Fransmart

What Fransmart does

Fransmart is a private franchise development consulting firm founded in 2000 by Dan Rowe, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia with an additional office in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company operates a two-sided franchise development platform that helps emerging restaurant, retail, personal care, and entertainment brands scale into national and international franchise systems while connecting qualified entrepreneurs and multi-unit operators with franchise ownership opportunities. Its active brand portfolio spans 10 concepts across food and drink (Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Curry Up Now, HB Protein Smoothies, Konala, Rise Biscuits & Chicken), personal care (GLO30 Skincare), entertainment (The Swing Bays), and retail (Natural Hounds, PayMore Electronics), with a claimed track record of more than 5,000 franchise units sold worldwide across 25+ years of operation and a CEO who has personally taken 10 brands to more than 100 locations each, including Five Guys and QDOBA.

The company's core product is a structured 10-step franchise development process covering inquiry, application, FDD review, discovery days, territory discussion, and agreement signing, augmented by operational support in real estate site selection, recruiting, training, sales, and marketing strategy. Revenue is generated primarily through franchise development fees and royalty participation on its portfolio brands, supplemented by a capital investment platform that deploys $50K-$1M equity into early-stage brands meeting a 40%+ four-wall ROI threshold. Fransmart has referral and co-investment relationships with Kitchen Fund (for $1M+ rounds) and Franinvest, and maintains industry association ties with the National Restaurant Association, International Franchise Association, and the Culinary Institute of America (via CEO Dan Rowe's March 2026 Board of Trustees appointment). The team of approximately 17 named individuals is led by Rowe, CMO Sara Schmillen, VP of Sales Al Rowe, VP of Franchise Development Nate Amacher, Financial Controller Bernice Hamm, and a board including Joe Essa and John Oswald.

Fransmart is not a technology platform; its product is consulting services, sales process expertise, and franchise network curation. The only AI-adjacent capability in the portfolio is the GLOria diagnostics platform owned by GLO30, a franchise brand in which Fransmart invested in 2025, not by Fransmart itself. The firm operates a "Smart Franchising With Fransmart" podcast (launched 2024, currently in Season 5) as a thought-leadership and lead-generation channel, and has an active social and content marketing presence across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Fransmart is founder-owned and operated with no disclosed external institutional capital, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no public financial reporting.

Name

Fransmart

Legal name

Fransmart

Website

https://fransmart.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fransmart is a private franchise development consulting firm that helps emerging restaurant, retail, personal care, and entertainment brands scale into national franchise systems while connecting qualified entrepreneurs with franchise ownership across a 10-brand portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Franchise Development Services

akta.pro primary industry

Franchise Resale & Franchise Brokerage (Transfers/Resales) (FSAEAIAG)

Keywords

• Franchise development services
• Franchise consulting
• Restaurant franchising
• Franchise sales support
• Brand expansion services

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Franchise Development Services: Fransmart generates revenue by helping emerging brands develop practical franchise development expansion plans. They charge franchise fees and ongoing royalties from brands in their portfolio.
2. Capital Investments: Fransmart invests equity funding from $50K to $1M into early-stage brands, targeting brands with strong unit economics (40%+ four-wall ROI) and real differentiation. They seek brands positioned to scale to hundreds of locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Fransmart is a franchise development company that helps emerging restaurant, retail, personal care, and entertainment brands scale into national and international franchise systems. It sells franchise rights in its portfolio of 10 brands (e.g., The Halal Guys, GLO30, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Curry Up Now, PayMore Electronics, Rise Biscuits & Chicken) to qualified multi-unit operators and entrepreneurs, and provides end-to-end franchise development support including sales, marketing, real estate, operations, recruiting, training, and legal/compliance services through a proprietary 10-step process.

Product overview

Fransmart is a franchise development company — not a unified software platform — that serves two sides: it helps emerging restaurant and retail brands scale through franchising, and it helps qualified entrepreneurs find and own franchise territories. Its core product is franchise development services (sales, marketing, real estate, operations, legal/compliance support), augmented by a capital investment platform for early-stage brand investment. The portfolio includes 10 active franchise brands across Food & Drink (Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Curry Up Now, HB Protein Smoothies, Konala, Rise Biscuits & Chicken), Personal Care (GLO30 Skincare), Entertainment (The Swing Bays), and Retail (Natural Hounds, PayMore Electronics), plus the Smart Franchising With Fransmart podcast as a thought leadership sub-brand. Fransmart also maintains two office locations in Alexandria, VA and Scottsdale, AZ, and its brand portfolio has collectively generated more than 5,000 franchise units sold worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HB Protein Smoothies: A simple operation with low labor in a fast-growing drink and protein segment.
• Rise Biscuits & Chicken
• Konala
• Brooklyn Dumpling Shop
• Curry Up Now
• The Swing Bays
• GLO30 Skincare
• Natural Hounds
• PayMore Electronics

