About Us
The Beginning
It begins in San Francisco, California. We were part of what was known as the Tech Shop Makerspace in the Mid Peninsula where Jack Dorsey created his first Square Credit Card Reader and many other innovations. And, soaking up the all things happening around what was the Startup Community of the SF Bay Area.
2016-2020
Inception in Austin, TX
Our inception happened after we move to Austin, Texas in 2016. After seeing the vibrant marketplace of South Congress, We were inspired to create a platform to provide access to venue locations for artisan vendors. Concepts were developed but we put on the shelf momentarily to focus on other projects.
2020-2022
Pandemic
The 2020 pandemic bring focus to our original concept. Additionally During the COVID-19 Lockdown, we participated the Y Combinator Startup School Online. We were encouraged to go outside into the field to conduct user research. With some luck on our side, we met a few wonderful partners to start our own market to test the concept.
2023
POST HTX
Our first market launched as Lunar New Year Festival with POST HTX with 30,000 Attendees. Through out the year we are maintained our presence while expanding our venue offerings.
2024
Downtown Houston+
In 2024, Downtown Houston Management District invited us to work organize Lunar New Year Festival. We continue our success to bring about 20,000 attendees.
2025
Marketplace + Makerspace
With the success of our marketplace events. We are working towards consolidating operations into Factory HTX
Board Members
Elizabeth Rodwell, Ph.D.
Liana Gonzalez-Schulenberg
Jeff Feng
David Ross
Mohit Gupta
Su-Pu Fu
Pei Chang
Staff Members
Leo Chen, Executive Director
Alexandra Faltine, Events Manager
Meylin Alvarez, Education Coordinator
Pragya Srivastava, Sponsor Evangelist
© Rise Market Collective | A 501(c)(3) Certified Nonprofit Organization | All Rights Reserved 2024