Unravelling the Zilingo Scandal: From Fashion Tech Darling to Corporate Scandal

Zilingo was once recognised as the future of Southeast Asian e-commerce—a nimble startup co-founded in 2015 by Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor, with a mission to digitise and democratise the fashion supply chain. The inspiration sparked from the markets of Bangkok, where Bose realised the potential of connecting small retailers to a broader audience through technology. Within a few years, Zilingo transformed into a regional powerhouse, amassing over $347 million from star investors like Sequoia Capital, Temasek, and Burda Principal Investments, reaching a dazzling near-unicorn valuation of $970 million by 2019, and even expanding operations across eight countries.

But by early 2023, it had collapsed in a haze of scandal, whistleblowers, internal probes, and lawsuits, with its co-founder and CEO, Ankiti Bose, making headlines not for innovation but for a dramatic public fallout with her colleagues and board. The Zilingo saga is both a cautionary tale and a primer on how a startup’s culture, governance, and ambitious drive can create as much risk as reward.

About Zilingo: Disrupting the Fashion Supply Chain

Zilingo was founded in 2015 by Ankiti Bose, then a Sequoia Capital analyst, and Dhruv Kapoor, a former software engineer. Their founding spark came from the bustling street markets of Bangkok, where thousands of local fashion stalls struggled to scale beyond regional foot traffic. Zilingo’s vision: offer a robust technology platform to digitize, finance, and globalize Asia’s small fashion merchants.

With a blend of B2C and B2B businesses, Zilingo rapidly built a digital ecosystem offering everything from e-commerce storefronts to inventory management, financing, logistics, and even production analytics. By 2019, it had raised around $308 million, operated in eight countries, and hit a valuation close to $1 billion, flirting with “unicorn” status. Investors included Sequoia Capital India, Temasek Holdings, Burda, and Sofina, a who’s who of global venture funding.

Hypergrowth and Cracks Beneath the Surface

Despite the glamour of high-profile partnerships, international expansion, and influencer-laden marketing blitzes, warning signs emerged as Zilingo grew. The company sank millions into customer acquisition—an infamous $1 million Morocco influencer trip netted only 10,000 new users instead of the targeted 1 million. Financial records showed a monthly cash burn of $7–8 million, and this pace meant the bulk of its war chest was exhausted in under two years. 

Internally, the company moved rapidly from a B2C marketplace to a B2B platform offering supply-chain tools, yet technology gaps persisted and operations often lagged behind Zilingo’s ambitious pitch.

Financial Irregularities and Leadership Turmoil

The company's troubles began in early 2022 when attempts to raise additional funding led to scrutiny of its financial practices. An internal investigation revealed significant irregularities in financial reporting, leading to the suspension of CEO Ankiti Bose on March 31, 2022. Despite her denial of any wrongdoing, Bose was terminated on May 20, 2022, for "insubordination" following the investigation's findings.

Zilingo: Crisis & Collapse

The initial allegations centered on Zilingo’s reported revenues and accounting practices. Documents reportedly showed multiple sets of revenue numbers presented to external parties: $190 million, $164 million, and $140 million for FY21, with actual net revenue possibly as low as $40 million. Bose acknowledged “aggressive” but “industry standard” methods for recognizing revenue and said investors were aware of these practices.

There were also claims that key company data was being concealed from investors and stakeholders, undermining the board’s oversight. Some investors reportedly had concerns about bogus transactions and merchant fraud in Indonesia, Zilingo’s largest market, though no evidence tied these directly to the company’s leadership.

Over a two-year period, Zilingo failed to file mandatory annual financial statements required under Singapore law, with auditor KPMG LLP declining to sign off on the FY20 financials. Although such delays are occasionally tolerated among startups, Zilingo’s prolonged omissions constituted a glaring red flag signaling systemic oversight weaknesses.

