ZestMoney founders resign as Goldman Sachs-backed fintech struggles to raise funds

Founders of ZestMoney have resigned from the startup, the latest twist in the fate of the Indian fintech whose ability to underwrite small ticket loans to first-time internet customers once drew the backing of many high-profile investors including Goldman Sachs.

Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman, the founders of ZestMoney, informed employees about their decision on Monday.

“Over the last few weeks, we have done a lot of thinking and it has been hard for us to arrive at this conclusion,” wrote Chapman in an email seen by TechCrunch. “We have immense belief and faith in the potential that ZestMoney has. We will also ensure to provide full support to the incoming management team and do everything we can to support them for the next 4 months to ensure a smooth transition.”

The departures come weeks after a potential deal to acquire ZestMoney by PhonePe fell through.

“We are proud of how far we have come on that journey and the advancement we made in truly democratizing credit availability in the country using our path-breaking technology. We are also immensely proud of the incredible team and the unique culture we have built at ZestMoney – which was only underlined to us in recent weeks as we saw how everyone came together in supporting each other during one of the hardest times a startup can go through,” wrote Chapman.

More to follow.