Three quirky Kickstarter projects in Houston right now

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Houston's Kickstarter profile couldn't be complete without a boot maker. Ranch Road Boots makes men and women's boots paying homage to old-school stitching and designs. It's raised $20,345 of its original $15,000 goal.

Joe Martin

Reporter- Houston Business Journal

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Of all the Kickstarter projects from Houston, some meet the typical Houston stereotypes — a boot maker and a spacewalk adventure company. And then there are those that are off the beaten path.

Kickstarter projects have developed a reputation for being a little odd at times (see: PotatoStock), but they provide an opportunity to connect local startups with a large investor base.

And while Texas has recently approved its own crowdfunding legislation, a contested issue that gives unaccredited investors a chance to try their hands at investing in a variety of projects, such as oil wells or real estate, sites like Kickstarter will still remain popular on a national scale.

For those who don't know, Kickstarter allows companies and projects to seek funding from anyone who finds the project interesting. Whether its $1 or $1,000, funders can choose different projects and often receive incentives for donating. Often, incentives range from a shoutout on the product's website or one of the first generations of the product when its released.

Past Kickstarter projects have done fairly well. Quarterwave, a bluetooth speaker system, raised more than $50,000 even though it was asking for $10,000, and Omni, an Oculus platform for a virtual reality video game that was featured on Shark Tank, raised $1.1 million and was considered to be one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever.

Joe Martin covers health care and technology for the Houston Business Journal.