LOCAL Houston | The City Guide February 2018

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE CROWD PLEASER HOUSTON’S NEXTSEED CONNECTS CAPITAL AND IDEAS If you have been following the Houston restaurant scene lately on social media, then you’ve probably seen NEXTSEED pop up on your Facebook feed. Since its inception in 2015, this crowdfunding web-based portal helmed by co-founders ABRAHAM CHU, YOUNGRO LEE and BOB DUNTON has helped to successfully fund over 25 projects, many of them located right here in Houston, raising over $7.5 million with both NextSeed TX and NextSeed US. This innovative and entrepreneurially driven concept offers individuals the opportunity to invest in local businesses, while simultaneously allowing smaller businesses the opportunity to crowd source for their startup or expansion capital. NextSeed and their team (with backgrounds ranging from finance and marketing to legal and technology) vet every project meticulously, monitoring and working closely with the project leaders on everything from marketing to business strategy. We sat down with founders Chu and Lee for a little Q & A on just what makes NextSeed tick. HOW DOES NEXTSEED WORK? NextSeed is a community-driven national financing and investment platform, headquartered in Houston, that allows local businesses to raise money from everyday investors in their communities. Locally, we’ve worked with Peli Peli with their expansion in Houston and Austin, and we raised capital for the launches of Chapman & Kirby and Healing Waters Float Spa (on the NextSeed Texas platform). These groups were all able to sell debt securities to the public and raise money for their projects through NextSeed. For investors, it’s like buying bonds – there’s no equity exchanged, but investors have the potential to earn financial returns through revenue sharing or fixed payments. People are investing on NextSeed because they find it a more tangible and transparent investment. We provide opportunities to invest in businesses in markets people know and understand – their own cities and neighborhoods. For business owners, it can also be a faster, more efficient fundraising process than procuring private equity investors, and allows them to keep more ownership in their businesses. But even more importantly, they get a chance to tell their story and build a group of local advocates, who can then become loyal customers. WHAT DOES NEXTSEED LOOK FOR WHEN TAKING ON A PROJECT? All but one of the campaigns we’ve listed have met their minimum funding goals, largely due to our objective criteria for businesses that get list- ed. We look for existing businesses that have proven success in their market, or new businesses from experienced owners and partners. Getting a business off the ground is not easy, and we don’t let everyone list their businesses simply because they want to. Credit checks, background checks, financial modeling and a host of other criteria are all part of our diligence process. Having said that, there’s risk with every investment, so it’s important that investors do their own diligence. continued on page 56 01.18.2018 3:44pm ABRAHAM CHU | YOUNGRO LEE By Beth Levine 54 L O C A L | 2 . 2018 | Photography by Jenn Duncan 2 . 2018 | L O C A L 55

LOCAL Houston | The City Guide February 2018 | Page 54