Jacksonville small businesses have a new option when it comes to financing their growth plans - taking in community investments from their neighbors through Honeycomb Credit! Honeycomb is a platform that allows anybody to invest in local small businesses that they care about starting at just $100 - and you can find Jacksonville small businesses crowdfunding now even more easily.
In addition to the support of their community who invests in them, these Jacksonville small businesses also have an added boost from the Jesse Ball Dupont Foundation’s Jacksonville Microfinance Fund and the Souls Grown Deep Foundation. These foundations are investing large amounts in these campaigns in order to further boost the Jacksonville region’s small business economy.
So, are you ready to meet these five Jacksonville small businesses that are changing the way small businesses can finance their expansion?
Kravegan
Kravegan is a from-scratch vegan restaurant that is the brainchild of LaTasha Kaiser. With a location in the Orange Park Mall, LaTasha was seeking to grow the restaurant by bottling and selling her famous vegan sauces - but she needed an influx of capital to do it with. So, she turned to Honeycomb and actually became the first Jacksonville investment offering to receive foundation investments on top of her community’s investments. Kravegan ended up raising $51,500 from 35 community investors.
“Moment of Transparency: I initially was hesitant about crowdfunding in general, as I didn’t want to damage my brand by “begging for donations, however the Honeycomb platform offered a great solution for our followers to invest in a brand they trust and love,” says LaTasha. “That said, investments appeared to be slow-moving, creating a concern that perhaps my fear of “begging for donations” was in fact the perception received by our followers. However after the DuPont Foundation invested in us, along with the other foundations such as Soul Grown Deep and A.L. Mailman, I’m confident I’ve made the right decision. These foundations have truly boosted my confidence."
Irie Diner
Irie Diner is a pan-Caribbean Jacksonville restaurant that has placed third in Clay County’s best Caribbean restaurants! The already-successful full service restaurant was ready to grow by building an outdoor patio so guests could enjoy their meals al fresco - so owner Peter Jackson turned to his community to raise investments to pay for it. Irie Diner’s investment offering raised $65,3455 from 35 investors
Murray Hillbilly
Murray Hillbilly is a long-beloved Southern-style vegan restaurant in Jacksonville. Its full-service, takeout, and delivery features have made it so that anybody seeking a plant-based comfort food fix can find one there!
When its previous owners put the Murray Hillbilly up for sale, two of the restaurant’s superfans, Rafaella DeGracia and Lindsay Cooper, decided to purchase it and make it their own. Part of their plans are to take Murray Hillbilly on the road in a food truck! On top of the food truck, the restaurant needed some updates and new equipment, and Lindsay and Rafaella also wanted to refinance some high-interest debt - they were able to raise money to do that with Honeycomb! Murray Hillbilly received investments of $43,712 from 42 investors for their expansion projects.
The Kookie Box
The Kookie Box is an internationally-inspired Jacksonville cookie bakery run by Tyrell Russel. When Tyrell was teaching abroad in China, he rediscovered his love for food, and took that spark home with him to start his business. The Kookie Box has grown from baking out of a church kitchen into weekly pop-ups, new markets, and eventually a food hall location.
Tyrell also wants to take The Kookie Box on the road and purchase a mobile food truck - which will allow them to bring fresh-baked cookies to breweries, farmer’s markets, and festivals throughout the Jacksonville area! So far, The Kookie Box received over $26,000 from 14 investors in the Jacksonville community.
Cultural Kitchen Catering
Cultural Kitchen Catering is a part-German, part-Caribbean catering company, food truck, and restaurant in Jacksonville. Started by the fusion of two popular food trucks, Twisting Roots Food Truck run by Rovetkey Johnson and Wurstbusters Food Truck, run by Annett Schultz, Cultural Kitchen has a customer base of 3,000 strong, who have come in handy in their latest endeavor - a Honeycomb investment to raise funds to expand their Jacksonville restaurant! So far, Cultural Kitchen Catering raised over $51,000 for their expansion from 14 customers.
Ready to join this generation of Jacksonville entrepreneurs?
You’ve got the thriving business, the loyal fans, and the prime location of Jacksonville - and we’ve got the means through which you can use those resources to boost your business’s growth. Learn more about Honeycomb Credit investment, and how you can benefit from foundation investments on top of community investments, by filling out the form below.