Two young Aussie franchisors have snapped up the NextGen in Franchising Award in the US. City Cave founders Jeremy Hassell and Timothy Butters trumped global competitors at the 2019 International Franchise Association annual convention in Las Vegas.

City Cave wins

NextGen in Franchising is a global competition that seeks to engage millennial entrepreneurs who use the franchise model to grow their businesses.

The Franchise Council of Australia backs the program and with the IFA encouraged new and potential Australian franchisors to compete in this annual event.

The City Cave duo presented their business model to an audience of more than 2000 and answered questions from an expert panel before scooping the top prize.

The pair had previously taken part in accelerated workshops and enjoyed mentoring sessions this week as part of their finalists program at the IFA convention.

Hassell told Inside Franchise Business “This is a tremendous result for us and it a direct reflection of the dedication and hard work everyone across the business has put into making City Cave what it is today.

“To be recognised on a global platform like NextGen in Franchising Competition, competing against franchise brands from so many different countries has been a great experience for us and has set the pace for the rest of the year,” he said.

“We are looking forward to continuing our growth plans for 2019 and seeing more locations open across Australia.”

City Cave is just starting out

The Brisbane wellness business is at the beginning of its franchise journey. While Hassell and Butler have four outlets now they plan to expand along the east coast.

The concept is to provide complementary therapies in one place. So each centre includes floatation pools, infrared saunas and has rooms for allied and natural health practitioners and a community space to run yoga and health related workshops.