Youngsters’ finance startup GoHenry marches into Europe with Pixpay acquisition – TechCrunch

GoHenry, the U.Okay.-based monetary schooling app and pre-paid debit card supplier for teenagers, has expanded into Europe for the primary time with the acquisition of French startup Pixpay. Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Based out of London again in 2012, GoHenry has emerged as one of many preeminent fintech corporations for kids, focusing on six to 18-year-olds with a digital platform that enables dad and mom to allocate and management funds, whereas their youngsters learn to funds and acquire insights into their spending habits. GoHenry expanded into the U.S. again in 2018, and as we speak the corporate claims greater than two tens of millions customers throughout these two markets — it additionally says that one-sixth of 12-year-olds now have a GoHenry debit card.

Pixpay, for its half, was based out of Paris lower than three years in the past, and is a related proposition to GoHenry however with extra of a give attention to barely older youngsters, ranging from 10 years of age. The corporate had expanded into Spain again in November, serving to to drive its membership to almost 200,000 throughout the 2 markets.

GoHenry goes to Europe

In some ways, the Pixpay acquisition serves as the perfect car for GoHenry to broaden its horizons. The U.S., thus far, has all the time been its precedence after its home market, and when GoHenry raised a $40 million funding spherical 18 months in the past the message on the time was very a lot about continued growth within the U.Okay. and U.S. However GoHenry CEO Alex Zivoder advised TechCrunch that Europe was by no means removed from its ideas.

“After we launched within the U.Okay. in 2012, we pioneered a brand new class in fintech, and due to this fact needed to develop an entire class from scratch with noone to be taught from earlier than us,” he mentioned. “As soon as we determined we have been able to broaden internationally, our timing in Europe was all the time a part of the plan. Our first step was to launch within the U.S., which we did in early 2018 and have skilled triple-digit year-on-year progress. Following our funding spherical in December 2020, we have been searching for the correct alternative to broaden into Europe.”

Whereas GoHenry has just about needed to construct itself up from scratch within the U.S., it’s clear that it’s adopting a wholly totally different strategy for markets nearer to dwelling — and there are numerous benefits to purchasing a longtime model with traction because it has executed with Pixpay, maybe chief amongst them being that GoHenry doesn’t must concern itself as a lot with hiring, localization, and launch campaigns. Certainly, GoHenry mentioned it has no plans to combine the 2 corporations, with their respective manufacturers, leaderships groups, and headquarters remaining as they’re.

“As a longtime chief in teen banking in France and Spain and a trusted model, the acquisition of Pixpay made excellent sense to assist speed up progress throughout Europe, enhance our aggressive benefit, and cement our international management place,” Zivoder mentioned.

That’s to not say that there gained’t be some resource-pooling happening sooner or later, nevertheless.

“With Pixpay centered solely on youngsters and GoHenry catering for teenagers as younger as six-years-old, this acquisition will permit us to mix our experience in monetary schooling to the good thing about our members,” Zivoder added.

Present me the cash

GoHenry touts robust progress for 2021, claiming its income greater than doubled to $42 million, one thing that Zivoder places all the way down to — you guessed it — the pandemic.

However what’s the correlation there, precisely? Effectively, whereas the corporate’s core providing is basically a monetary administration product that helps dad and mom give their youngsters some monetary independence, it’s additionally very a lot about schooling. By way of GoHenry, Youngsters can learn to funds, whereas there are so-called “cash missions” that ship mini classes on all-things monetary.

Throw into the combination a broader societal shift away from money, a motion that has accelerated over the previous couple of years, and evidently GoHenry was well-positioned to capitalize.

“Monetary schooling is an important life talent and a secular pattern, interval,” Zivoder mentioned. “However throughout the pandemic, the necessity to educate youngsters the way to be good with cash in a cashless world, magnified with social distancing measures and faculty closures driving increasingly folks on-line, and lots of retailer house owners nonetheless not accepting money.”

The Pixpay acquisition is smart for GoHenry by way of powering its growth plans with out having to start out from scratch in new markets. With this one deal, GoHenry instantly has two extra markets below its wing, and one other two scheduled for later this yr as Pixpay gears as much as launch in Italy and Germany.

And from Pixpay’s perspective, it additionally is smart, provided that GoHenry already has a big foothold in two huge markets and ten occasions the variety of members as Pixpay. Consolidation — slightly than competitors — makes each corporations lives simpler.

“It made sense to mix our experience with that of GoHenry to spice up our progress plans,” Pixpay CEO Benoit Grassin advised TechCrunch. “With shared values and ambitions, we consider that this mix with GoHenry will allow us to go quicker and additional than if we had operated on our personal.”