Bnpl Fintech Bharatx Acquires Zenifi to Enter Medical Lending Market

• Harshit Shrivastava, Padam Kataria, and Rajendra Kulkarni founded Zenifi, in 2023 to provide zero-cost and low-cost EMIs to improve conversion rates for healthcare providers, helping them convert walk-in patients by providing them affordable payment options for their treatment
• They have tied up with multiple hospitals and aggregators, generating an annual rate of demand worth Rs. 1.2 cr+
• BharatX, a Y Combinator-backed fintech startup is solving credit for the Indian Middle & upper class, who even after having sufficient income are unable to get credit due to lack of documentation.

Bangalore, Date TBD: Y-Combinator-backed BNPL FinTech startup, BharatX has acquired Zenifi, a healthcare finance startup providing zero-cost and low-cost EMI solutions. BharatX that provides credit as a service to end users, will be entering the medical lending segment, with this acquisition.

As part of the deal, Padam Kataria, the Co-founder CEO, Zenifi will join BharatX as the Head of Business – Healthcare. Leveraging his extensive experience in the sector gained during his tenure at Navi and Zenifi, Padam will work on building BharatX’s healthcare lending vertical. Harshit and Rajendra will be existing as a part of the deal.

BharatX has a long-standing partnership with Zenifi as they were one of the earliest partners to provide a lending platform to extend credit. By being a part of BharatX, Zenifi team can leverage the pre-existing lending platform and realise better economics. And this acquisition will allow BharatX to break into the healthcare sector, a sector ripe for disruption and one of the largest sectors needing credit after its disruptive success in online shopping credit solutions.

Mehul Jindal, Co-founder CEO, BharatX says, “Healthcare sector in India faces a significant challenge when it comes to paying for medical services. This becomes a problem especially during emergencies. India continues to spend the largest amount for accessing healthcare through their own pockets, making availing medical facilities an expensive proposition. We have been working with Zenifi that is addressing this problem head-on by providing realistic and affordable solutions. This acquisition will allow BharatX to go deeper into the healthcare vertical where currently no fintech or traditional players are able to disburse credit instantly, which is critical in emergency healthcare.”

Padam Kataria,CEO Zenifi Head – Healthcare, BharatX, says, “Joining forces with BharatX is a good opportunity for Zenifi. We have firsthand experience of making medical lending easy and accessible and with BharatX’s well-established credit as a service, the synergies between the two companies will ensure that we can accelerate the speed with which we capture the market. Our goal is to offer easy credit solutions to millions of Indians who are currently left with no choice but to pay OOP for medical situations.”

BharatX enables financing options for 125+ brands in white-labled manner. In the past five quarters, they have grown 33X and have raised more than $4.7 million till date. They are trying to solve the credit problem for the Indian middle-class and upper-class, who even after sufficient income are unable to get credit due to lack of documents. They have disbursed credit to more than 200,000 users till now and are trying to fill a crucial gap in the market left by traditional lending institutes.

BharatX continues to explore growth opportunities and has recently announced partnerships with Cashfree, a prominent payment gateway, alongside existing partnerships with brands such as Flo mattress, Snitch, and Mokobara.

Fintechs in 2024: Navigating Toward a Brighter Future

In 2023, fraud and regulatory pressure tarnished loan apps and fintech companies. Hoping for a better, more responsible 2024.

StartupTalkyPrithvi Durai