About
The franchise database that finally treats Korea as a first-class market.
FranchiseCensus is built for the people who actually use franchise data to make decisions — PE deal teams, lenders, CRE landlords, brokers, and the operators evaluating a concept. We combine 12,276 KFTC-registered Korean brands with 10,587 US franchise systems in one schema, so a Korean coffee chain and a US pizza brand can be screened side by side without translation, without re-keying, and without a $15K analyst engagement.
What makes this different
Korea, not as a footnote
12,276 KFTC-registered systems normalized into the same fields as the US database. No other English-language source has done this work.
Built for the work, not the browse
Open a profile and you see startup cost, royalty rate, store-network history, contract terms, and Item 19 financials in one screen.
One database, four buyer types
PE deal teams, lenders, CRE landlords and brokers, and operators all use the same data — with the diligence layer behind the gate when the screen turns serious.
Why now
Three reasons this database didn't exist until now.
Franchise diligence still means PDFs and re-keying
Even in 2026, evaluating a franchise concept means downloading FDDs from state portals, opening 200-page PDFs, and copying numbers into a spreadsheet. We did that work once, structured it, and made it queryable.
Korea is the most data-transparent franchise market on earth
The KFTC publishes annual disclosures for every registered system. Almost no English-language platform has structured them. We built our database around Korea first because the data is denser and the gap is bigger.
Cross-border deals need one schema, not two countries
If you're evaluating a Korean brand for the US market — or vice versa — you need both sides of the deal in the same fields. Same royalty column. Same startup cost ranges. Same store-network history. That's the database.
Who buys this
Four buyer types. One database. Different parts of the same job.
PE deal teams and lenders
Pressure-test unit economics, build a category screen, and cite a primary source the LP will accept — without paying $15K for an analyst engagement first.
CRE landlords, brokers, and tenant reps
See which Korean brands are actually scaling, who their parent company is, what their average build-out costs, and whether they have a US presence yet. Built into the same workflow as US brand evaluation.
Franchise operators and buyers
Compare three brands side by side on the fees and contract terms that actually matter — not the marketing brochure version. The diligence rows behind the gate are the ones the salesperson never volunteers.
How it works
Free at the front door. Paid when the decision needs the diligence rows.
Search by brand, category, or country
Free-tier search returns every system in the database. No paywall on discovery. Korea, US, or both — in the same result set.
Open the profile, see the gated rows
Public fields cover the basics. Membership unlocks the diligence rows: royalty rate, transfer fees, contract length, Item 19 financials, store-network history.
Compare three at a time, or buy the report
When the shortlist is real, the side-by-side compare table tells you which one wins on which axis. When the question is a whole market, the institutional report does the synthesis for you.
Get to work
Enough about us. Open the database.
Start with the brand you already have in mind, or start with a category and let the database surface the candidates. Either way, you'll know inside 90 seconds whether FranchiseCensus saves you time on the next deal.