PhonePe Reportedly Close To Acquire Fintech ZestMoney for $300 Mn

Walmart-backed popular digital payment company PhonePe is close to a big deal according to media reports. PhonePe is ready to acquire fintech startup ZestMoney.

The deal is expected to inked at about $200-300 million, according to the media reports citing sources. The acquisition talks is on-going and is expected to be finalized in the next 3-4 weeks. The fintech startup has so far raised around $140 million from key investors including PayU, Zip, Ribbit Capital, Quona Capital, Xiaomi, Omidyar Network and Goldman Sachs. ZestMoney's revenue during FY2022 is set to increase to ₹145 crore from ₹89 crore in FY2021.

Post acquisition, ZestMoney will continue to operate as a separate entity and the founders will join PhonePe.

Founded in 2015, by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman, ZestMoney works on the Pay Now, Pay Later theme. It has more than 17 million registered users across the country. It has the largest network of trader with over 10,000 online partners including Amazon, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip and Nykaa among others. It has presence at over 75,000 offline stores. ZestMoney gives a loan of about 400 crores per month.

Speaking about PhonePe, it has more than 41.5 crore registered users. It entered Financial Services in 2017 and achieved revenue of Rs 1,646 crore in FY21-221 and revenue growth of 138% has been recorded over a year ago.

Founded in December 2015, by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart in April 2016.

PhonePe was valued at $5.5 billion in December 2020 and is now in talks to raise a new funding round at a $12 billion valuation.

Owned by Flipkart, a subsidiary of Walmart, PhonePe has acquired companies like GigIndia, WealthDesk, OpenQ, and IndusOS

Women consumers, EdTech and Premium Products drove demand for Buy Now Pay Later in 2020: Report by ZestMoney

• 0% growth in women customer base
• Women spent more on Edtech, men splurged on fashion
• High end smartphones, laptops, fitness watches drive larger ticket transactions
• Demand for Edtech, electric vehicles, large appliances boom in 2020 

Bengaluru, January 29, 2021: ZestMoney, India’s leading AI-driven EMI financing and “Buy Now Pay Later” (“Pay Later”) platform, today revealed the findings of its annual report which outlines how Indian customers opted for BNPL solutions in 2020. Despite the challenges arising due to the pandemic, the company served customers across 18,921 pin codes last year, demonstrating a strong demand for Buy Now Pay Later solutions among Indian customers.

Categories like Edtech, high end smartphones, large appliances, Electric vehicles, fashion, and travel were most sought after by customers.

ZestMoney observed a 20% growth in its women customer base last year. EdTech, online-electronics, fashion and travel ranked among the top categories that witnessed traction among women. It was also interesting that more women opted for Edtech while men preferred to splurge on fashion.

As per the report, women from Tier I cities opted for digital EMI solutions for financing their purchases in the following categories:

• Bengaluru: Online-Electronics & Fashion
• Mumbai: Education & Travel
• Delhi NCR: Fashion & Travel
• Hyderabad: Offline-Electronics & Personal Loans
• Pune: Fashion & Education
• Chennai: Education & Offline-Electronics 

Pay Later offers shoppers the perfect flexibility to spread the cost which is sensible financial planning and helps them afford their dreams. It has been noticed that the average ticket size for BNPL is higher and it plays a crucial role in reviving consumer demand, especially for large ticket products.

Recognising that Buy Now Pay Later solutions offer greater convenience and flexibility especially while purchasing premium products, the category continued to witness great momentum in 2020. In fact, ZestMoney observed that the highest volume of premium products were purchased on Fridays. High end smartphones, laptops, large appliances, and fitness watches drove demand in the category.

Commenting on the trend, Lizzie Chapman, CEO and Co-Founder ZestMoney said, “2020 will be remembered as one of the most pivotal years in the adoption of Buy Now, Pay Later in India. We saw an increased trend of digitally savvy customers who prefer transparent financing options like BNPL over unfair and hidden fees associated with traditional products. The category is poised for massive growth this year as the consumer habit is here to stay. Consumers are clearly loving the all-digital experience for credit. We strongly feel India will emerge as the largest market for BNPL and will leapfrog credit cards entirely."

“At Zest, we made significant inroads into the offline network by expanding our Buy Now, Pay Later product to 15,000 stores nationwide. We will ramp this up to 400,000 in 2021. We continue to be available on the checkout of the largest ecommerce websites and that drove adoption of BNPL as people took to online shopping in a big way. The pandemic has made customers even more focussed on financial affairs and they realise the benefit of managing cash flows by opting for Pay Later”, added Chapman.

