Gaia Capital Partners has masde its first investment in the UK in a USD40 million growth round for gohenry alongside US funds Edison Partners, Citi Ventures and Muse Capital. This is its fourth investment in one year after Welcome to the Jungle in late 2019, Aircall last spring and Yubo in November 2020. For all of these growth rounds, Gaia Capital Partners has co-invested alongside leading international investors.
Launched in the UK in 2012 on a mission to innovate both financial education and digital banking, gohenry is a financial education app and prepaid debit card, in partnership with Visa in the UK and Mastercard in the US, with unique parent controls designed exclusively for 6-18 year-olds to help them learn good money habits in an increasingly cashless society. The app gives young people the freedom to learn and take charge of their own spending and saving in a safe environment, while the app’s parent version allows adults to guide kids through the early stages of digital finance.
The UK’s market leader, gohenry has built a global community of more than 1.2 million parents and children who are invested in learning the vital skill of being good with money. The company has doubled its customer base annually over the past six years and reached profitability in 2020.
“gohenry is a pioneer in the family finance space, fulfilling the critical mission of improving financial literacy of young people. Thanks to the strong engagement of their large community of users in the UK and the US, they have built a very healthy business model at the crossroads of fintech and edtech. We are very proud to partner with the management of this European gem and support their journey to become a global leader,” says Elina Berrebi, Founding Partner of Gaia Capital Partners.
“This first investment in the UK reflects our European ambition and our efforts to build an international investment strategy with strong expertise in software, consumer and fintech. In one year, we have built a portfolio of strong brands that are shaping new consumer habits while further improving their environmental and societal impact,” adds Alice Albizzati, Founding Partner of Gaia Capital Partners.
The new funding round will be used to accelerate the expansion of gohenry’s combined edtech and fintech solution across the US, where the company expanded to in 2018. gohenry will be able to rely on the experience of the Gaia Capital Partners team in the consumer mobile and fintech sector and its ESG support.
“For too long, kids have been locked out of the digital economy and parents lacked the tools to help their children gain confidence with money and finances. gohenry was the first to respond to these needs in 2012 when we launched a groundbreaking financial education app and prepaid debit card that truly empowered children. In 2020, we’ve achieved three key milestones: becoming profitable which many B2C fintechs seek, raising USD40 million during Covid, and partnering with world leading funds. All three will help us fuel our US expansion,” says Alex Zivoder, CEO, gohenry. “We are proud to partner with Edison Partners, Gaia Capital Partners, Citi Ventures and Muse Capital. Their endorsement allows gohenry to accelerate its expansion and roll out yet more innovations to customers.”