Even more bewildering was investor behavior at the time. Despite the lack of audited financials, state-owned investors like Temasek and EDBI infused additional capital into Zilingo at the end of 2020, exemplifying a broader recklessness in funding decisions. Investors, having prioritized hyper-growth, were accused of failing in their own due diligence and oversight responsibilities. The board only responded decisively after whistleblower complaints surfaced in early 2022, prompting the suspension of Bose and an independent forensic investigation.

Indonesia, which represented over half of Zilingo’s business volume, caused additional alarm though no direct CEO involvement was proven.

The internal fallout was severe: creditors called in loans, senior leadership including the CFO departed, and employee attrition soared beyond 100 staff. The board ultimately dismissed Bose by May 2022, marking a dramatic endpoint to a period of sustained tension and mismanagement.

Leadership Struggles and Strategic Missteps

Interviews with more than 60 individuals ranging from employees to investors revealed a company plagued by erratic management practices and damaging internal dynamics. Bose's insistence on aggressive “crazy growth” strategies led to costly and ineffective initiatives, such as a $1 million influencer promotional trip to Morocco which failed to meet user acquisition targets, and a hurried, ultimately unsustainable, expansion into the United States.

Her management style, described by former employees as alienating and fear-inducing, undermined both employee morale and operational coherence. Additionally, shareholders voiced concerns over excessive cash burn — reported at $7-8 million a month, and a lack of transparent financial reporting, which went unnoticed or unaddressed for prolonged periods.

Central to the company’s downfall was the deteriorated relationship between Bose and her once-strong ally Shailendra Singh, the influential head of Sequoia Capital India. Once a steadfast supporter, Singh grew increasingly disillusioned with Bose’s management as financial pressures mounted. The resulting power struggle exacerbated the turmoil, culminating in legal threats aimed at containing defamatory accusations, indicative of profound fractures within Zilingo’s governance.

Boardroom Fallout: Sexual Harassment and Counter-Allegations

As the internal battle intensified, Bose filed harassment complaints, including allegations of sexual and mental harassment against co-founder Dhruv Kapoor and former COO Aadi Vaidya. She accused them of cheating, coercing her to relinquish shares under false pretenses, data manipulation, and sending sexually explicit messages and online threats.

Both Kapoor and Vaidya have denied all accusations, terming the FIR “baseless” and “retaliatory,” citing earlier investigations that had found Bose at fault and led to her removal as CEO. In response to the harassment charges, Zilingo commissioned Deloitte to conduct a separate probe. Legal proceedings in the form of a First Information Report (FIR) were launched in India, and a court order was later obtained by Bose to restrict defamatory content until a full hearing.

Collapse and Liquidation: The End of Zilingo

By January 2023, Zilingo’s board appointed liquidators and began selling off company assets. Creditors, unable to secure debt repayments, demanded full recall of their loans, and most staff were laid off. Zilingo’s brand and technology were eventually acquired by Switzerland-based Buyogo for an undisclosed amount. The closure marked a brutal end for what could have been a landmark Asian unicorn.

Aftermath: Legal, Cultural, and Regulatory Shockwaves

The Zilingo case shook not just Southeast Asian startups, but also sent ripples through global VC circles. High-profile investors voiced public concern over weak governance, promising new protocols, stronger board oversight, and stricter whistleblower systems. Sequoia Capital robustly condemned “willful misconduct or fraud,” and promised governance training for founders and enhanced audit procedures.

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The case highlighted glaring regulatory holes: private companies in Singapore and much of Southeast Asia face lighter enforcement, and account-filing deferments are easy to secure. The sweeping response by governments and investor associations includes moves towards best-practice guidelines, real-time cash oversight, and stricter local board requirements.

Conclusion

The painful lessons of Zilingo reveal that stellar valuations and media acclaim must never eclipse the essentials of governance, lest startups face a similar fate. Zilingo’s turbulent collapse underscores how unchecked founder power, aggressive growth pursuit, and weakened governance structures can collectively unravel even the most promising startups.