“Can a viral, franchise-driven specialty bakery sustain unit economics and brand relevance at 1,000+ locations while maintaining the social-media-driven novelty that fueled its growth?”
Founded in 2017 as a single-location specialty cookie bakery in Logan, Utah, Crumbl grew explosively through social media virality and a distinctive rotating weekly menu model. By 2024 it had scaled to over 1,000 franchise locations across the US and Canada, becoming one of the fastest-growing franchise chains in the country. Its embedded finance footprint is minimal and primarily consumer-facing: Stripe handles online and in-app payments. A pending buyout/LBO transaction (per PitchBook) signals a potential ownership transition.
Crumbl processes payments through Stripe.
Crumbl's lending and capital products are provided by afterpay.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Crumbl's stack: Payments / PSP (Stripe); Lending (afterpay).
Crumbl was founded by Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan and is founded in 2017, headquartered in Lindon, Utah, USA.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Crumbl and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.