets of judges as well as to more than 200 people in attendance.
The "InnovateHER" judges named Edutunes (pitched by Jenny Fixman Kramer) and JetSetESL (pitched by Bianca Tubolino) as their winners, while the MCAP judges crowned BlueSpotPark (pitched by Lina Smith), Huedoku (pitched by Gabriel Mott) and iFirst Medical Technologies (pitched by Luke Joseph).
Attendees also used glow sticks and jars to vote for "people's choice" winners Ho'olu Pacific (pitched by Keith Sakuda) and Fresher.
Below are select photos from the pitch-off. Click on any of them to see the full gallery.
![pitch-off-001 pitch-off-001](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F781596e9-fafe-4f4b-b4e9-f0b465794115_1024x512.jpeg)
The registration desk team from Blue Startups and XLR8UH.
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Anticipating a lot of animated conversations in the back of the room, organizers were prepared.
![pitch-off-003 pitch-off-003](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F525eaeb3-a2b9-4265-a258-15d35d8a9fe7_1024x512.jpeg)
Each attendee got two glow sticks (one for each competition) to vote for their favorite presenters.
![pitch-off-004 pitch-off-004](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3df2f086-1c20-4f09-a9e3-cf83372f9efe_1024x512.jpeg)
Recent Dev League graduate Bryan Butteling and recently shorn Dev League cofounder Jason Sewell.
![pitch-off-005 pitch-off-005](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05e3bdf8-c4a1-489c-aba3-30e904934372_1024x512.jpeg)
Fellow Ka Leo survivor Ruth Shiroma (right) and her husband Norm Foster with a friend.
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Two globe-trotting tech evangelists, Yuka Nagashima and Eric Nakagawa, unexpectedly in town.
![pitch-off-008 pitch-off-008](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F65baeec9-26d6-4e38-960f-058bc195cdfb_1024x512.jpeg)
The MCAP judging panel included Steve Markowitz, Joseph Pigato, Lauren Primiano, Matthew Sasaki, and Tarik Sultan.
![pitch-off-009 pitch-off-009](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee832f9e-6d7d-4f1f-9880-fb2e8002cf48_1024x512.jpeg)
A familiar face, Nicole Velasco, serving on the InnovateHER judging panel with Steve Haumschild.
![pitch-off-010 pitch-off-010](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda0a7311-e4c0-4884-abe6-ec7c018f4fba_1024x512.jpeg)
InnovateHER judges Denise Esposito, Daniel Chun, and Tiffany Tanaka.
![pitch-off-011 pitch-off-011](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6151c3fe-0c80-4e1e-9e9a-4f0a7c2c876a_1024x512.jpeg)
More than 200 people turned out for the joint pitch-off at the YWCA of 'Oahu in downtown Honolulu.
![pitch-off-012 pitch-off-012](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb7824ce-3c21-49bb-8d99-18f995c37c14_1024x512.jpeg)
Of course I'm partial to current Blue Startups cohort teams, like BlueSpotPark (soon to be rebranded).
![pitch-off-013 pitch-off-013](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2381ea1-f7ce-41d8-a9f0-7a9adec95edb_1024x512.jpeg)
Fresher, another Blue Startups family member, has already caught on among local fishers.
![pitch-off-014 pitch-off-014](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F653909bf-c553-4ad8-a9c2-41e1c4c6dc6a_1024x512.jpeg)
Huedoku's Gabriel Mott previews an upcoming new feature, custom photo puzzles.
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Cindy Matsuki of the HTDC joined Meli James on stage to preview other upcoming tech events.
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Eric Nakagawa offered any mobile app startups in attendance to see him for opportunities in Silicon Valley.
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Audience voting via glow sticks and jars to pick "people's choice" winners of the evening.
![pitch-off-020 pitch-off-020](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd5efc6c6-dc13-45eb-ab0f-3b9e82853f2b_1024x512.jpeg)
![pitch-off-021 pitch-off-021](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5defd086-bf48-4d05-ba9b-027d13c8302a_1024x512.jpeg)
Entrepreneurs, developers, and makers of every stripe turned out to talkstory.
![pitch-off-022 pitch-off-022](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F32d61079-b20d-43aa-9acb-89a9dec08cdd_1024x512.jpeg)
InnovateHER challenge winners and judges, plus Meli James, who brought everyone together under Honolulu New Tech.
![pitch-off-023 pitch-off-023](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdd229495-a9d6-45f8-bcd5-f8e2e007d6f3_1024x512.jpeg)
MCAP winners and judges. The projector added a little something extra to stage photos.
You can see my full photo gallery from the event on Flickr or on Facebook.