Wahine Wednesday: Female Founders & Investors Panel
Join us for Wahine Wednesday at Honolulu Tech Week, where we bring together a powerhouse panel of female founders and investors to share their unfiltered stories about the real challenges of building a company. This is more than just a networking event—it's a chance to hear from women who’ve been in the trenches, faced the toughest moments, and emerged stronger. Expect raw and honest conversations that will leave you inspired to think bigger, build bolder, and connect with a community of women ready to support each other. Stick around after to meet the panelists and deepen connections with attendees.
Participants
Alexia Akbay is Founder and CEO of Symbrosia, based on Hawai'i Island. Symbrosia has developed a novel seaweed feed supplement that reduces livestock methane emissions by over 90%. Alexia is a Turkish immigrant who holds a Masters degree in Public Health from Yale, founded the company in 2019 and has since then raised $9.5 million.
Chenoa Farnsworth is a venture accelerator manager and active angel investor, venture fund partner and start-up advisor. She co-founded and manages Blue Startups, a top 20 U.S. Accelerator (Techcrunch), located in Honolulu, Hawaii. To date, Blue Startups has invested in 120 companies which have gone on to raise $500 million in venture capital and included one unicorn IPO (VLTA). For the past 15 years she managed the Hawaii Angels investment network, which has invested over $60 million in over 100 startup companies. Farnsworth has served the community as chair of the Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i, director of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, director of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Hawaii, director of the Impact HUB Honolulu, and judge for the University of Hawai‘i business plan competition.
Tracy Lawrence was the CEO and co-founder of a tech startup called Chewse and is now an executive coach. She raised $40M in venture capital, scaled to 300 employees, and sold the company in 2020. She now resides in Honolulu and works as an executive coach for tech founders. You can learn more about her story and work here.