ZestMoney, a platform for buy now pay later, was acquired by DMI Group. From now on, DMI Finance, the NBFC division of DMI, will be a preferred lender on the Zest platform.
Although the deal’s exact value is unknown, it is unquestionably a distressed sale.
The purchase takes place a few weeks after Zestmoney officially shut down, with all of its employees let go by December.
Following the agreement, DMI will hold the sole authority over all Zest brands. Additionally, the company said in a release that it will allow the group to expand its interaction with ZestMoney’s user base and product suite.
DMI is a financial services conglomerate that was founded in 2008 and focuses on digital, housing, and asset financing. It states that it has raised more than $1.5 billion from banks and other well-known investors.
The company, DMI Finance, is a pure-play digital lender offering loans for MSME, consumption, and personal use. DMI Finance announced in April 2023 that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. had led a $400 million equity round that was closed.
Over the course of its existence, ZestMoney raised about $125 million, with a sizable debt component. After closing a $58 million Series C round in September 2021, ZestMoney decided to shut down entirely due to strict regulations on BNPL startups and a difficult funding climate.
That being said, ZestMoney is the second business that has been taken over by a bigger organization following the departure of every co-founder. All three of the GoMechanic co-founders left the company amid serious financial irregularities, and LifeLong Group similarly acquired the company last year.
