Kendrick Nguyen
Kendrick Nguyen is a Vietnam-born Vietnamese American entrepreneur and lawyer who co-founded the private-markets investment platform Republic and has been chief executive of its operator, OpenDeal Inc.Republic (investment platform)Republic is a New York–based private-markets investment platform whose legal entity is OpenDeal Inc. Founded in 2016 as a spin-out of AngelList by Kendrick Nguyen and Paul Menchov, it began by letting ordinary investors put small amounts into startups under the US Regulation Crowdfunding rules. It later expanded through acquisitions including Fig, NextSeed, the British platform Seedrs and INX into games, local businesses, the European market, and tokenized securities and digital assets.Open the full entry, since 2016, sharing the co-CEO role with Andrew Durgee as of 2026. Before founding Republic, he was a securities litigator, chief counsel at The Permal Group, a fellow at Stanford Law School and general counsel of AngelListAngelListAngelList is a startup investment platform company based in San Francisco, United States. Founded in 2010 by Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi, it began as a mailing list recommending startups to angel investors, went on to launch online fundraising, Syndicates (co-investing), rolling funds, and other products, and later shifted into a fund administration and back-office services platform for venture capital funds and private markets.Open the full entry.
Contents18 sections
Key facts
Before 2008Early Life and Legal Career
Kendrick Nguyen was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States as a child, learning English as a second language. Having skipped several grades, he entered the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is a campus of the University of California system; the University of California was founded in 1868 through a merger of two institutions and moved to Berkeley, California, in 1873.Open the full entry at 12, majored in neuroscience and later became a securities litigator.[1]
By his own account, his parents moved to the United States because of the Vietnam War; he arrived in San Francisco at about nine and grew up in the Bay Area in a family with his parents and older siblings, and he later worked as a securities and patent litigator at Goodwin Procter.[2]
2008Chief Counsel During the Financial Crisis
He said he served as chief US counsel for a large firm during the 2008 financial crisis.[2]
His biography lists him as vice president and chief counsel of The Permal Group.[3]
2011–2012Teaches in Vietnam
In 2011–2012, he taught at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law.[4]
Before 2014Becomes a Stanford Law Fellow
He moved from law practice to a hedge fund and then to Stanford Law, taking a pay cut of about 90%.[5]
He was a fellow of Stanford Law School and of Stanford’s Center for Corporate Governance.[6]
2014–2016General Counsel of AngelList
From 2014 to 2016, he was general counsel of AngelList.[7]
He said he was AngelList’s first non-engineering hire and handled the legal and regulatory side of its syndicate product.[8]
2016Co-Founds Republic
From April 2016, he was chief executive and chief compliance officer of the newly formed OpenDeal Inc., operator of the crowdfunding platform Republic.[9]
2018–2019Speaks at Techfest Vietnam
In 2018 and 2019, he spoke at Techfest Việt Nam events in Vietnam and the United States, and Republic was an organising partner of the 2019 US event.[10]
July 2020Hosts a Republic Note Q&A
On July 14, 2020, he answered investors’ questions about the Republic Note online as co-founder.[11]
December 2020On the NextSeed Acquisition
Discussing the NextSeed deal, he said “The NextSeed acquisition is just the latest milestone for Republic”.[12]
April 2021On Crowdfunding
In April 2021, he said “Crowdfunding will become an inevitable trend.” and that he hoped Republic would lead that market.[4]
October 2021Series B
After Republic’s Series B, he said “Republic stands alone at the intersection of blockchain technology, retail investing, and traditional capital markets.”[13]
December 2021Announces the Seedrs Deal
Announcing the Seedrs deal, he said “Republic launched with the mission to make private investments accessible to all”.[14]
September 2022Remains Parent CEO
After Seedrs joined, he remained chief executive of the parent company OpenDeal Inc. and said the deal would “strengthen our position as a global leader”.[15]
April 2024Signs Republic Core’s Annual Report
On April 29, 2024, he signed Republic Core LLC’s annual report as chief executive of OpenDeal Inc., its manager.[16]
May 2026Signs Republic Core’s Termination of Reporting
On May 4, 2026, he again signed, as chief executive of OpenDeal Inc., Republic Core LLC’s filing terminating its crowdfunding reporting.[17]
As of October 2026: Co-CEO of Republic
As of October 2026, he is co-founder and co-CEO of Republic, leading it together with Andrew Durgee.[18]
His public biography states that he co-founded CoinList and is frequently consulted by SEC staff, the US Congress and the government of Vietnam.[6]
Another profile describes him as a founding adviser to CoinList and NOW Ventures and as an angel investor.[19]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Republic: Official website: https://republic.com/ (opens in a new window)[11]
Sources
- Episode 11: Kendrick Nguyen | Alto IRA (opens in a new window)
- Ep 52: Kendrick Nguyen (Co-Founder, Republic) – Becoming the Amazon of Private Investing (opens in a new window)
- Kendrick Nguyen (opens in a new window)
- Vietnamese-American man builds easy investment platform (opens in a new window)
- Kendrick Nguyen: Iterating in business & life (opens in a new window)
- Kendrick Nguyen | Milken Institute (opens in a new window)
- upside | Republic // helping anyone invest in private companies [CC081] (opens in a new window)
- What's new in crowdfunding for startups (opens in a new window)
- FORM FUNDING PORTAL UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 (opens in a new window)
- Công ty Fintech của doanh nhân gốc Việt gọi vốn thành công 150 triệu USD (opens in a new window)
- Republic Note Q&A with Co-founder Kendrick Nguyen (opens in a new window)
- NextSeed and Republic Discuss Acquisition: See Opportunity in Blockchain, Plan for Global Expansion (opens in a new window)
- Investment Crowdfunding Platform Republic Raises $150 Million Series B Round (opens in a new window)
- New York-based fintech firm Republic to acquire UK's crowdfunding platform Seedrs for €88M (opens in a new window)
- Republic Closes on Deal to Acquire Seedrs, Reveals Focus on Global Retail Investing (opens in a new window)
- FORM C (opens in a new window)
- FORM C (opens in a new window)
- About — Republic (opens in a new window)
- Smart Humans: Republic's Kendrick Nguyen Returns (opens in a new window)