Products and services

• Franchise Development Services Comprehensive franchise development services for emerging restaurant, retail, personal care, and entertainment brands. Includes franchise sales programs, marketing and lead generation, operating systems and technology partnerships, staffing assistance, brand networking connections, and compliance and legal services, delivered through a proprietary 10-step process from inquiry through grand opening.
• Capital Investment Platform (Franinvest) Fransmart's capital investment platform deploying $50,000 to $1,000,000 in equity into early-stage franchise brands with strong unit economics (40%+ four-wall ROI) and real differentiation, targeting brands positioned to scale to hundreds of locations. Managed alongside the Kitchen Fund for investments of $1 million or more.
• Brooklyn Dumpling Shop Franchise A 24-hour, contactless automat dumpling franchise offering 32 flavors of dumplings with touchless ordering and food locker pickup. Franchise fee $45,000; multi-unit startup costs $508,278–$856,778; 6% royalty; targeting 500 units in 5 years.
• Curry Up Now Franchise The largest and fastest-growing Indian fast casual restaurant chain in North America, serving innovative Indian street food with a modern twist. Franchise fee $35,000; startup costs $416,450–$1,779,750; minimum 2-unit development.
• HB Protein Smoothies Franchise A simple-operation protein smoothie and drink franchise in a fast-growing segment, featuring low labor requirements and high-protein offerings.
• Konala Franchise The first healthy fast food franchise — a small-footprint drive-thru concept serving global flavors in high-protein, 100% gluten-free bowls. Startup costs $428,500–$750,500; veteran discounts offered; no grills or fryers; 3–4 employees per shift.
• Rise Biscuits & Chicken Franchise A Southern breakfast and lunch franchise serving scratch-made biscuits and chicken with a tech-forward, take-out ready business model. Franchise fee $35,000; minimum 5-unit development; 6% royalty; $500K liquid capital; $1MM net worth.
• GLO30 Skincare Franchise A doctor-founded skincare studio franchise bridging day spas and med spas. Features a membership model with AI-powered diagnostics through the proprietary GLOria platform. 3,125% growth since franchise launch; 129 franchise units in development; 30 open/under construction.
• The Swing Bays Franchise An indoor golf and fitness franchise combining lessons, TrackMan data-driven training, club fitting, equipment repair, fitness, and social events. Memberships range from $35 to $595 per month; members return on average every 4.7 days.
• Natural Hounds Franchise A pet food franchise specializing in fresh, locally made dog food with a low-cost, high-margin model targeting the fresh dog food and pet wellness market.
• PayMore Electronics Franchise The first of its kind electronics resale franchise enabling safe transactions for buying, selling, and trading electronics with data wiping and instant cash. Startup costs $131,750–$361,500; 70% of sales online; 2 people per shift; 5.5-day work weeks; 100+ open locations; 500+ in development.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 5,000 franchise units sold worldwide
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Culinary Institute of AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Fransmart CEO Dan Rowe was appointed to The Culinary Institute of America's Board of Trustees to support the institute's growth and strategic initiatives as it celebrates its 80th year. The appointment brings extensive experience in business growth, hospitality, and franchise development.
• National Restaurant AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFransmart maintains relationships with industry associations like the National Restaurant Association to advocate for franchisors and franchisees that are the backbone of their business.
• International Franchise AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFransmart has relationships with the International Franchise Association to advocate for franchisors and franchisees, supporting industry growth and standards.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• United Franchise Group: Large multi-brand franchise development and management organization with global brand portfolio. Comparable multi-brand franchise development capabilities but at much larger scale than Fransmart.
• Driven Brands: Public multi-brand automotive-services franchise holding company demonstrating large-scale franchise aggregation model. Useful comp for Fransmart's eventual multi-brand scaling ambitions.
• Neighborly: Multi-brand home-services franchise holding company with portfolio of 30+ brands. Analogous franchise-portfolio aggregation model, though focused on home services rather than Fransmart's verticals.
• Authority Brands: Multi-brand franchise holding company operating home-services franchise concepts. Comparable franchise-portfolio aggregation model though operating in different verticals than Fransmart's F&B-leaning mix.

Direct peers

• FranChoice: Franchise consulting firm specializing in matching prospective franchisees with emerging franchise brands — direct competitor in the franchisee-curation space.
• FranNet: Franchise consulting and matchmaking firm connecting aspiring franchisees with emerging and established brands. Most direct competitor to Fransmart's franchisee-recruitment and brand-development model.
• The Entrepreneur's Source: Large franchise coaching and consulting network focused on helping entrepreneurs identify and evaluate franchise opportunities — overlapping Fransmart's franchisee-matching service line.
• IFPG (International Franchise Professionals Group): Franchise consultant network and broker organization connecting franchise consultants, brokers, and brands. Comparable franchise-development intermediary model to Fransmart.

Others

• Roark Capital Group: Private equity firm specializing in franchise and multi-unit consumer businesses (owns Inspire Brands, Driven Brands). Adjacent capital provider and potential competitor/partner for Fransmart's portfolio brands.

Emerging players

• Franchise Business Review: Franchise research and benchmarking organization providing franchisee-satisfaction data and brand assessments. Adjacent service to Fransmart with partial overlap in franchisee due-diligence support.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fransmartsocial
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@FransmartSocial
• Facebookfacebook.com/fransmart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fransmart
• Instagraminstagram.com/fransmartsocial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fransmart