Queens is about to get its first VIO Med Spa. The physician-guided aesthetics franchise has signed its debut New York City agreement, and the team behind it comes with an unusual amount of clinical firepower for a new market entry: Dr. Arjun Mehta, a dermatologist and dermatopathologist with three board certifications, will run the location as medical director and co-owner, working alongside his brother-in-law, Amin Ashraf, who takes on the partner role. The two are still hunting for a site and negotiating a lease, so a location and opening date aren't locked in yet.
For Ryan Rao, VIO's Chief Development Officer, the appeal of this particular pairing goes beyond simply having a doctor's name attached. He pointed to the combination of Mehta's clinical background and Ashraf's operational instincts as the kind of balanced ownership structure the brand looks for whenever it's breaking into unfamiliar territory, betting that expertise on both the medical and business sides gives a new location its best shot at building trust quickly in a market as crowded as New York.
Mehta's résumé backs that up. He trained in Europe before landing at Northwell Health in New York, and his specialties, melanoma and other skin cancers alongside cosmetic dermatology for a wide range of skin tones, fit neatly into VIO's core pitch: aesthetic treatments delivered under real medical oversight rather than the looser standards common at many spas.
This deal doesn't happen in isolation. VIO has been on a signing spree in 2026, adding more than 18 new franchisees so far, with fresh agreements covering Richmond and Atlanta, a new Prosper, Texas location, and a separate deal in which former Meta executive Joseph Luchenta bought up existing VIO locations around Dallas. Queens is just the latest name on a growing list.
Keeping that many simultaneous deals moving, each at a different stage between signature and grand opening, is a coordination problem as much as a sales one. Gorilla Dash offers a Recruitment feature built to handle exactly that kind of load, giving franchise brands a way to track prospective owners and keep every deal progressing without anything slipping through the cracks as the pipeline grows.
