Houston-based online fundraising platform launches new turnkey retail space opportunity

what's next for NextSeed

The Waffle Bus' brick-and-mortar location is NextSeed Space's first tenant. Courtesy of NextSeed

Houston-based NextSeed makes it easier for retail and restaurant startups to get funding, and the company is releasing a new line of services to help these startups on the next step after funding: Finding retail space.

NextSeed Space now exists to help consumer-facing companies have access to move-in-ready spaces with short-term leases. The idea is to give the concept a low-risk place to debut their business, generate customers, and work out the kinks of their business model before locking in a permanent location.

"One of the biggest hurdles for a small business is the build-out process," Abe Chu, CMO of NextSeed says in the release. "A talented chef or designer might be very skilled at their craft, but many other factors are critical to opening a storefront including the capital raise, lease negotiation, design, permitting, construction and marketing. Finding ways to assist the entrepreneur in reducing complexity and controlling risks at this juncture is critical."

NextSeed has partnered with Greenway Plaza, where it offices, to bring turnkey retail space in The Hub, a new, recently renovated space in the office park.

The first NextSeed Space tenant is Houston's The Waffle Bus, which just raised $107,000 on the NextSeed fundraising platform. While the company has a popular brand and fleet of trucks, retail space has changed in Houston, and leasing companies are looking for safe tenants, the release says, meaning it's become more difficult for new tenants to find an ideal space.

"We see what's happening in the marketplace as our window to minimize obstacles for everyone's gain," Chu says in the release. "You've got creative small businesses that lack experience and funds, banks and investors that rely on longer leases for capital, and landlords who are not always equipped to handle the additional time and resources necessary to curate and nurture a revolving mix of pop-up tenants."

NextSeed's fundraising platform launched around four years ago and, since then, has helped almost 50 companies raise money totaling more than $10 million. NextSeed co-founder and CEO, Youngro Lee, spoke to InnovationMap last fall about how the company has grown and is always looking to expand.

"The goal was for NextSeed to keep innovating and bring in new technologies and processes," Lee says.

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Houston Public Library to open new state-of-the-art TECHLink center in 2025

Innovation Station

Work is underway for a new state-of-the-art TECHLink space from Houston Public Library (HPL). The free center for innovators and creatives is expected to open in fall 2025 at Vinson Neighborhood Library this year.

The new 3,480-square-foot space will replace the branch’s existing HPL Express area, which closed January 25 in preparation for construction. This will be HPL's fifth TECHLink center, and it will serve one of South Houston's busiest libraries, notes a release.

“I always look forward to seeing our customers’ creative wheels turning and formulating plans once they recognize all of the technologies and equipment that they can freely access,” Roland Lemonius, TECHLink Division Manager, said in a news release.

TECHLink Vinson will include HPL's largest TECHLink video studio and also a dedicated studio/set for podcasts and vloggers.

HPL TECHLinkVideo studio at TECHLink Dixon. Courtesy of HPL

It will also feature a music recording studio, an editing lab, and a Makerspace lab for 3D printing and laser engraving. Virtual and in-person training opportunities will be available in a training lab in the future, according to HPL.

For kids, the Tiny Techs Zone offers a dedicated area to educate youth on 3D printing and robotics.

“Being able to enhance their quality of life in this way along with our other library services is very rewarding,” Lemonius added in the release.

TECHLink Vinson will join four other locations:

  • TECHLink Alief
  • TECHLink Dixon
  • TECHLink Scenic Woods
  • TECHLink Walker
Find a virtual tour of the Dixon location here.


croployaltyshopping_cartlocal_librarydeleteTECHLINKTECHLink Vinson will join four other locations, including DIxon. Courtesy of HPL


Texas universities develop innovative open-source platform for cell analysis

picture this

What do labs do when faced with large amounts of imaging data? Powerful cloud computing systems have long been the answer to that question, but a new riposte comes from SPACe.

That’s the name of a new open-source image analysis platform designed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston.

SPACe, or Swift Phenotypic Analysis of Cells, was created to be used on standard computers that even small labs can access, meaning cellular analysis using images produced through cell painting has a lower barrier to entry than ever before.

“The pharmaceutical industry has been accustomed to simplifying complex data into single metrics. This platform allows us to shift away from that approach and instead capture the full diversity of cellular responses, providing richer, more informative data that can reveal new avenues for drug development,” Michael Mancini, professor of molecular and cellular biology and director of the Gulf Coast Consortium Center for Advanced Microscopy and Image Informatics co-located at Baylor College of Medicine and TAMU Institute for Bioscience and Technology.

SPACe is not only accessible because of its less substantial computational needs. Because the platform is open-source, it’s available to anyone who needs it. And it can be used by academic and pharmaceutical researchers alike.

“The platform allows for the identification of non-toxic effects of drugs, such as alterations in cell shape or effects on specific organelles, which are often overlooked by traditional assays that focus largely on cell viability,” says Fabio Stossi, currently a senior scientist with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the lead author who was at Baylor during the development of SPACe.

The platform is a better means than ever of analyzing thousands of individual cells through automated imaging platforms, thereby better capturing the variability of biological processes. Through that, SPACe allows scientists an enhanced understanding of the interactions between drugs and cells, and does it on standard computers, translating to scientists performing large-scale drug screenings with greater ease.

"This tool could be a game-changer in how we understand cellular biology and discover new drugs. By capturing the full complexity of cellular responses, we are opening new doors for drug discovery that go beyond toxicity,” says Stossi.

And the fact that it’s open-source allows scientists to access SPACe for free right now. Researchers interested in using the platform can access it through Github at github.com/dlabate/SPACe. This early version could already make waves in research, but the team also plans to continually improve their product with the help of collaborations with other institutions.

The Ion names new coworking partner for Houston innovation hub

Where to Work

Rice University subsidiary Rice Real Estate Co. has tapped coworking company Industrious as the new operator of the Ion’s 86,000-square-foot coworking space in Midtown. Industrious replaces WeWork-owned Common Desk in that role.

The Ion, owned by Rice Real Estate and located at 4201 Main St., is a 266,000-square-foot office building and innovation hub in the 16-acre Ion District.

Features of the coworking space include private suites and offices, dedicated desks, phone booths and conference rooms. In 2022, Common Desk said it was expanding the space by 28,000 square feet, bringing it to the current size.

“(Industrious’) unparalleled expertise in delivering quality, hospitality-driven workspaces complements our vision of creating a world-class ecosystem where entrepreneurs, corporations, and academia converge to drive innovation forward,” Ken Jett, president of Rice Real Estate, said in a statement.

Natalie Levine, senior manager of real estate at Industrious, says her company will work with Rice Real Estate “to continue to position the Ion as an invaluable contributor to the growth of Houston’s innovation community.”

Dallas-based commercial real estate services company CBRE said Jan. 14 that it had agreed to acquire Industrious in a deal valued at $400 million.

The Ion is Industrious’ second location in Houston. The company’s other local coworking space is at 1301 McKinney St.

Office tenants at the Ion include Occidental Petroleum, Fathom Fund, Activate, Carbon Clean, Microsoft and Chevron Technology Ventures.

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