Founded by 3 founders (Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman) in 2015, ZestMoney was a BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) platform that allowed consumers to make purchases and pay for them in installments without needing a credit card.
📌 Here’s what happened to ZestMoney:
2015 — ZestMoney was founded.
2022 — Raised over $130M with a valuation of $445M.
June 2022 — Huge regulatory changes ⛔️
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notification forbidding operating non-bank institutions or fintech companies, including BNPL services, from loading credit lines onto Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) such as wallets and prepaid cards.
This move impacted many BNPL players in India, including ZestMoney. Since then, the company started looking for a buyer.
Jan-May 2023 — The potential acquisition ($200M-$300M) by PhonePe fell through citing issues with due diligence.
⚠️ PhonePe had concerns about ZestMoney’s high default rates, debt liabilities of $35-$40 million, valuation asks, and synergies post-acquisition.
🪓 Without runway left, ZestMoney laid off 100 employees (20% workforce).
👋🏻 The 3 founders announced their resignation and quit.
The new management team took over ZestMoney but still couldn’t revive the company.
Dec 2023 — ZestMoney officially shut down and laid off the remaining employees.
From Buy Now, Pay Later to Die Now, See You Later
This post was originally shared by Rithen Reddy Dhareddy on Linkedin.