Team

Aaron Serruya began his career at age nineteen as the co-founder of Yogen Früz®. Aaron was also involved at various levels, in Coolbrands® and Kahala Brands®.

With over three decades of experience in the retail franchising sector, Aaron holds the position of Managing Director at Serruya Private Equity (SPE), and the CEO of International Franchise Inc. (IFI), which combined has over 3,700 treat and food franchises worldwide, in 38 countries.

Simon Serruya began his career at age nineteen as the third partner in Yogen Früz®. Simon was also involved, on an advisory level, with Coolbrand® and Kahala Brands®.

With almost three decades of experience in commercial real estate investment, Simon holds the position of Managing Director at Serruya Private Equity (SPE). Simon focuses on a real estate portfolio consisting of more than two million square feet of commercial and residential real estate in Canada and the United States.

As Vice President of Yogen Früz®, Claire is responsible for North America’s operations strategy, planning, product development, streamlining processes, and focusing on delivering continual growth of the Yogen Früz® brand across multiple verticals.

Claire’s passion for the industry and Yogen Früz® comes from being a part of it her whole life. Her knowledge of the industry, ability to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders, entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm, and ability to handle challenging tasks calmly and confidently makes her a highly trusted leader.

Weny Wu leads market development and growth as key contact for franchisees worldwide. She is also managing multiple strategic brand teams that oversee marketing, operations, training, and research and development.

Weny has wealth of experience in food service operations, marketing, and franchise relations. Prior to joining International Franchise Inc., Weny was the Director of Marketing for Ruby’s® Diner, a full-service restaurant chain. Prior to that, Weny held variety of Operations and Marketing leadership roles at Pizza Hut®, Inc.

Mark Doucet joined International Franchise Inc. as general counsel in 2023 and is responsible for all legal matters affecting IFI and its subsidiaries, including corporate governance, franchising, leasing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, and litigation.

Mark has over 25 years of legal experience with leading law firms and companies both in Canada and overseas. Mark holds a BA from Acadia University where he won the University Medal in economics and a JD from Dalhousie Law School where he won the Carswell Book Prizes in evidence and civil procedure.

Michael joined International Franchise Inc. (IFI) in 2021 and is responsible for assisting General Counsel on all legal matters impacting IFI and its affiliated entities.

Michael has more than seven years of experience assisting corporate and individual clients in a broad range of civil, regulatory, and class action matters. Prior to joining Serruya Private Equity, Michael worked in Toronto as a Law Clerk at one of Canada’s leading securities litigation boutique law firms. Michael holds an Advanced Diploma, Law Clerk from Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario.

Nicole Diep leads the Supply Chain and Purchasing team for International Franchise Inc. (IFI).

Nicole has spent her 18-year career supporting various food service brands with supply chain operations, covering procurement, global logistics, inventory management, and distribution.  Prior to IFI, Nicole held managing roles at Dine Brands Global Inc.

Irena Rakhamimov has been with International Franchise Inc. since 2018.

Irena’s responsibilities include evaluating and seeking out qualified and like-minded franchisees, fostering franchisor-franchisee relationships, and franchise sales and development. She is engaged in the various business development activities inside and outside the traditional franchise sale structure.