Ankiti Bose, a co-founder of Zilingo and its previous CEO, has resigned from her director position with the holding company Zilingo Pte Ltd and its subsidiaries.
In a post on Instagram, Bose claimed that the decision was made due to the “opacity of information” regarding her as a board member and shareholder.
She is still a sizable shareholder in the business.
Bose, cofounder Dhruv Kapoor, and management collectively own about 25% of the lifestyle online retailer.
Bose’s dismissal by Zilingo in May, following her earlier suspension for alleged financial irregularities, put an end to a protracted dispute between the Singapore company’s shareholders, board, and cofounder.
According to a report from ET on April 12, the purported financial irregularities in its accounting were uncovered during the due diligence process for a new funding round. In order to become a unicorn, the company was then in the final stages of negotiations to raise $150–200 million at a potential valuation of $1.2 billion.
Before founding Zilingo, Bose worked at Sequoia Capital India, and he called her suspension a “witch hunt.”
Bose wrote on the photo and video-sharing website on Thursday: “Over the past few months, despite my numerous requests, the Zilingo board has failed to show me any report (issued by Kroll or Deloitte) which pertained to any investigation into the company or into my alleged misconduct, and why or how these were used to terminate my position as CEO.”
Hundreds of employees and customers are also in a state of limbo, it is heartbreakingly obvious to me. I would once more kindly ask each shareholder in Zilingo to make an effort to put the needs of our people ahead of personal agendas and differences.
According to a June 19 report from ET, Bose had previously endorsed Kapoor’s plan to acquire Zilingo and prevent liquidation. After her suspension, there was a fallout between Kapoor and Bose.
Kapoor had suggested paying the company’s outstanding debt of $48 million and injecting an additional $8 million in new equity.
“I have hired legal and financial advisers with respect to the MBO, and I base this offer on firm investor commitments” (collectively, “investor group”). The investor group is happy to meet with each stakeholder to discuss their credentials and capacity to complete the MBO (management buyout),” Kapoor wrote in an email on June 19 to the board, shareholders, and lenders.
On May 4, ET reported that Zilingo had asked Deloitte to look into Bose’s allegations of harassment after her suspension.
