Five years after its founding, Unleashed Brands closed the first half of 2026 with 73 franchise agreements signed and 34 new locations opened across its seven youth enrichment concepts. The Dallas-based platform now operates more than 1,500 locations and serves over 20 million children nationwide, marking a significant expansion milestone for the multi-brand franchise holding company.
The company groups the franchise brands Urban Air, The Little Gym, Sylvan Learning, Snapology, Class 101, Premier Martial Arts, and Water Wings Swim School under a single holding structure, with each brand operating independently in its category while sharing operational support, technology, and marketing resources. Through its franchise model, Unleashed Brands enables entrepreneurs to join established youth enrichment concepts while leveraging the infrastructure, expertise, and resources of a multi-brand platform.
Founded in 2021, the company has grown from a single-brand operator into one of the largest multi-brand youth enrichment franchise platforms in the country within five years.
73 Agreements and 34 New Locations Across Seven Brands in Six Months
Across its portfolio, the company completed 58 lease signings and opened 34 new locations in the first half of 2026. The Little Gym accounted for 16 of those openings, the highest single-brand contribution to new unit growth within the platform. Water Wings Swim School, which launched its franchise program in May 2025, awarded 39 franchise units in its first year of franchising and is scheduled to open its first franchised location in August 2026. “The momentum we’ve seen during the first half of 2026 is a direct result of our continued investment in our brands, our franchisees and the families they serve,” said Michael O. Browning Jr., Founder and CEO of Unleashed Brands. “Five years into building Unleashed Brands, we’re continuing to innovate, strengthen our platform and create more opportunities to help kids learn, play, grow and discover who they are destined to be.”
Research and Platform Investments Differentiate the Brand Portfolio
Earlier in 2026, the company published its “Beyond the Report Card” study, which found that today’s parents increasingly prioritize confidence, kindness, and resilience over academic credentials when evaluating enrichment activities for their children. Building on those findings, internationally recognized educational psychologist Dr. Michele Borba joined Unleashed Brands as Chief Thriving Officer, a newly created role focused on guiding the company’s approach to child development across its brands.
The research also informed new programming at The Little Gym, including the Tummy Timers infant program, designed to foster early development through guided movement and strengthen parent-child bonds. At the other end of the age spectrum, Class 101 reported that its Class of 2026 earned a cumulative $500 million in merit scholarships, averaging $240,000 per student.
KidHub App and Continued Recruitment Signal the Platform’s Next Phase
In 2026, Unleashed Brands launched KidHub, a family app that consolidates schedules, memberships, and milestone tracking across all seven brands in a single interface. Since launch, the app has surpassed 40,000 downloads, averages more than 2,000 daily active users, and 27.6% of sessions involve activity spanning more than one brand — a figure the company cites as evidence of cross-brand family engagement within the platform.
Urban Air also introduced a simplified systemwide pricing model during the period, aimed at creating a more transparent guest experience. Unleashed Brands says it is actively recruiting franchise partners across all seven concepts, citing the shared-resource advantages of its multi-brand structure as a differentiator for franchise candidates evaluating opportunities in the youth services sector.
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