Zilingo CEO suspended amid financial probe

B2B fashion e-commerce firm Zilingo has suspended its CEO, Ankiti Bose, after the company’s capital-raising plan led to questions about its accounting practices, according to Bloomberg. 

Bose, who founded Zilingo in 2015 with Dhruv Kapoor, has been suspended until May 5. The company has 600 employees spread across operations in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, India and the US. 

The suspension came as Zilingo aims to raise US$150 – 200 million from investors with support from Goldman Sachs Group. Questions were raised about the company’s finances during the due diligence process. 

According to Bloomberg, the funding round would increase Zilingo’s valuation to more than $1 billion, if successful. The company secured $226 million in its Series D round in 2019 led by Sequoia Capital and Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek Holdings. 

Sources familiar with the matter said Temasek and Sequoia had raised concerns about Zilingo’s accounts to the company’s board last month. The sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

According to Bloomberg, regulators said the company has not filed annual financial statements since 2019. 

“The major investors hired an independent firm to investigate the matter, and the company is working closely with the major investors and the independent firm for the investigation,” Zilingo said, but declined to give specifics.

A lawyer for Bose said she declined to comment on her suspension or the investigation.

Temasek declined to comment, while Sequoia referred to Zilingo’s statement.

  • Additional reporting by Reuters.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.