Our Story - How Tealet Began

We are a diverse team with one common goal: to create a bridge between tea growers and tea drinkers. Founder, Elyse Petersen and Cofounder, Jane Gonsowski learned about the infinite opportunity for a Hawaii Grown Tea Industry while co-authoring a collaborative research study between the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Tea Project and the Pacific Asian Center for ntrepreneurship: Hawaii Grown Tea: A Market Feasibility Study.

After completing this report they looked at a variety of business models that would help develop a healthy industry in Hawaii. Tealet was born when Founder Elyse Petersen pitched the idea at Startup Weekend Honolulu on April 28, 2012. This event was a great launching point to put their passion of empowering tea farmers towards a viable business model. Petersen and Startup Weekend team members Travis Ryan and Viil Lid impressed the judges so much that they took home 2nd place. Since this event Jane and Elyse built a marketplace, launched a subscription service, and have been invited to the 500 Startups accelerator program. The team now includes a development team and new media director.