Indian lendtech ZestMoney raises $20m
ZestMoney, a start-up that helps consumers with no credit history get loans to buy online, has raised a $20 million Series B.
The firm raised $13.4 million in a Series A2 led by Xiaomi in August 2018
According to TechCrunch, the round is led by Quona Capital, a Washington-based fund that invests in emerging market fintech and has an office in India.
Others participating included new backer Reinventure, an Australian fund which includes Coinbase among its fintech portfolio, as well as returning investors Ribbit Capital, Omidyar Network and Naspers.
The round takes ZestMoney to $42 million to date. The firm raised $13.4 million in a Series A2 led by Chinese phone giant Xiaomi in August 2018.
ZestMoney was founded in 2015 by Lizzie Chapman, CEO; Priya Sharma, CFO and COO; and Ashish Anantharaman, CTO.
The start-up has partnered with over 800 merchants, including Flipkart and Amazon, to offer financing options at point-of-sale. While most of these financing options happen online, its investor Xiaomi is helping ZestMoney push its offline business.
Speaking to TechCrunch this week, the ZestMoney CEO says the new capital will help the firm develop its technology: AI for credit assessment and other analytics, voice-based communication and facial recognition technologies, and help consumers with English and digital difficulties.
The company has opened an office in Singapore as it begins to assess expansion opportunities in the Southeast Asian region.
