LinkedIn, a widely-used social networking platform for professional connections and job opportunities, recently witnessed an unexpected proposal. Ashwin Bhambri, the founder of micro-lending startup KreditPE, took to LinkedIn to express his keen interest in merging and operating ZestMoney, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) startup that had recently announced the cessation of its operations.
In a comprehensive post addressed as an ‘open letter to ZestMoney,’ Bhambri conveyed his profound respect for the founders and the impact ZestMoney has made, emphasizing that the BNPL platform is too valuable to be discontinued. He intriguingly proposed that if KreditPE acquires ZestMoney, they could develop a product surpassing the success of PhonePe.
“We (at KreditPE) love the product and would like to propose acquiring ZestMoney and run it. 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 declared in his post.
Notably, earlier in the year, PhonePe withdrew its planned acquisition of ZestMoney after an extended period of due diligence.
The letter, officially expressing KreditPE’s interest, was directed to ZestMoney’s co-founders – Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman – as well as the company’s employees and investors. ZestMoney’s investors include notable names such as Omidyar Network India, Alteria Capital, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, Ribbit Capital, Naspers, and PayU, among others.
Bhambri envisions that a collaboration or merger between KreditPE and ZestMoney could result in the creation of a postpaid UPI wallet service, catering more sensibly to the aspirations of the Indian user base. The letter suggests that when such an option becomes available, a substantial portion of the Indian audience may shift towards a postpaid wallet service, highlighting untapped potential beyond existing players like #paytm and #phonepe.
The letter concluded by underscoring KreditPE’s perceived competitive advantage—a lending algorithm and format deemed unmatched, with Bhambri asserting that many claim to have a lending algorithm, but few truly possess one.
