Funding Platform EquityEats Aims to Make it Easier for Restaurant Owners to Finance Their Business

For restaurant owners, financing their business or just covering operating costs can be difficult. A new funding platform aims to change that. EquityEats is an alternative to costly bank loans, providing funding for restaurant owners as long as they meet three simple criteria: they must have an existing restaurant or food truck, they cannot be behind on their rent, and they must have at least 1,000 likes on their Facebook page or an email list of more than 500 customers. In exchange for providing cash, EquityEats takes restaurant gift certificates that the funding platform then sells to make a profit. EquityEats provided restaurants more than $4 million in funding last year, and projects to double that in 2017. TheStreet's Rhonda Schaffler made a visit to one of the first New York City restaurants to obtain financing from EquityEats.