
NRD Capital
4170 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Suite 390, Atlanta, Georgia, 30319, United States
Overview
NRD’s mission is to invest in brands that offer superior products and compelling unit economics and help them grow to their fullest potential using the power of franchising. They believe that sustained franchise growth is an outcome of franchisee success. Their investment approach focuses on building solid unit economic models for their franchisees, while adhering to a strong value system. They believe when franchisees and franchisors work together in a spirit of partnership, all parties win. NRD Capital occupies a unique niche in franchise equity investments. Their fund buys small to medium sized franchisors and applies their multi-unit and operating expertise to grow their brands. They look at franchise companies not just as financial vehicles but as living entities in which concept founders and franchisees have invested significant amounts of time and resources. Their goal is to use their operational and financial expertise to position high quality brands for accelerated growth. Their team has over 75 years of franchise experience from single store operations to public company management. Collectively, the team has been involved in 20 brands including top global brands such as Popeyes, Burger King, Snap Fitness and Domino's as well as regional brands such as Moe's Southwest Grill, Pet Valu, Super Wash and local startups such as Urban Grounds and Tutor Force. Their experience encompasses every area of the franchise business model from sales, financing, and real estate development to operations, marketing, HR, and technology through to successful exit strategies. The core pillar of NRD's strategy is to invest in brands where franchisee success is the central value. NRD invests in brands that meet the criteria of their proprietary model, known as Own It!©, which incorporates "The 5 Ps" (product, profit, people, processes, and partnership). Own It! establishes a clear focus on franchisee success.
- Total investments
- 7
- Lead investments
- 1
- Investments · 12mo
- 1
- Active investors
- 1
Investment portfolio
- Turtle Club
Participated · Equity · Oct 2025
Turtle has built a liquidity distribution protocol that curates opportunities, consolidates liquidity, and routes it to DeFi partners via a data-driven coordination layer. The platform currently serves an expanding network, linking more than 358,000 wallets and routing over $5.5 billion in liquidity. To date, the company has generated more than $6 million in revenue, illustrating the sustainability of its model compared with short-term incentive schemes. Led by CEO Essi Lagevardi, Turtle is now focusing on accelerating the rollout of its Earn infrastructure, enlarging its engineering team, and deepening multi-chain integrations. The recent capital injection lifts its total external funding to $11.7 million. These resources are intended to fuel further product development and ecosystem expansion across multiple blockchains.
- medIQ
Participated · Seed · Apr 2022
medIQ operates an integrated digital healthcare platform that delivers B2B virtual care and direct services to urban and rural individual customers. Its plug-and-play technology stack links an online pharmacy, laboratory services, GPs and specialists across 32 specialties, nursing staff and dedicated home care teams. A proprietary electronic medical record consolidates patient data to promote interoperability, improve quality and reduce cost of care. The company reports a demonstrated track record of serving more than 300,000 patients in eighteen months. medIQ plans to invest the new funding into tech infrastructure, developing AI and machine-learning tools using its patient data. The startup intends to expand services across 20 Pakistani cities and pursue regional growth.
- 1Huddle
Participated · Series A · Jan 2020
1Huddle provides a training solution built around science-backed, quick-burst mobile games designed to upskill, train and motivate employees. Its games focus on skills development and increasing employee performance across verticals such as sports, retail, hospitality, restaurants, healthcare, municipalities, financial services and franchises. Clients named in the article include Audible, Novartis, the City of Newark, ESPN, Vineyard Vines, RWJBarnabas Health, Hyundai, Loews Hotels, Wegmans, Hand & Stone and prominent sports teams like the Golden State Warriors, Kansas City Chiefs, Madison Square Garden, Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Rams. The company is led by CEO and founder Sam Caucci. 1Huddle raised $5M in a Series A round and intends to use the funds to increase staffing, accelerate growth and meet global demand for its product. The company is based in Newark, N.J. 1Huddle provides a mobile-first, game-based training platform designed to onboard and upskill workforces through short mobile games. Led by founder and CEO Sam Caucci, the company targets employee retention, satisfaction and performance improvements. Its solutions are used across sports, entertainment, financial services, automotive, education, retail and hospitality sectors. Key clients include ESPN, Audible, Madison Square Garden, the Golden State Warriors, Denver International Airport and Loews Hotels. 1Huddle plans to use recent funding to grow its customer base and expand its game-based technology platform.
- ShiftOne
Participated · Seed · Feb 2019
ShiftOne is a mobile app that leverages real-time, individual performance data—typically from point-of-sale systems or guest review collectors—to power competitions, encourage communication and recognition, and monitor operational health such as attrition risk. The platform is supplemented by automated, AI-driven analysis tools that equip leadership with insights and means to support and retain their teams. The company launched an AI-driven performance analysis and attrition risk assessment tool called Smart Alerts after three quarters of product refinement and major platform enhancements. It is also developing a feature to let operators create personalized competitions that automatically key off POS and guest satisfaction data. ShiftOne plans to use the new funding to expand its product and sales teams, implement new features, and bring the platform to new enterprise brands. The company is based in Arlington, VA. MomentSnap provides an engagement tool for enterprises to monitor data and deliver individualized, per-shift performance updates directly to hourly workers' devices. The platform also includes a top-to-bottom communications channel for enterprise-wide messaging and manager-to-workforce recognition. MomentSnap was started in mid-2016 by Ashish Gambhir and Kam Desai and is based in Arlington, VA. Named customers include Five Guys, Applebee's, Marcus Hotels and Patxi's Pizza. The company raised a $2.3M seed round to support its growth. It plans to use the funds to bolster sales efforts and expand the technical capabilities of its mobile application platform.
- Qu
Participated · Series B · Feb 2019
Qu provides an enterprise unified commerce platform focused on multi-channel ordering for enterprise-scale QSR and fast casual chains. Its suite of products includes in-store POS, kiosks, digital ordering, drive-thru, KDS, and unified menu management. Recent additions and planned innovations include Edge Computing for increased in-store speed and stability, voice AI/ML-enabled mobile alerts and reporting, and unified fulfillment solutions. The platform is built from the ground up and is designed to increase employee efficiencies and operator profit margins. Qu reported strong traction this year—selected by over a dozen brands, store count up by over 150%, and ARR growth of over 125%. The company intends to continue expanding its foundational software platform to become the partner of choice for large QSR and Fast Casual brands. Qu (formerly Gusto POS) offers an enterprise-class, cloud-based POS platform built on an API-first architecture that centralizes POS management and supports omni-channel ordering. The product targets fast-casual and quick-service restaurant chains with features for in-store, kiosk, handheld, drive-thru, online, and mobile ordering. Qu also offers an in-house delivery solution as a complimentary alternative to third-party delivery providers. The company emphasizes best-in-class integrations, payment processor choice, and tools to help restaurateurs move faster, stay nimble, and increase profits. Qu says its platform is used by leading restaurants across the U.S. and plans to accelerate development of strategic initiatives and platform features. The company announced a $10 million Series B to support that product roadmap and go-to-market momentum.
Team
Aziz Hashim
Founder and Managing Partner
LinkedIn