Houston fintech startup raises $8M seed round led by local VC

Small businesses often need a supportive home base to work from, and there’s one Texas city in particular that has worked hard to become a haven for business owners over the years.

Pearland offers assistance and a diverse workforce for entrepreneurs to grow their business. In fact, 83 percent of businesses in Pearland are locally owned. And when it comes to having an entrepreneurial spirit, no one is more passionate than David Graham, CEO of Pearland’s FranchiCzar.

Graham has focused on FranchiCzar, which provides franchise development, consulting, marketing and supplier networking in a range of services to help franchisees develop and scale their business.

FranchiCzar joins a collection of life sciences, energy and manufacturing companies that have expanded their reach in Pearland: Millar, Inc., Lonza, Merit Medical, Cardiovascular Systems and Endress+Hauser, to name a few.

One of Graham’s most exciting ventures launching this year is Valhallan, an eSports program for youth. Born from the belief that video games can enrich lives and create community for young people, Valhallan was developed to provide premium eSports programming while teaching life skills. Twenty Valhallan arenas will soon open around the country.

Graham’s serial entrepreneurship extends not only to franchise development and esports, but to training and education.

In the “exercise” category, Graham created the Iron 24 concept to provide a convenient 24/7 exercise experience, all from one app. The Iron 24 app allows members to manage membership details and unlock the gym at any time, day or night, without need for on-site staff. Currently, five locations are opening around the Greater Houston area, including two in Pearland.

Returning to his roots of education and enrichment, Graham hopes to launch Math Reactor in the near future. Math Reactor is a revolutionary, fun-first approach to math that helps children in grades five through eight learn math concepts in an engaging and relevant way. Math Reactor was created based on the knowledge that the best way for children to learn math is to make it fun and practical.

Graham is also the founder and creator of a children’s coding learning platform, Code Ninjas, which was sold last year.

Most recently, Graham recently acquired Pinot’s Palette, a popular paint and sip franchise with more than 80 locations across the United States and Canada.

Graham takes pride in being a resident of Pearland; other cities across the country have failed in their attempts to poach him from Texas.

During the times when other communities tried to lure him out of town, Graham shares that he was impressed with how the Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) and local business leaders “stepped up in a big way to make sure that Pearland kept me here, by offer us incentives.”

One way PEDC is enhancing Pearland’s culture of innovation entrepreneurship is through the Pearland Innovation Hub, which launched in May 2022. The hub connects the city with local and regional entrepreneurship programs, service providers and funding sources to help businesses maximize their growth potential and overall success. .

In addition, Graham shares that he appreciates how “PEDC helps bring in power companies every year, and it’s really rejuvenated our business community here.” Pearland’s diverse population has long been known as an asset, and in recent years the city has become even more racially and ethnically diverse.

“While there is no shortage of diverse opinions and abilities in Pearland, everyone stands together as citizens of Pearland and can all come together to make our community a better place to live and work,” says Graham.

In 2021, PEDC conducted a survey of all businesses in the community to gain a better understanding of their needs. The survey found that 92 percent of business owners felt Pearland is a great place to live, work and run a business, and more than 80 percent of respondents rated Pearland as an excellent or good place to do business – higher than the national comparison.