The Hawaii Venture Capital Association has named Anton Krucky, co-founder of local biotech company Tissue Genesis Inc., as its 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year.
Tissue Genesis, founded in 2001, has been recognized for its development of tissue replacement products to improve survival rates for patients with trauma injuries, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and metabolic diseases. Krucky previously worked in product development, marketing and sales for IBM.
Krucky, along with five other Hawaii-based entrepreneurs, was honored Thursday during an awards ceremony hosted by HVCA and ThinkTech Hawaii.
Other honorees:
» Galen Ho, chief executive officer of CBI Polymers. CBI Polymers garnered global attention recently for its DeconGel product, which was used to help clean radiation contamination after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident in Japan. Ho has 35 years of experience in the aerospace and defense sectors, most recently with BAE Systems. He was recognized in the "clean tech" category.
» Olin Lagon, co-director of Kanu Hawaii, a nonprofit organization with a mission to encourage and support environmental and social change. Lagon is a University of Hawaii business school graduate and fellow at the East-West Center who has been involved in several tech startups, social ventures and nonprofit organizations. He was honored in the "social impact" category.
» Rob Yonover, CEO of SEE Rescue Corp., which develops, patents and distributes military-approved survival technology. Yonover received a doctorate in geochemistry/volcanology from the University of Hawaii with a research fellowship at NASA Johnson Space Center and laboratory work at MIT. Yonover was recognized in the "invention" category.
» Hunter and Traci Downs, the husband and wife who run Archionetics LLC, a Honolulu-based tech company that is doing research in the science of sleep. The company created an inexpensive monitor that can be used by anyone suffering from fatigue or other sleep-related ailments. The couple was recognized in the "dual use" category reserved for companies that have taken research and development for military purposes and commercialized it for civilian applications.
» Rechung Fujihara and Anthony Stanford, co-owners of The Box Jelly, a "co-working space" that gives entrepreneurs just starting up a low-cost work environment and the ability meet and share ideas with other entrepreneurs. Anthony created the Box Jelly concept while traveling overseas and used it as his senior project in the Hogan Entrepreneurship Program at Chaminade University. Fujihara, a 2010 Chaminade University graduate, and Stanford, a 2011 graduate, were recognized in the young entrepreneur category.
