IGROW – International Growth, Replication & Operations Network
IGROW is Knowledge Edge’s dedicated centre for business growth through franchising, licensing, and replicable business systems—an IBIIC initiative built for founders and SMEs who have moved past the startup stage and are ready to scale.
🌟 Vision
To become the leading international centre for franchise-driven business growth — helping ambitious SMEs scale into structured, sustainable, and internationally competitive franchise systems.
🎯 Mission
To help entrepreneurs and brands turn a single working business into a scalable franchise system — structured, replicable, and ready for expansion — through expert franchise design, growth strategy, market-entry support, and hands-on mentoring from practitioners who have built franchise networks themselves.
Strategic Pillars (The 3Ss)
- SYSTEMISE: Before a business can be franchised or replicated, it must be repeatable. We help founders convert operations, training, and brand standards into documented, transferable systems.
- SCALE: We support the technical design of the franchise or licensing model—unit economics, franchisee agreements, territory strategies, and support infrastructure.
- SUSTAIN: We establish governance frameworks, quality audits, and ongoing franchisee support systems to keep expanding networks consistent, compliant, and profitable.
STRATEGIC GOALS
BUILD FRANCHISE-READY BUSINESSES Help founders and SMEs assess whether — and how — their business model can be systemised for franchising or licensed growth.
DESIGN STRUCTURED GROWTH MODELS Support the technical design of franchise systems: franchisee agreements, training and support structures, and territory strategy.
ENABLE MARKET ENTRY & EXPANSION Guide brands through domestic and cross-border franchise expansion, drawing on direct experience across Central and Southeast Europe and Luxembourg.
STRENGTHEN FRANCHISE ECOSYSTEMS Contribute to the wider franchising environment internationally, including support for emerging franchise associations and franchise-friendly policy in developing markets.
CHAMPION INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Recognise and support franchising as a route to entrepreneurship for underrepresented founders, including women-led businesses — reflected in our own leadership’s track record building a franchise network run predominantly by and for women.
Franchise Growth Accelerator & Service Packages
Package / Tier | Target Audience | Key Deliverables Included |
National (Single Country) | New SMEs & established local brands | Franchise feasibility assessment, operations manuals, franchisee training frameworks, legal agreement support, single-market launch guidance. |
Regional (Multi-Country) | SMEs expanding across a continent/region | Everything in National, plus multi-market entry strategy, master-franchise planning, regional compliance mapping, and 6 months of ongoing mentoring. |
International (Global) | Established national/regional brands | Everything in Regional, plus global market prioritization studies, cross-border regulatory coordination, 12-month governance retainer, and global network access. |
Franchise Growth Accelerator Programme
From Single Business to Scalable Network.
Modelled on Dr Kukec’s own Mini Franchise Academy curriculum, the IGROW Franchise Growth Accelerator is a structured programme for founders ready to scale a proven business into a franchise or multi-unit system.
Who Should Join?
- Founders of an established, proven business considering franchising or licensing as a growth route
- SME leaders looking to expand into new regions or countries
- Existing franchisors wanting to strengthen or restructure their franchise system
- Organisations exploring franchising as a route to social or economic development (including NGOs and public-sector-adjacent SME support bodies)
Why Join IGROW?
- Direct mentoring from a franchise practitioner who has built and run her own network (Body Creator, ~30 locations, 150+ jobs)
- Access to a franchise governance network spanning the Croatian Franchise Association, the European Franchise Federation, and the World Franchise Council
- Practical grounding in franchise system design, not just theory — drawn from work with 150+ companies across Central and Southeast Europe
- A natural next step for founders who’ve completed IBIIC’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp and are ready to scale
IGROW Leadership
Head of IGROW: Ljiljana Kukec — Co-founder and President of the Croatian Franchise Association, former Vice President of the European Franchise Federation, and founder of Body Creator (a female-focused franchise operating across ~30 locations since 2001).
Universities & Higher Education
IBIIC works closely with higher education institutions to integrate enterprise, AI-driven incubation, and commercialization into their core academic strategies.
Institutional Services
- University Incubation Centres: End-to-end design, establishment, and operational management of on-campus business incubation hubs.
- Student & Graduate Enterprise Pathways: Practical entrepreneurship programmes, workshops, and support schemes helping students and graduates launch viable businesses.
- Entrepreneurship Curricula Development: Creating practice-based enterprise modules, AI business tools, and experiential learning tracks for HE institutions.
- Graduate Enterprise
Creating pathways that help graduates turn knowledge and skills into entrepreneurial opportunities.
- Research Commercialisation Pathways: Bridging academic research, spin-outs, and intellectual property with commercial industry markets (in partnership with IBRAIN).
- Industry–Academic Partnerships
Building structured connections between universities, businesses, investors and innovation ecosystems.
University Incubator Development
IBIIC can support institutions through the development journey:
Strategy → Design → Establish → Launch → Incubate → Accelerate → Evaluate
Our objective is to help universities create sustainable innovation ecosystems that benefit students, staff, businesses and local communities.
Start Your Journey Today
Whether you are a startup founder, an established MSME leader, an investor, or a university representative, IBIIC provides the expertise, networks, and resources to help you achieve your goals.
Your Business Growth Journey
01 — EXPLORE
Have an idea? Identify an opportunity and understand the problem you want to solve.
02 — VALIDATE
Test your idea, understand customers and validate your business model.
03 — START
Build your minimum viable product and establish your business foundations.
04 — INCUBATE
Access mentoring, training, networks and practical business support.
05 — GROW
Strengthen your operations, technology, people, marketing and financial capability.
06 — SCALE
Prepare for investment, expansion, franchising, licensing or multi-market growth.
07 — GLOBALISE
Enter new markets and connect with international partners.
ECOSYSTEM
At the heart of this IBIIC NextGen Strategy: Paving the Way to 2030 lies the IBIIC Ecosystem, a key component in our pursuit to become a leader in global business innovation and incubation. This ecosystem is aligned with our commitment to excellence, and it represents a full suite of initiatives and resources, specifically designed to support and enhance entrepreneurship, innovation, and business.
Comprising diverse elements such as mentorship programmes, access to funding, networking events, and developmental workshops, the Ecosystem is integral to realising our vision and mission. It perfectly complements our strategic principles of People, Technology, and Innovation, underpinning our core values and strategic objectives. More than a support structure, the IBIIC Ecosystem is a vibrant and interactive network, aimed at fostering a dynamic and supportive environment for entrepreneurs. This positions IBIIC to become a central centre of business innovation and incubation excellence on an international stage. Figure 1 shows our full ecosystem.
📬 Contact / Enquire
Ready to talk about doctoral admissions, supervision, or researcher development? Contact the Knowledge Edge team.
