FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01095·STRONGExcellent81

Gracie Barra

Health & FitnessFranchising since 2010Website
Investment
$76K – $234K
14th pct Health & Fitn…
Avg revenue
58th pct Health & Fitn…
Royalty
Units
367
95th pct Health & Fitn…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $76K – $234K including a $10K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 21 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 22.6% CAGR over 3 years with 367 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Gracie Barra Franchise Systems, Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
300 Spectrum Center Drive, Suite 400, Irvine, California 92618
Auditor
MM & Company, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$2.5M
vs $3.4M 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 Gracie Barra 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: fitness
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $76K–$234K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

124%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%
ROIC above 100% usually means the revenue figure is a system-wide aggregate or top-cohort number rather than a single-unit average. Verify the "Revenue · per unit" field against the brand's FDD Item 19 detail tables before relying on this output.

Store EBITDA · annual
$218K
EBITDA margin
29.0%
Total invested
$175K
Payback
10 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 martial arts training academies offering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instruction to youth and adult clients. Day-to-day operations include managing instructors, conducting classes, membership billing, facility maintenance, and community marketing to drive enrollment and retention.

CEO
Flavio Almeida
Founded
2009
FDD year
2025
States available
30

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$76K – $234K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$10K
Royalty
$600 per month for first 3 months, then $900 per month
Ad fund
n/d

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
367
Opened
40
Last reporting year
Closed
11
Turnover rate
3.0%
Company-owned
14
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
96%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
1.6%
Net growth (yr3)
+9.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+22.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
353+29
Franchised units
2024
324
Franchised units
2025
288
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 18 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 · 18 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.

Total loans
21
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

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

Risk & Legal

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Material litigation, undisclosed financials, and subpar growth create moderate-to-high risk despite protected territory and reasonable initial investment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHActive litigation involving vicarious liability for sexual assault at franchised location creates significant legal and reputational risk
  2. 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Revenue and Net Income not disclosed) prevents accurate ROI analysis on $76k-$233.5k investment
  3. 03MINORModest unit growth of 9.0% YoY is below industry standards for martial arts/fitness franchises, suggesting market saturation or underperformance
  4. 04MINORLow royalty structure ($600-$900/month) indicates weak franchisor support infrastructure relative to franchisee investment size
  5. 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (typically 10 years), creating renewal uncertainty and unstable long-term planning

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
1
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
40 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Kinetic Data
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

83 numbers

Locked
(604) 839-••••
Erastus Chan Gracie Barra New Westminster
(408) 607-••••
Ashley Proctor, and Alexandre Costa Gracie Barra Morgan Hill
CA
(805) 699-••••
Jason Elliott and Katherine Elliott
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Gracie Barra · FDD (2025) PDF

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