Singapore’s Zilingo Fires Ankiti Bose, Here’s How She Responds

Zilingo, which is Singapore’s business-to-business (B2B) fashion e-commerce firm, has fired its Indian founder and chief executive officer Ankiti Bose.  People who briefed on the matter said that a due diligence process for a new funding round at the firm had discovered alleged discrepancies in the company's accounting.

Reportedly, earlier Bose had denied the allegations and had also contested her suspension, calling the company’s actions a ‘witch hunt’ that was triggered by harassment complaints she raised against an investor in the company.

This time after she was fired post an independent investigation into the finances of the firm, Bose gave a statement to Bloomberg and claimed that the step taken by Zilingo against her is due to "insubordination".

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According to reports, it was alleged that the accounting irregularities in the Sequoia Capital-backed company were found before the company had paved its way to becoming a unicorn. The company had advanced talks to raise 150-200 million dollars in a fresh round at a potential estimated value of 1.2 billion dollars. 

First reported by Newswire Bloomberg, Bose was also called for a meeting on March 31 with three board members. She was told about the complaints and alleged irregularities.

A report by The Economic Times said that Zilingo had raised 226 million dollars in its last funding round in 2019. The funding round was led by existing investors Sequoia Capital, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and other personalities. Later, the funding was valued at 970 million dollars. A bridge round of 35 million dollars from existing shareholders was also raised last year. 

Bose had made certain harassment-related allegations soon after she was suspended on March 31. Prior to her suspension, no past or present investor nominees on the board were made aware of the harassment claims.

In a recent statement, Zilingo said, "Zilingo said, "Following an investigation led by an independent forensics firm that was commissioned to look into complaints of serious financial irregularities, the company has decided to terminate Ankiti Bose's employment with cause, and reserves the right to pursue appropriate legal action."

BS also mentions that Bose has reportedly lawyered up and refuted the allegations of wrongdoing. She further argued that her suspension was “due in part to her complaints about harassment.”