Cross Your Borders

What Cross Your Borders does

Cross Your Borders (Stichting Cross Your Borders) is a Dutch ANBI-certified non-profit foundation founded in 2004 in Nijmegen that delivers global-citizenship education to primary, secondary and secondary-vocational (MBO) schools in the Netherlands and Flanders. Its portfolio centers on three products: Globaland XL, a two-day classroom simulation in which student teams govern a virtual country across themes spanning economics, democracy, human rights, sustainability, health and security, offered in three levels (Lite, Basic, Professional) plus a fully English TTO version; Serious Games, an online platform of ten minigames covering 40+ global-citizenship themes that can be played by 2-36 students using laptops, tablets or smartphones; and Fairaway, a sub-brand offering 9-11 day international school trips to destinations such as the Philippines, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Uganda, Nepal, Suriname, Tanzania/Kenya and South Africa, with a structured pre-departure fundraising program that lets students help finance their own travel.

The organization operates with a lean core team of 16 professionals supported by more than 50 HBO/WO interns/stagiaires each year, who serve as coaches and school ambassadors. Delivery is primarily field-driven — a team visits schools to run programs, supplemented by teacher-led licensing for Serious Games and structured online instruction videos. Revenue is generated from school project fees (tiered per Globaland XL level and per Serious Games license), Fairaway trip packages for groups of 25-35 students plus 2-5 teachers, and ANBI-eligible donations; the organization has stated it has been financially self-sufficient for over a decade. Leadership consists of two co-founder directors reporting to a three-person foundation board, with day-to-day education sales led by Geert Brugmans and trip operations by Anne, Rachel and the Fairaway team. Over 22 years, Cross Your Borders claims to have reached nearly 500,000 youth through 3,500+ educational projects and 50+ international trips, with stated forward growth targets of 300 schools / 50,000 youth within three years and 40 trips / 1,000 travelers within five years.

Name

Cross Your Borders

Legal name

Stichting Cross Your Borders

Website

https://crossyourborders.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cross Your Borders is a Dutch ANBI-certified non-profit foundation, founded in 2004 in Nijmegen, that delivers global-citizenship simulation games and international school trips to primary, secondary and MBO schools in the Netherlands and Flanders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Global Citizenship Education Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

On-Ground Orientation, Travel, Transfers & Logistics Support (EDAIAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Hybrid, Multi-Location & Multi-Country Study Abroad Programs (EDAIAAAE)

Keywords

• Educational simulation games
• Global citizenship education
• School learning programs
• Serious games education
• International student trips

Headquarters

HQ city

Nijmegen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. School Project Fees: Schools pay compensation for citizenship education projects (Globaland XL and Serious Games). Projects are priced at different levels (Lite, Basic, Professional) for different school types.
2. Fairaway School Trips: Revenue from organizing international school trips to developing countries. Groups of 25-35 students plus 2-5 teachers pay for travel packages including accommodation with host families, activities, and local transportation.
3. Donations: As an ANBI-certified charitable foundation, Cross Your Borders receives tax-deductible donations from supporters. The organization has reduced dependency on subsidies over 10 years to become financially self-sufficient.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cross Your Borders is a Dutch non-profit foundation (Stichting) founded in 2004 and based in Nijmegen, Netherlands, that develops and delivers global-citizenship educational programs for primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). Its core offerings are Globaland XL, a two-day in-person simulation game; Serious Games, an online gaming platform with educational minigames; and Fairaway, international school trips.

Product overview

Cross Your Borders operates a portfolio of three distinct educational products. Globaland XL is a two-day interactive simulation game available in three levels (Lite, Basic, Professional) for primary education (groups 7–8), the full secondary education cycle, and secondary vocational education (MBO), including a bilingual (TTO) English version. Serious Games is an online minigames platform covering 40+ global citizenship topics, playable by 2–36 players on laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Fairaway is the organization's international school travel program offering 9–11 day expeditions to developing countries, with participants earning their travel costs through a structured pre-departure fundraising program. Together, these products deliver global citizenship education both in the classroom (theory) and through immersive international travel experiences (practice).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Globaland XL: Two-day simulation game where students govern their own country in a virtual world, covering topics like economy, taxes, human rights, democracy, healthcare, freedom, security, and sustainability.
• Serious Games

Products and services

• Globaland XL

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 500,000 youth reached since 2004
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• TakingITGlobal: International nonprofit providing digital global citizenship education resources for youth; relevant as a broader incumbent in the online global-citizenship learning space that overlap with Serious Games.
• EF Educational Tours: Large established operator of educational school trips globally, part of EF Education First; relevant for scale benchmarking of the school-travel business and as a competitive incumbent in the institutional school travel market.
• Facing History and Ourselves: Established international nonprofit delivering civics, history and human rights curricula to secondary schools; comparable as an incumbent institutional provider of structured citizenship programming for school systems.

Direct peers

• Generation Citizen: US-based nonprofit that brings action civics and democratic participation programs into secondary schools, paralleling Cross Your Borders' mission of engaging youth with citizenship through structured classroom interventions.
• World Savvy: US-based global citizenship education nonprofit providing K-12 programming on global competence, SDGs, and civic engagement; close mission overlap with Cross Your Borders' citizenship education mandate.
• iCivics: US nonprofit producing web-based civic education games and curriculum for middle and high school students; the most direct product analogue to Serious Games and Globaland XL as simulation-driven citizenship learning tools.
• Where There Be Dragons: Experiential education provider running multi-country student travel and gap-year programs with homestays and cultural immersion; comparable to Fairaway's 9-11 day trips with host families across multiple developing-country destinations.
• Rustic Pathways: Provider of student travel programs to developing countries (Asia, Africa, Latin America) with pre-departure curriculum and service components, directly comparable to Fairaway's school trips with host-family stays and pre-trip preparation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cross-your-borders

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cross Your Borders