Kidokinetics was founded on the idea of allowing children to try a variety of sports and activities without the need to compete or stick with one.
With the creation of Kidokinetics, a youth sports and physical education franchise, founder Terri Braun sought to offer a way for kids to experience different activities but without the emphasis on competition. Now with more than 100 locations, the brand is preparing for its next growth stage.
“This world has become so competitive that it’s come to the point where if you’re not involved in a sport, where there’s ultimately a game at the end and a winner and a loser, then there is nothing for you,” said Braun. “There’s just no way for kids to be physically active unless they want to play in a sport, and they have to focus on just one sport.”
Braun grew up in South Africa, where she took karate lessons and at a young age would also help teach her peers. She later started Kidokinetics and built a model that allowed kids to try multiple activities—similar to physical education in schools—while saving parents the expense of buying equipment for numerous sports only to have their child not stick with it.
When she moved to the United States in 1997, Braun taught karate and was able to learn how schools operated their own exercise programs. She began pitching schools on why they needed something like Kidokinetics. She eventually registered the brand in 2000 and remained the only teacher as she got to work on a franchise program. She sold her first franchise in 2008 after attending an International Franchise Association expo.
Terri Braun, founder of Kidokinetics.
The brand has since demonstrated a strong pace of growth, particularly between 2022 and 2023 when it went from 42 units to 130. Braun attributed that swift expansion to her strong franchise team. The company also continues to benefit from a minority investment it received in 2021, from College Hunks Hauling Junk co-founders Omar Soliman and Nick Friedman.
Gross sales in 2023 for two multi-territory mature locations covering Dallas and Broward County, Florida, were $722,755 and $247,549, respectively. The company’s franchise disclosure document notes average sales for single territories were $67,672 last year.
Franchisees partner with other brands and schools to hold classes and camps, which keeps the initial investment on the low end, between $110,500 and $144,700.
To fund its continued growth push, Kidokinetics is using the FranShares platform for its latest capital raise, targeting a goal of $600,000. The money will go toward improving the technology and the support infrastructure for franchisees.
“We’re climbing that ladder and just about to hit the top, and the only thing holding us back is needing some more capital,” said Braun. “We just decided we needed to raise a meaningful amount and needed an innovative way to do it. It just gave us a platform to be in front of different people that I don’t think we would ever have gotten to be in front of.”
Chicago-based startup FranShares provides individual and institutional investors access to passive income via their investment in a franchise brand. It has some 43,000 people signed up for upcoming offerings—other brands on board are Hawaiian Bros, SmashMyTrash and Teriyaki Madness—and the company in July announced its own seed funding round of $4.1 million, led by Chicago Ventures.