The company said due to the demand for professional upskilling courses, the category witnessed the highest average ticket size for transactions (~50). Women transacted 3-4X more on Edtech than any other category.

According to ZestMoney, the average Indian consumer is 34-year old. The company said 68% of their customers are based outside Tier I cities hinting at the massive demand coming from tier II and III markets.

ZestMoney recently completed five years of operations, marking a crucial milestone in its journey. It has 6 million registered users on its platform.

About ZestMoney:

Founded by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman in 2015, ZestMoney is the largest and fastest-growing EMI financing and Pay Later company in India. The fintech company is built as a platform that can meaningfully improve the lives of more than 300 million households in the country, who currently have no access to credit cards or any other formal financing options because of insufficient credit history. ZestMoney’s unique platform uses mobile technology, digital banking and Artificial Intelligence to make life more affordable to millions of Indian consumers. ZestMoney’s innovative technology and work to make affordable digital finance accessible led to their selection as a 2020 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. 

upGrad Launches Schemes to Make Higher Education Accessible to Bharat

upGrad, India’s largest online higher education company, which offers national and international university-certified programs at an average price point of INR 2.5 Lakhs, in a recent move, announced pricing options, that will allow the 100 million working population across the country to start a Degree, Diploma, and Certificate programs with payment instalments of INR 10,000 per month and upwards.

upGrad has tied up with the leading EMI financing platform ZestMoney, and fintech companies like LiquiLoans, Eduvanz, and Propelld, to extend these monthly instalments. Easy credit card EMIs are also included from the leading Indian-National private and public banks like Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda and are also available on American Express credit cards.

“Quality LifeLongLearning that makes you employable is not a privilege for the affluent but a necessity for every working professional whether she or he is 28 or 48 years of age, and also those whose purchasing power has been drastically impacted since the outbreak. It’s time, we as the learning evangelists with the most diverse range of courses for careers of today and tomorrow, fortify the future of the country which will house 1 in every 5 working professionals in the near future. By making premium and industry-relevant education affordable, we aim to get 10x the number of learners we have, as the fence-sitters who had shelved their upskilling decision due to monetary reasons will now, convert,” said Arjun Mohan, CEO - India, upGrad.

The easy financing options are available across domains including Data, Management, Technology, and BFSI (Insurance) programs that upGrad offers. The current palette will now include over 90 online programs spanning data, digital, management, AI & ML, and Law.

Mohan quips that upGrad’s vision will enable the brand to become the legendary ‘Pied Piper’ of LifeLongLearning, who will rally the 100 million working population across strata to enable India to become the ‘global knowledge superpower’.

To know more about affordable programs, click here

ZestMoney’s 0% EMI Launched on Myntra

ZestMoney, India’s first and largest AI driven EMI financing platform announced 0% EMIs on Myntra's EORS Sale. ZestMoney’s fully integrated payment is the only EMI product on Myntra that enables customers to pay for a ‘basket’ of goods at 0% interest on EMI tenure of 3 months.

A new kind of point-of-sale EMI option from ZestMoney is seen at checkout on Myntra that will allow 6 million customers of ZestMoney to shop using their credit limits on the platform. It’s especially useful when there are multiple items in the cart because it lets customers pay them off over a period of 3 months. With 23,000 pincodes activated, Myntra’s End of Reason Sale starts on 22nd December and ZestMoney’s 0% interest offer can be availed from 20th till 31st December 2019.

Speaking on the announcement, Lizzie Chapman, CEO and Co-founder of ZestMoney, said, “We don't believe that people need to go to banks and take out heavy loans to finance their purchases. These can be financed instantly, at the checkout, using technology and data intelligence. This is exactly what we have envisioned to build ZestMoney and this is how we can redefine the payment experience for our consumers shopping on Myntra."

You're working with a tight budget, but you need to buy an important essential or you want to take advantage of End of Reason Sale (EORS) – what do you do? ZestMoney’s no cost EMIs are easier, convenient and affordable to manage how you pay for online fashion shopping, on your own terms.

ZestMoney is a leading AI Driven, EMI Financing Platform in India. The company is built as a platform that can meaningfully improve the lives of more than 300 million households in the country, who currently have no access to credit cards or any other formal financing options because of insufficient credit history. ZestMoney’s unique platform uses mobile technology, digital banking and Artificial Intelligence to make life more affordable to millions of Indian consumers. ZestMoney is backed by leading investors such as Ribbit Captial, Xiaomi, Naspers Fintech and Omidyar Networks.

~ Newsvoir