FranchiseVerdict
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FV-00230·CAUTIONExcellent86

Bambū

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2015Website
Investment
$159K – $328K
26th pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
60th pct Quick Service
Royalty
Units
60
63rd pct Quick Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $159K – $328K including a $49K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 71/100.
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Bambu Franchising LLC
Incorporated in
Colorado
HQ
6000 East Evans Ave., Bldg. 2, Suite 210, Denver, Colorado 80222
Auditor
Reese CPA LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$2.9M
vs $2.7M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Bambū unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: qsr
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $159K–$328K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$15K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

38%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$98K
EBITDA margin
13.0%
Total invested
$259K
Payback
32 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate dessert and beverage retail shops (boba tea, smoothies, specialty drinks, and sweet treats), managing point-of-sale operations, inventory, staff scheduling, and customer service in a QSR or café-style format. Day-to-day work involves food/beverage preparation, customer transactions, marketing, and operational compliance within a protected territory.

CEO
Marc Geman
Founded
2014
FDD year
2025
States available
22

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$159K – $328K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $15K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$49K
Royalty
3½% of your actual Net Revenues
Ad fund
$550 per month
Total fee load
3.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
60
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
12
Turnover rate
20.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-13.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-1.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
60-9
Franchised units
2024
69
Franchised units
2025
61
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 19 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 19 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

71
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION71 / 100

Bambū presents HIGH RISK due to 13% unit decline, absence of financial disclosure, multiple litigation incidents, and false going concern status—indicating a contracting system with unproven unit economics and regulatory/operational red flags.

Score breakdown · what drove the 71 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDUnit count declined 13% YoY (60 units), indicating system contraction and potential franchisee struggles
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure — inability to verify average unit economics or profitability claims
  3. 03HIGHMultiple litigation proceedings including territorial dispute leading to shoppe closure, plus historical unregistered franchise sales violations in Virginia and Maryland
  4. 04HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests franchisor may have solvency or operational sustainability concerns
  5. 05MINORHigh initial investment ($159k-$328k) paired with declining unit count creates elevated risk of capital loss
  6. 06MINOR3.5% royalty on net revenues (not gross) indicates franchisor may struggle with cash flow; franchisee financial data obscured

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
geographic area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
3
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Colorado

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
16 hrs
On-the-job training
72 hrs
POS system
Square bundled system
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

72 numbers

Locked
(714) 616-••••
CA
(408) 739-••••
CA
(415) 379-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Bambū · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above