team

Omar is a Founding and Managing Partner of XLR8UH, the University of Hawaiʻi’s (UH’s) award winning venture accelerator focused on mentoring and investing in UH affiliated innovations. He also co-founded Sultan Ventures and he has received personal and professional accolades including being recognized in 2015 by Hawaiʻi Business Magazine’ 20 for the next 20 and Pacific Business News’ Forty under 40. Omar was awarded along with his brother Tarik, as the 2014 Hawaii Venture Capital Association’s (HVCA) Investors of the Year. Omar is also Vice President of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Hawaiʻi, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps great entrepreneurs become great philanthropists, VP of Ala Wai Pharma, a drug delivery company focused on increasing the bioavailability of polar drugs, and also helps manage the UPSIDE Fund, a venture fund focused on commercializing University of Hawaiʻi intellectual property. He holds a BSM in Finance from Tulane University’s AB Freeman School of Business and an MBA from the Shidler College of Business.

Tarik is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of XLR8UH, the University of Hawaiʻi’s (UH’s) nationally recognized proof-of-concept commercialization center focused on mentoring and investing in UH affiliated innovations. Additionally, he is a Founding Partner at Sultan Ventures, a boutique venture firm focusing on early-stage startups and the 2014 Hawaiʻi Venture Capital Association’s (HVCA) Investor of the Year. Tarik serves as a Board Director and Treasurer of HVCA, a non-profit which seeks to foster entrepreneurial development through networking, education, and access to venture capital; as the Chair of Startup Hawaiʻi, the regional chapter of Up Global (formerly Startup America); on the Advisory Board of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE), the home for a set of experiential entrepreneurship programs at the University of Hawaii; and has been federally appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce as a Member of the Hawaiʻi Pacific Export Council (HPEC), a non-profit organization of local leaders and experienced international business professionals who provide assistance to local businesses expanding in international markets. Tarik has worked with, advised, and led several startups, most recently as Interim CFO of Ibis Networks, a venture backed cleantech startup focused on reducing energy consumption. Tarik holds a BS from Tulane University with a focus on Neuroscience and Cognitive Studies and an MBA from the Shidler College of Business.

Kate focuses on program management and operations for XLR8UH.