Singapore fashion-tech startup Zilingo sacked co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose in May 2022 after a forensic investigation into complaints of serious financial irregularities. The company, once valued near US$1 billion, went into liquidation in January 2023, capping one of Southeast Asia's most dramatic startup falls.
Founded in 2015 by Bose and chief technology officer Dhruv Kapoor, Zilingo grew rapidly across Southeast Asia as a business-to-business fashion marketplace. In 2019 it raised US$226 million at a reported valuation of around US$970 million, backed by marquee investors including Sequoia Capital India and Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings. Bose became one of the most visible faces of the region's startup boom.
Trouble surfaced in early 2022 as the company sought to raise fresh capital with Goldman Sachs. The board suspended Bose on March 31, 2022, pending an independent forensic investigation by Kroll into what it described as serious financial irregularities. Lenders subsequently recalled their loans. On May 20, the board terminated her employment with cause, reserving the right to pursue legal action.
Bose denied wrongdoing, saying she had been suspended on the basis of an anonymous whistleblower complaint and terminated for insubordination, and that she had never been shown the Kroll or Deloitte reports. She also raised harassment allegations against colleagues, which the company said were only made after her suspension and had been appropriately handled. The dispute spilled into the courts: Bose later filed a US$100 million defamation suit, while investors including Burda Principal Investments pointed to significant irregularities in reporting to investors.
By January 2023, Zilingo was entering liquidation, its technology assets eventually sold to Switzerland's Buyogo AG. In April 2024, Mumbai police registered a complaint arising from Bose's allegations against Kapoor and chief operating officer Aadi Vaidya, which they denied. No regulator in Singapore has announced action against Bose, and the Kroll report has never been made public.
The affair exposed fault lines in startup governance: a celebrated founder, powerful investors, and a boardroom battle fought through lawyers and the press. For Singapore's startup ecosystem, Zilingo became shorthand for the dangers of unchecked founder power and weak internal controls, even as questions about what exactly happened remain unanswered years later.
The board's investigation was led by forensics firm Kroll, with Deloitte separately engaged to look into Bose's harassment complaints. As the probe dragged on, lenders Varde Partners and Indies Capital Partners recalled their loans, sealing the company's fate.
Temasek publicly backed the board's investigation, saying it expected portfolio companies to abide by sound corporate governance. After liquidation began in January 2023, Zilingo's technology assets were sold to Switzerland's Buyogo AG. Investor Burda Principal Investments later said significant irregularities in reporting to investors had led to the failure.