Fintech GoHenry, which provides pre-paid debit cards and a financial education app for children, on Wednesday announced it has raised $55 million in a series B funding round and plans to expand into new markets with new features.
Existing investors Edison Partners and Revaia joined the latest funding round with new capital from Italian fintech Nexi. U.K.-based GoHenry and Nexi will collaborate on several joint initiatives to enable digital payments and provide financial education to European families, Dean Brauer, co-founder and president of GoHenry, told Bank Automation News.
“We want to trailblaze in providing financial education and money management tools to families on both sides of the Atlantic, therefore a big focus will be on ensuring we continue to deliver a service that caters to all of our customers’ financial needs,” Brauer said.
The new services include app offerings and card launches coming later this year.
The fresh capital comes three months after GoHenry acquired France-based startup Pixpay, a challenger bank for tweens and teens.
“Pixpay has plans to expand into Italy later this year, and this new funding round combined with Nexi’s vast experience in Italy and Europe will provide support in achieving this new milestone,” Brauer said.
GoHenry leverages licensed and regulated banking, payments and card issuance partners to provide secure banking and payment services to expand into new countries rapidly, Brauer added.
Mondu raises $19.5M
B2B payments company Mondu has raised $19.5 million in a debt investment round led by German bank Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank (VVRB).
The funding will allow Berlin-based Mondu, which provides buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) B2B solutions, to scale operations — expanding from Germany and Austria into the Netherlands —and diversify its refinancing with external investors. The funding will go toward enabling cross-border commerce between the three countries, according to a company release.
“With Mondu’s BNPL solutions, B2B businesses in the Netherlands will be able to increase conversion rates and loyalty by allowing buyers to experience a fast and frictionless B2C-like payment experience with flexible terms,” Philipp Povel, co-founder and co-CEO of Mondu, said in a release.
“Local B2B businesses will have better cash flow management, minimize operational workload and be able to effortlessly expand their operations by selling cross-border to buyers in Germany and Austria without risk,” he added.
Channel Capital launches $300M fund for fintech lenders
U.K.-based asset manager Channel Capital Advisors is deploying the first $100 million from its $300 million fund to help digital fintech platforms — primarily in Europe and North America — that require capital to finance their loans to SMEs. The fund is backed by global institutional investors, according to a release.
“The backing our fund has received underlines investors’ growing appetite within the fintech lending space,” Paul Wilson, chief investment officer at Channel Capital Advisors, said in the release. “Moreover, it’s a clear demonstration of the trust investors have in Channel’s track record of managing their investments.”
With Channel’s recent investments in developing proprietary systems based on APIs, open banking and artificial intelligence to monitor credit risks, eligible fintech lenders will be able to utilize the company’s technology to roll out their own SME lending propositions, according to the release.
