Searchers X Franchising
Searchers are increasingly turning to franchises for their proven playbooks, accessibility, and most importantly, long-term growth potential. This event will feature some of the fastest-growing franchise brands in our signature Shark Tank format. Pitches are followed by networking.
Judges:
John Rigos is the founder of Aurify Brands, the next gen hospitality group with 50+ restaurants.
Annelyse Gast is a recent searcher, a Wharton MBA grad, and a product manager for Amazon Fashion Tech.
Saumil Jariwala is the founder and Managing Partner at Feta Fund
Nate Shantz, co-author of multiple Yale Business School papers on Searchers x Franchising with Pr. Wasserstein, Principal at Tri Volta Investment
Sarah Andrews, Searchfund Lending Officer at Live Oak Bank
Pitches:
Brian Woods, Group Vice President, Franchise Development & Alyssa Hernandez,Vice President, Franchise Resales at Neighborly Brands
Marc Geman, CEO of Bambu
Dave Pazgan, CEO of Kidokinetics
Al Harlow, CEO of Click IT Stores
Pitch Format: 5-minute pitch followed by a 3-minute Q&A from the judges for each presenter. Highlight your story, brand, profit, and scalability to attract multi-unit franchisees or investors. Showcase your brand physically if possible. Slides are optional.
Here is a video from a past event. and another one
Location: 185 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007
Event Sponsor: Live Oak Bank
Live Oak’s search fund lending team is solely focused on helping traditional and self-funded search funders access capital to acquire businesses.