The board of Singapore-based fashion technology startup Zilingo on Wednesday suspended its 23-year-old CEO and co-founder, Ankiti Bose, in a move related to an investigation into the company's accounts.
Bose scaled up the company rapidly, styling herself as a role model for young entrepreneurs.
Zilingo, backed by investors including Temasek Holdings and Sequoia Capital India, said that its shareholders and board members had received information last month that required investigation. After this, the major investors authorised Zilingo's board to suspend Bose, pending an investigation of the "matters" raised.
Since its founding in 2015, the group has become a global supply chain enabler for the apparel industry, providing logistics, financing and other services to thousands of factories and merchants.
The company had raised $226 million in 2019, led by Sequoia Capital and Temasek Holdings and raising million —which valued the firm with 600 employees across eight countries at $970 million, putting it within a rounding error of unicornship.
Bose did her schooling in Mumbai and went on to study mathematics and economics at St. Xavier's College in the city. She started her career at at McKinsey & Company and Sequoia Capital in Bengaluru.
Bose had made it to the Forbes 40 Under 40 list in 2019, which lists the most influential young people in business. She was also placed in Forbes' 30 under 30 in 2018 and The Bloomberg 50 in 2019.
(With agency inputs)
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