Tech IPOs aren’t common in Asia—China aside—but a young e-commerce startup in Southeast Asia is aiming to buck that trend.
Zilingo was only founded in 2015, but its brief life has already seen it raise more than $300 million, pivot from the cut-throat world of consumer e-commerce and get close to a $1 billion valuation. Added to all of that, it is led by 27-year-old Ankiti Bose, who is likely to become the first Indian woman CEO of a unicorn business.
Bose dreamed up Zilingo whilst working as an analyst for Sequoia India. Exposed to Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing startup ecosystem via the firm, visits to Thailand inspired her to start a business – the idea was to bring the thousands of vendors who sell fast fashion items at locations like Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market online.