India-based online lender ZestMoney has secured $15m in series B funding from investors including media and e-commerce group Naspers, co-founder and CEO Lizzie Chapman has told TechCrunch.
Naspers’ Fintech unit participated in the round alongside investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, venture capital firm Quona Capital and investment firm Omidyar Network.
ZestMoney runs an online platform that issues small loans to consumers without a solid credit score, which can be difficult to achieve for many Indian citizens, by utilising other data and assessing it using artificial intelligence.
The company has 6 million users and partners online merchants to offer consumer financing at the point of sale. It has now raised $63m altogether, according to Chapman.
The latest capital will be added to the $20m in series B financing ZestMoney received in April this year from Naspers’ payment technology unit, PayU, as well as Omidyar Network, VC firm Ribbit Capital and Reinventure, which is backed by financial services firm Westpac.
The company had raised $19.9m in series A funding from PayU, Omidyar Network, Ribbit Capital and smartphone maker Xiaomi in August 2018 before venture debt firm Alteria Capital provided an undisclosed amount for ZestMoney in January this year. It had received $2m in seed capital from Omidyar Network and Ribbit Capital in 2015.
