More than 400 guests got a taste of what makes a number of emerging Houston businesses unique at a Market gathering hosted by NextSeed co-founders Youngro Lee, Abraham Chu, and Robert Dunton at Central Post, a landmark that once housed the downtown post office and is now being developed into a 14-acre mixed use center.
They sampled offerings from Añejo Tex Mex, Chapman & Kirby, Dim Sum Bento, Massage Caddy, Pinks Pizza, B Pop, Chaste Foods, Manready, Peli Peli, SquareRut Kava Bar, Tout Suite, and Xela Roasters at Central Post in downtown Houston. Several of the vendors, including SquareRut, Chapman & Kirby, and Peli Peli, have been funded through NextSeed, an online investment platform that allows U.S. small businesses to offer debt securities to investors.
Texas NextSeed has helped raise over $1 million for entrepreneurs who have been funded via the online investment platform. NextSeed has gone national with a separate platform.
A panel session that included Bien Tran of Chapman & Kirby, Jeff Kaplan of New Living and Axelrad, Scott Pingel of SquareRut Kava Bar, and Thomas Nguyen of Peli Peli talked about their businesses and NextSeed’s impact on the local community. DJ Actbadd provided additional entertainment.
Seen in the crowd were Frank Liu Sr. and Frank Liu Jr. of Lovett Commercial, which is developing the former downtown post office property; Jerry Lasco, CEO of Lasco Enterprises; John Johnson, president of GoldstarTrust; Adam Hull and Robert Sarfatis, partners of the Gardere law firm, which sponsored the evening's events: and Scott Crist, principal at TexasVentures.
Lanre Omotunwashe, Afif Baltagi, Mazen Baltagi.
