Meet woman who co-founded firm once worth Rs 3200 crore, now shutting down

ZestMoney co-founder Lizzie Chapman has reportedly joined Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries. The executive appointment news comes just days after ZestMoney shut down after multiple attempts at finding a buyer for the stressed firm led nowhere. 

Lizzie Chapman and co-founders Priya Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman had founded ZestMoney in 2015. They exited the company in May 2023 after a deal with PhonePe to take over the company collapsed. The company was valued at $435 million or over Rs 3200 crore in September 2021 at its peak.

Chapman has joined RIL subsidiary Jio Platforms and will lead the Jio super app project, according to a report from Hindu Business Line. Citing a banker aware of the matter, the report said that Chapman has already joined but her role “does not have much to do with Jio Financial Services for now”. It was also reported that Chapman has called the news speculative and denied that she has joined the company. 

Chapman has been working in India for over a decade. She has served as the India head of erstwhile UK startup Wonga and at the DSB Bank. She led the ‘Digibank’ project at DSB.