Fintech Startup ZestMoney Secures $6.5 Mn Series A From PayU India

Fintech startup ZestMoney has secured $6.5 Mn in its Series A round of funding led by PayU India. Existing investors, US-based Ribbit Capital and Omidyar Network, also participated in the round.

This new round of funding aims to help ZestMoney further augment its risk engine and develop better in-house technology. It’ll  also help the platform expand its partner network and bring “Pay Using ZestMoney EMI” to the majority of ecommerce websites and apps.

Speaking on the investment, Jitendra Gupta, MD,  PayU  India, said, “ZestMoney has achieved good initial traction in providing credit to online shoppers and we are excited to partner with them.  The ZestMoney team is very ambitious and impressive in solving the credit access problem in India using technology. The investment, for a minority stake, in ZestMoney is part of the larger vision of  PayU’s credit portfolio strategy. Besides, the management team comes with a strong risk-background – made the decision rather simple for us to invest.”

Founded in 2015 by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman, ZestMoney enables instant account opening and real-time credit approval, combined with digital loan servicing and repayments technology. The Bengaluru-based startup offers enrollment and real-time approval process, integrated with the ecommerce check-out.

“For the ecommerce industry to reach the size we all anticipate, Indian consumers need easy access to digital affordability solutions. Current payment methods are not built to drive high-value transactions and it is difficult for traditional lenders to offer instant, small ticket credit, on the checkout.  ZestMoney has cracked a way to do that, using proprietary technology that merchants can implement in a matter of hours. The investment from PayU is a strong validation of the technology we have built to enable the young Indian working class to finally embrace ecommerce.  We see ourselves becoming a critical growth driver of this industry,” said Lizzie Chapman, CEO and co-founder, ZestMoney.

Owned and operated by Camden Town Technologies Pvt. Ltd, ZestMoney reportedly works with over 40 ecommerce websites and has partnered with three financial institutions.

It helps in power lending decisions based on alternative data sources, enabling lenders to reach a wider market, as well as make decisions quicker and without manual underwriting. Credit cards and the likes of Bajaj Finserv are competition for ZestMoney.

Earlier in September 2015,  ZestMoney had raised $2 Mn in seed funding.