Acorns acquires family-focused fintech GoHenry

Savings and investment start-up Acorns goes international with the acquisition of financial education start-up GoHenry.

Why it’s important: The agreement gives Acorns access to new markets and can expand product capacity in the US

Driving the news: In an equity deal, Acorns acquired London-based child-focused fintech GoHenry and its EU arm Pixpay. Terms were not made public.

Context: Irvine, California-based Acorns was founded in 2012 as a savings and investment app that automates micro-investments by rounding up spare cash from users’ daily purchases.

• Over time, the company added features such as banking and retirement savings and entered child-focused investment accounts in 2020.

Meanwhile, Founded in 2012, GoHenry is focused on money management and financial education for children and teenagers.

• It offers a prepaid debit card with parental controls to help young people learn healthy spending habits.
• Last summer it acquired Pixpay, another child-focused financial education app based in France that also has operations in Spain and Italy.

What they say: “We met the GoHenry team about two years ago and we started having conversations about this idea of ​​one company to deliver financial wellness for the whole family, serving children, teens and adults – and doing it on a global basis,” Acorn’s executive director Noah Kerner tells Axios.

• “The more we talked, the more we realized that we are trying to do the same. Our products and services are based on the belief that financial education is the foundation for helping people be smart with their money and change their life chances,” GoHenry – co-founder Louise Hill says.

Between the lines: Both companies are well capitalized: Acorns has raised more than $600 million since inception, including a $300 million funding round announced last March.

• Meanwhile, GoHenry raised $55 million in October, bringing its total funding to more than $125 million.
• The companies claim to have 6 million subscribers between them.
• “Between us, we’re across five countries,” says Hill. “If we come together, we can extend that reach to more customers and embed financial education and financial wellness throughout all ages and stages of light.”

Of the note: In the US, GoHenry will change its name to GoHenry by Acorns.

• In the UK and Europe, GoHenry and Pixpay will continue to operate under their own brands.

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to note that Acorns was founded in 2012, not 2008.