After nine years with the Casino Group, Caroline Menager launched Pixpay, a bank card for teenagers. Almost three years after her conversion, her company was bought by a British competitor.
"Pixpay is a payment card for teenagers from the age of ten. It is controlled by the parents who have their own application. They can thus see in real time all the expenses and accompany their children in the management of their budget", defines Caroline Menager, co-founder of the payment card. On his side, the young person will also be able to access his money on another application, to spend in person or online.
Before entering the banking sector, Caroline Menager spent a few years in the salaried sector, notably as a marketing manager at Franprix and Pathé Gaumont Cinemas. A career path that was an apprenticeship for her. "I was very happy with my life as an employee. I didn't ask myself many questions, it was interesting and I had responsibilities. Then one day Benoit Grassin, whom I knew from a previous experience, called me and proposed to found a company with him", she recalls.
Little risk and a worthwhile adventure...
The trigger? She was seduced by the project and trusted her potential partners. "I already had two good experiences as a marketing director. So I knew that I was taking little risk in this adventure", recalls Caroline Menager. From then on, the entrepreneur decided to take the plunge.
To raise funds and launch the company, the trio of co-founders set out to raise money. With two of them having a background in business, the company raised three million euros just one month after its creation. "We worked on the launch of the application, the brand identity and the recruitment of beta testers. In nine months, we launched our solution during 2019," she explains, delighted with her professional reconversion.
Bought by its British competitor
Today, the payment solution has 200,000 members and nearly 40 employees. In early July, the start-up Pixpay was acquired by its British competitor GoHenry. While the French start-up was heading for a fundraising round, the buyout increases the customer base of both start-ups tenfold. It also aims to broaden the companies' market reach, from the UK to the US for GoHenry and from France to Spain for Pixpay.
More than three years after apprehending her reconversion, Caroline Menager already evokes recommendations to maximize entrepreneurial success. "The quality of a team is extremely important. It is what will make the cement of the functioning of a project. It is also important to have similar values and to encourage discussions from the very beginning of a problem. [...] Being three is a good thing, because we always make decisions by majority.
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