build up, buttercup

Houston influencer and fab fashionista builds up budding brands in a stitch with new series

Dede Raad of Dress Up Buttercup is building up.

Photo via dressupbuttercup.com

After growing her audience to over 1,000,000 followers on Instagram, Houston fashion blogger Dede Raad felt the pressure to expand her business — but she didn't feel inspired by any particular line of business to grow into.

"In the blogging world, which I've been doing for about seven years, everyone's next step is to start a brand and to start something of their own," Raad, founder of Dress Up Buttercup, tells InnovationMap. "I just don't have anything in my heart that I was really passionate about. I know once you start something, you have to give it your all."

But what Raad realized — after a year of thinking about her next move and a chance viewing of Shark Tank — was that tons of business founders were passionate about their own brands, and there was an opportunity for Raad use her community to support them instead of coming up with something of her own.

She put the call out to her followers to find founders with growing brands. Raad launched "Build Up Buttercup," an initiative that featured small business pitches for a select group of investors, with her husband, Ted. The event, which happened last October, resulted in eight business pitches across four episodes uploaded to Dress Up Buttercup's page that garnered hundreds of thousands of views. The initiative also resulted in a handful of investments and cash prizes.

"It was a crazy four days, but it was so cool to see the brands and the passion behind it and for Ted and I to help in both a financial and advising way," Raad says.

Raad was joined at the event with fellow investors, which included Houston-based investment firms Curate Capital and Trend Ventures, the investment arm of influencer management company Trend Management, founded by Ted Raad.

Of the eight that pitched, four companies received investments. Dress Up Buttercup invested in Houston-based jewelry company Burdlife and children's clothing brand Poppy Kids. Trend Ventures made investments in Cold Cork and Houston-based tech startup, AIM7, which closed its seed round in December.

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Continue reading on our sister site InnovationMap.

The Boom Continues

Booming Houston-area ZIP among 5 fastest-growing new neighborhoods in U.S.

City of Fulshear/Facebook

Fulshear's 77441 ZIP code was the fourth-fastest growing U.S. neighborhood from 2014-2023.

As Texas' ever-growing population generates more demand among regional housing markets, one Houston-area ZIP code has seen more growth than nearly all other ZIPs in the state — and in the country.

Fulshear's 77441 ZIP code ranks No. 4 in RentCafe's new study that analyzed the 50 fastest-growing "new neighborhoods" in America "that barely existed a decade ago." Two more more Houston-area ZIPs in Katy and Richmond also made the cut.

The study reviewed housing inventory and population growth across 32,000 U.S. ZIP codes and narrowed down the search to the top 50 locales that experienced a 51 percent minimum surge in new housing units from 2014-2023.

Overall, Texas dominated the list with 17 of the nation's 50 booming new neighborhoods.

RentCafe determined the 77441 ZIP code in Fulshear saw a 391 percent surge in housing inventory in the last decade to keep up with the area's 482.7 percent population growth over the same period.

In 2014, there were just 5,647 residents living within the bounds of 77441, which stretches across both halves of FM 1093 as far west as Sidmonton and as far east as FM 1463 Rd. During that same year, there were only 2,163 housing units in the area, which has since spiked to 10,615 units as of 2023. The ZIP code now boasts a population of more than 32,900 residents, the study found.

"Fulshear is a good example of exurban spillover as it’s located within proximity of Houston’s major employment centers, like the Energy Corridor and Texas Medical Center," the report said. "In fact, Fulshear is about 30 miles from downtown Houston, which makes it a great living option for commuters."

Fast-growing ZIPs in Houston
77493 in Katy and 77407 in Richmond respectfully ranked as the 25th and 45th fastest-growing ZIPs in the U.S. over the last decade.

The report's findings revealed Katy has more than doubled its housing inventory to 20,552 units, up from about 8,200 units in 2014. The area's population has also more than doubled, from 24,577 to 62,264 residents as of 2023.

Richmond's population has surged 123 percent over the last decade, from 11,350 to 25,284 residents, and housing inventory soared 132.4 percent to keep pace with the growth. A recent boom in apartment construction is a major factor that contributed to the suburb's expansion, the report said.

The top 10 "newest" neighborhoods in the U.S., says RentCafe, are:

No. 1 – Chino, California (91708)
No. 2 – Timnath, Colorado (80547)
No. 3 – Colorado Springs (80927)
No. 4 – Fulshear, Texas (77441)
No. 5 – Ponte Vedra, Florida (32081)
No. 6 – Jersey City, New Jersey (07311)
No. 7 – Fort Worth (76177)
No. 8 – Colorado Springs (80924)
No. 9 – Prosper, Texas (75078)
No. 10 – Melissa, Texas (75454)

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