The Bright Minds of NextGen 2019
In the fifth year of the NextGen in Franchising Global Competition, the IFA Foundation welcomed 12 bright young entrepreneurs to the IFA Annual Convention. It was, yet again, another incredibly competitive year. We received more than 500 applications – from 75 countries – from business owners vying for a chance to be a part of this year’s NextGen class.
Congratulations to Jeremy Hassell and Tim Butters of City Cave (Australia) who took the top prize in the final competition round. The runners-up were Princess Diana Rosario , What’s Your Flan (Philippines), and Brook Gagliano, Frutta Bowls (USA). Social Franchise Winner, Venuste Kubwimana, A Water Kiosk at School (Kenya). They presented before the esteemed panel of judges that included Carly Fiorina, Fiorina Enterprises, Michelle DeLuca Greco, DeLuca Foundation and Shelly Sun, CEO of Bright Star Care.
Our NextGen winners had the unparalleled opportunity of mentorship and networking opportunities with leaders in the franchising industry to help them navigate the challenges of emerging franchise businesses. Not even two weeks after the conclusion of the IFA2019 convention, Ruth Agbaji, Code Wiz, successfully signed up two new franchisees for her business all on the same day from connections and inroads made via NextGen and the IFA Annual Convention!
Ruth Agbaji and her two new Code Wiz franchisees.
Rihab Hasanain of Blooming Bs of Saudi Arabia was one of 12 finalists to present at the first round of the NextGen Global Competition.
Meet the all of the winners of the 2019 NextGen Competition here and see the IFA Annual Convention through their eyes in the NextGen highlight video!
