Lizzie Chapman to talk about building a fintech startup in India at Disrupt Berlin

Fintech startups are growing rapidly in Europe. But it doesn’t mean that the fintech revolution is limited to Europe. That’s why I’m glad to announce that Lizzie Chapman from ZestMoney is coming to TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin to talk about her unique Indian startup.

ZestMoney wants to make it easier to lend money to buy goods online. In the U.S., the vast majority of people have a credit card and a credit score. But India is a different market, and ZestMoney is trying to replace the credit card altogether.

When you shop on an e-commerce website in India, such as Amazon or Flipkart, you can get a voucher on ZestMoney’s website to check out on those websites. You’ll then pay back this voucher with monthly installments. In some cases, interests are refunded as cashback.

You don’t need to get a credit card to open a ZestMoney account. After opening an account, your EMI credit limit is shared across all ZestMoney partners.

Some websites feature a deeper integration with ZestMoney. For instance, on Xiaomi’s website, you can pay your phone in multiple installments using Mi Finance. Behind the scene, ZestMoney powers this service.

This is an interesting time for ZestMoney as the company is facing increased competition. Amazon just launched EMI options for Amazon Pay in India. You can now take a loan directly on Amazon’s checkout page.

Chapman is also an interesting British entrepreneur. As TechCrunch’s Jon Russell wrote, she moved to India in 2011 to work for payday loan startup Wonga’s Indian division. Years later, even though Wonga didn’t work out, she’s still betting on India.

If you want to hear Chapman tell you more about what she’s been working on, you should come to Disrupt Berlin. The conference will take place on November 29-30 and you can buy your ticket right now.

In addition to fireside chats and panels, like this one, new startups will participate in the Startup Battlefield Europe to win the highly coveted Battlefield cup.

Lizzie Chapman

CEO & Co-founder, ZestMoney

Lizzie Chapman is the co-founder and CEO of ZestMoney, FinTech startup of 2017. Zestmoney is India's largest digital lending platform that introduced the concept of cardless EMI to make life more affordable in India.

Lizzie is a leading figure in the digital lending landscape of India since 2011 when she moved from UK to spearhead the India operations for digital lender Wonga.com. In 2013, she joined Development Bank of Singapore to help launch ‘digibank’ – mobile-only virtual bank of India. Her passion about the potential of technology to disrupt the delivery of financial services prompted Lizzie and her co-founders to start ZestMoney. She was selected as FinTech Woman of 2017.

A CFA Charterholder and BSc from Edinburgh University, Lizzie started her career at Goldman Sachs in equity research and asset management. She then became an investor for The Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest endowments, focused on financial services and Indian investments. She is an Investment Committee member of the early stage fund India Quotient and sits on the board of IndiaMart – India's leading SME marketplace and classified site.

Other than working extensively on understanding Indian consumer behavior and building superior credit products, Lizzie is a mother and a marathon runner. She was one of three runners from India to complete the 42.2 kms Antarctic Ice Marathon in 2011.

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