ZestMoney aims to disburse skill loans worth $100 mn

ZestMoney, India's largest digital consumer lending company, on Thursday announced plans to grant over USD 100 million in skill loans to executives in 2019.

The company has partnered with Byjus, UpGrad, Manipal, Great Learning (Great Lakes Institute of Management), NMIMS, Udacity, Springboard among others for disbursal of loans.

"Our endeavour is to empower every Indian with the power of credit and support their pursuits. For majority of executives, acquisition of skills is an important aspect of career growth, and for ZestMoney, the vertical currently contributes 25% of revenues. With steady growth, we look to disburse over USD 100 million in loans this year for skill education through our partners," said Lizzie Chapman, Co-founder and CEO of ZestMoney.

The higher education industry in India is expected to grow to USD 35.03 billion by 2025. The education sector in India is estimated to be valued at USD 91.7 billion in FY18, and is expected to reach USD 101.1 billion in FY19.

A user can take a loan from ZestMoney in three easy steps, by registering on the platform, sharing required information and statements, and confirming the EMI plan. Signing up on ZestMoney is a one-time process, once registered the user can pay in EMI across all ZestMoney partners including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, MakeMyTrip and Xiaomi among others.

ZestMoney is the largest and fastest growing consumer lending fintech company in India founded by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman in 2015. 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.

The company has over five million registered consumers and has raised USD 22 million to date in three financing rounds.