HAWAI'I BUSINESS AWARDS AND HONORS

The 2007 Venture Capital Deal of the Year Award winner recently announced by Hawaii Venture Capital Association is SopogY, founded by entrepreneur Darren Kimura, who pioneered the Sopogy Energy System in Hawai'i. The system employs the most concentrated solar power collectors available today to generate electricity, create air conditioning, conduct agricultural drying and produce industrial steam. The award is based on the large amount of funding Sopogy raised from local and Mainland venture capital firms.

The Hawaii Venture Capital Association also honored HR BioPetroleum, which concluded a major joint venture with Shell Oil last fall. Honorable mentions went to TalkStory Productions, the Honolulu-based film production company; Cardax Pharmaceuticals, one of Hawai'i's leading biotech companies; and UBoost, a spinout from the "It's All About Kids," which provides web-based learning programs and a novel reward system.