Singapore-based fashion start-up Zilingo invests $100 million into U.S. business

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Oct 24, 2019

Singapore-based fashion technology platform Zilingo is investing $100 million into its business across the United States.

The investment follows Zilingo’s launch of U.S. operations offices in New York and Los Angeles this summer. With the aim of “digitally [transforming] the fashion supply chain” by connecting retailers and brands with factories and suppliers, the investment will facilitate new hires within the company’s sales and product teams, according to a press release. 

The move into the U.S. is part of the company's accelerated growth strategy in new markets, including Australia, Europe and the Middle East, the company said. 

Zilingo’s platform provides software that connects merchants and factories to eliminate middlemen that eat into margins, artificial intelligence that predicts upcoming trends, financial services, a global network of sustainable supply and a network of internationally recognized auditing and compliance services to ensure responsible manufacturing. 

"We're a technology company at heart, and firmly believe in the power of technology to improve business and the world,” said Ankiti Bose, co-founder and chief executive officer of Zilingo. “We're bringing technology to a supply chain that hasn't changed since the industrial revolution."

Founded in 2015 by Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor as an e-commerce platform to allow merchants to sell to end consumers in Southeast Asia, Zilingo has since expanded and currently enables 60,000 retailers and 6,000 factories across 17 countries.

This April, the company raised $226 million in Series D funding with the help of investors including Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings, Burda Principal Investments, Sofina and Singapore investment fund EDBI, in addition to existing investors. The latest round brings the total funding raised by the company up to $308 million.