GoHenry, the U.K.-based financial education app and pre-paid debit card provider for kids, has expanded into Europe for the first time with the acquisition of French startup Pixpay. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded out of London back in 2012, GoHenry has emerged as one of the preeminent fintech companies for children, targeting six to 18-year-olds with a digital platform that allows parents to allocate and control funds, while their children learn how to budget and gain insights into their spending habits. GoHenry expanded into the U.S. back in 2018, and today the company claims more than two millions users across these two markets -- it also says that one-sixth of 12-year-olds now have a GoHenry debit card.

Pixpay, for its part, was founded out of Paris less than three years ago, and is a similar proposition to GoHenry but with more of a focus on slightly older children, starting from 10 years of age. The company had expanded into Spain back in November, helping to drive its membership to nearly 200,000 across the two markets.

GoHenry goes to Europe

In many ways, the Pixpay acquisition serves as the ideal vehicle for GoHenry to expand its horizons. The U.S., so far, has always been its priority after its domestic market, and when GoHenry raised a $40 million funding round 18 months ago the message at the time was very much about continued expansion in the U.K. and U.S. But GoHenry CEO Alex Zivoder told TechCrunch that Europe was never far from its thoughts.

"When we launched in the U.K. in 2012, we pioneered a new category in fintech, and therefore had to grow a whole category from scratch with noone to learn from before us," he said. "Once we decided we were ready to expand internationally, our timing in Europe was always part of the plan. Our first step was to launch in the U.S., which we did in early 2018 and have experienced triple-digit year-on-year growth. Following our funding round in December 2020, we were looking for the right opportunity to expand into Europe."