Online fashion startup Zilingo has raised US$308 million to date. The five-year-old Singapore-based company was valued by investors at US$970 million—touching distance from the hallowed US$1 billion ‘unicorn’ market—when it raised US$226 million for its most recent round in February 2019.
However, online fashion in the times of influencer-led marketing on platforms like Instagram meant just raising funds wasn’t enough. Who it raised from mattered. In 2019, Zilingo raised funds from rapper Jay-Z’s VC fund Arrive. The deal itself was worth less than US$1 million, a person with knowledge of discussions said. They requested anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss company financing in public.