B2B in vogue as Zilingo looks to enter the unicorn club in style

From a consumer-facing e-commerce platform, Zilingo is realising its true potential by moving away from its roots towards seller services

Zilingo has an impact-based goal of bringing Southeast Asia’s small fashion traders online, but little is known of its core business

It is led by 27-year-old Ankiti Bose, who is likely to become the first Indian woman CEO of a unicorn business

Zilingo is betting that organising Asia’s complicated supply chain—to give small merchants the efficiencies major brands enjoy—can turn it into a global giant

With its almost-unicorn status and an attempt to establish itself in the US, Zilingo now needs to prove its mettle

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.

AUTHOR

Jon Russell

Jon Russell is Southeast Asia editor for The Ken based in Bangkok. Originally from the UK, Jon moved to Thailand in 2008. He’s passionate about telling thoughtful business stories, and tracking the impact of the internet in his adopted home of Southeast Asia.

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