Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1594 since 2017
SNAPOLOGY
Other · independent · est. —
Snapology is a children's education brand offering STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) classes, camps, and birthday parties using LEGO-style bricks, robotics, and hands-on play. Kids learn coding and engineering concepts through building. A franchisee runs programs at a discovery center or through schools, employing instructors and scheduling classes and events.
SNAPOLOGY net unit count grew +83.1% from 2021–2025 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & strong
Distress
Enough units and history to judge, and the record is good: growing or stable units with clean exits by the standards of its disclosed record. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
4.2%
fiscal 2025, per Item 20
Cost to open
$75K–$106K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
13 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2021–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 5 of 120 franchised outlets left the system — a 4.2% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 76 | 71 | 88 | 105 | 121 |
| Opened | 10 | 19 | 27 | 32 | 14 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| Terminations | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 11 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 4 |
| Outlets at end | 71 | 88 | 105 | 121 | 130 |
| Net change | -5 | +17 | +17 | +16 | +9 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 13 SBA-backed loans to SNAPOLOGY franchisees since 2017. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
4 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$222,500
what recent franchisees borrowed
47 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
5 vs 4
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO SNAPOLOGY BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $75K–$106K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$75K–$106K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
7%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$70K
7% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$700K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for SNAPOLOGY with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the middle of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
42–66 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
13.2%
Observed SBA charge-off
no resolved cohort
Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · System size (log units) (raises) · Item 3 litigation (log) (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (lowers). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for SNAPOLOGY. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing SNAPOLOGY's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →SNAPOLOGY franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of SNAPOLOGY franchises closed last year?
In SNAPOLOGY's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 5 of 120 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 4.2%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a SNAPOLOGY franchise cost?
Per SNAPOLOGY's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $75K–$106K (Item 7).
What royalty does SNAPOLOGY charge?
SNAPOLOGY charges an ongoing royalty of 7.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does SNAPOLOGY disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — SNAPOLOGY makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $51K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.