For a company to apply for a Blue Startups cohort, they must have two to four founders, with most of the team willing to live in Hawaii during the program. All companies must be incorporated as a C corp to be eligible. Teams are expected to work in the Blue Startups' space in downtown Honolulu for a minimum of five hours a day during the length of the cohort. Blue Startups received over 100 applications and selected seven companies to participate in its first cohort. The second session received more than 200 applications and seven were chosen to participate in the 13-week program. On January January 6, 2014, the company announced that it was seeking applicants for its third cohort. Applications were accepted from January 6 to February 1, 2014, and the event took place on from March 17 to June 6, 2014. It was announced on April 2, 2014 that the candidates for the third cohort of startups had been chosen. Another demo even was hosted by Blue Startups in conjunction with Energy Excelerator called "Startup Paradise Demo Day." It was scheduled on June 13, 2014, and it was hosted at Iolani School's Seto Hall and Sullivan Center for Innovation and Leadership. By the end of the third cohort in October 2014, the 23 graduating companies raised over $6 million of follow-on investments from private investors. Blue Startups announced its fourth cohort of startups on July 22, 2014. It hosted an informational session for interested parties on July 29, 2014, and set a cut-off date of August 15, 2014. This particular event had Blue Startups seeking companies that have a "health care technology focus." Despite the deadline passing, Blue Startups allowed companies to continue submitting applications for the event. The event was a collaboration between the company and Hawaii's online health insurance exchange Hawaii Health Sector. The company held this fourth cohort during the Fall of 2014, where the company chose ten companies to participate. Applications for the company's fifth cohort event in Spring of 2015 began on December 1, 2014. During the company's Spring 2015 cohort event, it selected eight applicants out of a group of 300. The Spring 2015 program was designed with a focus on travel-based technology. The company that is selected by Blue Startups during the Spring event will be given mentorship by Michael Troy, who works in the tourism industry. Blue Startups' portfolio includes 36 investments. A total of five cohort selections have been completed as of March 2015. Below is a list of portfolio companies:  As of August 20, 2018, Blue Startups has 76 companies in its portfolio and has awarded these companies with $2,000,000 in "seed and additional capital."