- Ashwin Bhambri, Founder of micro-lending start-up KreditPE, has expressed interest in acquiring and running fintech start-up ZestMoney, which recently decided to shut down operations.
- Bhambri detailed his interest in an open letter to ZestMoney and its investors on LinkedIn.
This proposed acquisition or merger would lead to the creation of a postpaid UPI wallet service.
ZestMoney received a unique acquisition offer when Ashwin Bhambri, Founder of micro-lending start-up KreditPE, expressed his interest in acquiring and running the business in a long LinkedIn post. ZestMoney, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) start-up, had recently announced its decision to close operations.
In his ‘open letter to ZestMoney,’ Bhambri praised the work of the ZestMoney team and maintained that their BNPL platform is “too good to shut down.” He voiced his belief that, under the ownership of KreditPE, ZestMoney could create a product that would surpass PhonePe, a noted rival. “We firmly believe we’ll make it 100 times more successful than #PhonePe…Reviving ZestMoney is going to take innovation & frugality, and we excel at it,” Bhambri penned in his post.
Earlier this year, PhonePe ended its planned acquisition of ZestMoney after conducting due diligence for several months. Bhambri also addressed his letter to the co-founders of ZestMoney, Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman, as well as its employees and investors, declaring official interest in taking over operations of the start-up.
ZestMoney has seen investments from various entities such as Omidyar Network India, Alteria Capital, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, Ribbit Capital, Naspers, and PayU, as the data from Tracxn reveals.
The letter suggests that a possible merger or tie-up between KreditPE and ZestMoney would result in a postpaid UPI wallet service, a compelling offering for Indian consumers. Bhambri ended his post by highlighting KreditPE’s unique lending algorithm and format, stating it as a competitive edge over rivals.
