Franchising Social Equity

Curio Wellness, a vertically integrated Maryland medical cannabis company, gives us an example of how this franchising model could operate. Curio created a social-equity fund that would allow applicants to own the franchise. The 30-million-dollar fund will be able to provide up to 93 percent of the startup capital needed for a location, meaning that the applicant needs much less of their own initial funding to get involved. In their model, franchisees “start out by owning 60 percent of a Curio store outright, with Curio corporate taking a 40 percent equity position,” according to Franchise Times.