Fintech lending startup ZestMoney has been offered an acquistion proposal by Ashwin Bhambri, founder of micro-lending start-up KreditPE.
In a LinkedIn post, KreditPE founder Bhambri said that said that he has the utmost respect for what the founders have built and the impact the venture has created while adding that the BNPL platform is ‘too good to shut down’.
He said that KrediPE acquires ZestMoney, a product can be created that will be much more successful than PhonePe.
He further added that he would like to merge and run ZestMoney with KreditPE and it is going to focus on innovation and frugality.
Meanwhile, as per the letter, a tie-up or merger between KreditPE and ZestMoney would lead to the creation of a postpaid UPI wallet service, which could make more sense for an aspirational Indian user.
“Our strategy is to make available consumer-durable finance to users who are vetted on KreditPE and while BNPL is sexy slow and steady is the only sure way to disburse and collect credit. Interest free EMIs & BNPL is for Prime customers who will always prefer banks. There’s a big enough addressable market for consumer lending of users who are willing to pay interest,”he said.
This comes at a time when Buy now pay later platform ZestMoney is shutting down its operations by December end. It will also let go of around 150 employees currently working with the company.
In May, the company’s three co-founders, Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman, resigned as the firm failed to raise a new round and strike acquisition deal with digital payment platform PhonePe.
Meanwhile, Prosus wrote off its $38 million investment in ZestMoney. The investor held a sizable 19.4% stake in the Bengaluru-based firm.