Ankiti Bose
Born (1992-07-15) 15 July 1992
Dehradun
Nationality India
Alma materSt. Xavier's College, Mumbai
Employer(s)Zilingo
McKinsey & Company
Sequoia Capital
Known forFashion technology

Ankiti Bose (born 1992) is the co-founder of e-commerce start-up Zilingo. She has been featured in Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list in 2018 as well as in Fortune's 40 Under 40 along with Bloomberg 50 in 2019.[1] On 31 March 2022, she was suspended as CEO after an attempt to raise capital raised questions about Zilingo's accounting practices, according to Bloomberg.[2] On 20 May 2022 Bose was fired from Zilingo.[3][4]

Early life and education

Bose is from India.[5] She completed her schooling from Cambridge School, Kandivli, Mumbai. She studied mathematics and economics at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[6]

Career

Bose started her career working at McKinsey & Company and Sequoia Capital in Bangalore.[7] After a trip to the Chatuchak Weekend Market[8] Bose noticed that fashion markets in Southeast Asia had immense room for penetration and growth.[6] The market includes over 11,000 independent merchants lacking an online presence.[6] Whilst there was investment in improving access to the internet, Bose recognized that retailers were not trained in financing, scaling-up, website design, and procurement nor well equipped to compete with large global players.[7]

In 2015, Bose left her position as an investment analyst at Sequoia Capital to launch her own company, Zilingo.[9] Bose was twenty three when she founded Zilingo.[10] She moved to Singapore in 2016, where she developed the software and supply chain solutions.[11]

In 2019, Zilingo raised $226 million in Series D fundraising, resulting in a $970 million market value.[12][13] As of 2019, it had over seven million active users leveraging the global platform.[7]

The China–United States trade war resulted in United States retailers leaving China, which allowed Zilingo to expand into America.[13] She has worked to source Indian fabrics for Californian factories as well as opening offices on the West Coast and East Coast.[13] At Zilingo, Bose supported a program to train women in Indonesia to create clothing, recognising that in Indonesia almost 40% of women leave the workforce after they get married.[13][14] Zilingo set up a coaching programme to support leaders across the company.[13]

In March 2022, Bose was suspended, from Zilingo with allegations of financial misrepresentation and mismanagement, pending an investigation. Among other allegations, shareholders questioned her S$50,000 per month salary which according to her contract five years ago was S$8,500. Her management style of using intimidation to extract compliance in her daily working in Zilingo was also called into question.[15]

Bose has spoken at the World Economic Forum in India.[16]

Awards and honours

  • 2018: Named in Forbes 30 Under 30 - Asia - Big Money[17]
  • 2019: Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40[1]
  • 2019: The Bloomberg 50[18]
  • 2019: Business Worldwide Magazine Most Innovative CEO of the Year – Singapore[19]
  • 2020: featured in Singapore 100 Women in Tech List[20]
  • 2021:selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst.[21]

References

  1. 1 2 "Ankiti Bose". Fortune. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Temasek-backed Zilingo suspends CEO amid accounting probe - Bloomberg News". Nasdaq. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "Zilingo finally fires CEO Ankiti Bose after 51-day suspension—for 'insubordination'". Fortune. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Zilingo Fires CEO as Clash Over Embattled Startup Escalates". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Meet the 27-year-old Ankiti Bose running a nearly $1 billion fashion startup". The Economic Times. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Gilchrist, Karen (23 May 2019). "Meet the 27-year-old set to be India's first woman to co-found a $1 billion start-up". CNBC. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Gilchrist, Karen (24 May 2019). "Why this 27-year-old is happy she worked a corporate job before starting her $1 billion business". CNBC. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "How a trip to a Thai market inspired the launch of an almost $1bn start-up". The National. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  9. ↑ Karen Gilchrist (24 May 2019). "Why this 27-year-old is happy she worked a corporate job before starting her $1 billion business". CNBC. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  10. ↑ Xinyi, Hong (6 September 2019). "At 27, Ankiti Bose Is Set To Become The First Indian Woman To Found A Billion-Dollar Startup. This Is How She Did It". Hong Kong Tatler. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "Ankiti Bose is on a mission to level the playing field for women". Prestige Online. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "For growing into the next e-commerce unicorn". Generation T. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Lee, Yoolim. "Ankiti Bose, Southeast Asia's Tech Sensation". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  14. ↑ "In Good Company". Verve Magazine. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  15. ↑ "How a Celebrity CEO's Rule of Fear Helped Bring Down Hot Startup Zilingo". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "India Economic Summit". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "30 Under 30 Asia 2018: Big Money". Forbes. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  18. ↑ "The Bloomberg 50 Broadcast (Podcast)". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  19. ↑ "CEO Awards 2019 Winners | Business & Corporate News". 28 August 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  20. ↑ "Singapore 100 women in tech list 2020". ChannelNewsAsia. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  21. ↑ "The Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst List". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
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