Zilingo

After laying off 90% of its workforce in the past four months, many former Bikayi employees are considering sending legal notices over unpaid salaries and ...

Bikayi was speculated to be raising $50 Mn from Tiger Global as per reports in January this year, but Inc42 has learnt that no such round was in the works. The biggest loophole in Bikayi’s plan is that it has no expertise in catering to enterprise clients or large businesses. Another former senior sales manager told Inc42 that Bikayi terminated the employment of several sales team leads on August 01 and 02. Besides this, a UK-based fashion brand is also said to have sent a similar notice to take down sites that were selling first copies. Currently, there’s no clarity on how much cash reserves Bikayi has in the bank. According to one employee who left the company on Saturday, July 30, the company does not even want the resigning employees to serve their notice periods. Besides this the product itself was not delivered for at least three weeks despite the customers paying for it. It is not yet clear whether Bikayi will terminate its lease for this expanded office space, which is said to have been two floors at a property in HSR Layout. Many more employees are likely to be fired after a period of performance reviews by managers, we were informed. Besides Y Combinator and Sequoia, Mantis VC, the fund founded by pop sensations Chainsmokers, also invested in Bikayi. A glamorous investment — not unlike Jay-Z’s Arrive backing Zilingo at the tail end of 2019. But on July 30, nearly 200 employees resigned en masse as the August 01 deadline to move to Bengaluru under the new working conditions neared. - Like Bikayi, Zilingo was also founded with the idea of revamping a traditional market.

Its 30-year-old co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose was fired in May amid a probe into alleged financial irregularities. Read more at straitstimes.com.

A representative of the company, Mr Kapoor and Mr Vaidya declined to comment. Ms Bose explained to them that the US$190 million had been circulated before the year closed and before the cancellation of masks and other orders. "These matters are well understood by all investors," Ms Bose said in the interview. Ms Bose spent most of the year trying to pull in more funds. Her employment contract five years ago stated it as $8,500 and the adviser had just discovered she had been making considerably more since 2019, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In January 2021, Mr Singh and Ms Bose met at the Four Seasons Hotel's alfresco cafe as they did from time to time to talk shop. By the end of 2019, Mr Singh and other directors had told Ms Bose several times to slow the cash burn. The mounting pressure was also testing the relationship between Ms Bose and co-founder Mr Kapoor, the chief technology officer. Mr Singh picked up the phone and had a tough conversation with Ms Bose, according to people with knowledge of the conversations. Ms Bose declined to comment specifically on the campaign, but said it was part of the company's US$10 million annual marketing budget. Ms Bose said in an interview with Bloomberg News in 2019 that Mr Perry's experience and respect in the financial world would complement her "young and crazy" self and give confidence to investors. Bloomberg News reviewed dozens of internal documents, e-mails, texts and other media from Zilingo, and Ms Bose sat for two extensive interviews, one before and one after her dismissal from the company on May 20.

India Business News: The Zilingo meltdown has rattled the tech industry in Southeast Asia and beyond. The startup had raised more than $300 million from ...

A representative of the company, Kapoor and Vaidya declined to comment. Bose explained to them that the $190 million had been circulated before the year closed and before the cancellation of masks and other orders. Bose spent most of the year trying to pull in more funds. Bose said in an interview with Bloomberg News in 2019 that Perry’s experience and respect in the financial world would compliment her “young and crazy” self and give confidence to investors. By the end of 2019, Singh and other directors had told Bose several times to slow the cash burn. By the time we got to the stage where we had all these senior people, I don’t think I was a control freak.” “It was not easy, we did not succeed at everything,” she said in July. “It was chaotic and painful, but we did do it and we made the best effort we could.” Bose declined to comment specifically on the campaign, but said it was part of the company's $10 million annual marketing budget. By late 2017, they decided to reposition Zilingo into a business-to-business platform, where small manufacturers and wholesalers could sell goods directly to small retailers in the region. “We think the world of her,” he told a fellow VC in 2016, in an email seen by Bloomberg News. “Board members were concerned about the company's performance over the last few years and sought to share suggestions to address the company’s performance including cash burn,” Zilingo and its board said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “In March 2022, investors received complaints about serious financial irregularities which appeared to require investigation. Bloomberg News reviewed dozens of internal documents, emails, texts and other media from Zilingo, and Bose sat for two extensive interviews, one before and one after her dismissal from the company on May 20.

Zilingo's turmoil highlights an apparent lax internal corporate governance culture that's not uncommon in the start-up industry. For two years, the company ...

“It was not easy, we did not succeed at everything,” she said in July. “It was chaotic and painful, but we did do it and we made the best effort we could.” By late 2017, they decided to reposition Zilingo into a business-to-business platform, where small manufacturers and wholesalers could sell goods directly to small retailers in the region. “We think the world of her,” he told a fellow VC in 2016, in an email seen by Bloomberg News. Singh had started his career in Sequoia’s Silicon Valley office, learning at the side of veteran investors Michael Moritz and Doug Leone. He and Bose had worked together at Sequoia and he was happy to support one of the firm’s own. With the support of the majority investor shareholders, an independent forensic investigations consultancy was appointed to look into the said complaints. Bloomberg News reviewed dozens of internal documents, emails, texts and other media from Zilingo, and Bose sat for two extensive interviews, one before and one after her dismissal from the company on May 20. Bose said the process to terminate her was an “unfair witch hunt” and denied that she was given numerous opportunities to respond to allegations. Singh lost faith in the management skills of the young founder he had championed, while Bose believed Singh betrayed her by pushing her out of her own company, according to people familiar with their relationship, who requested anonymity as the talks were private. For two years, the company failed to file annual financial statements, a basic requirement for all businesses of its size in Singapore. Auditor KPMG LLP has yet to sign off on Zilingo’s FY20 results. The Zilingo meltdown has rattled the tech industry in Southeast Asia and beyond. Bose’s management style alienated employees and undermined the business, according to staff who worked under her.

Zilingo controversy: The Zilingo meltdown has rattled the tech industry in Southeast Asia and beyond. The startup had raised more than $300 million from ...

A representative of the company, Kapoor and Vaidya declined to comment. Bose explained to them that the $190 million had been circulated before the year closed and before the cancellation of masks and other orders. After her suspension in March, Bose herself filed a formal complaint to the board, asking it to also suspend Kapoor and then-Chief Operating Officer Aadi Vaidya, a friend from college, for their poor work performance and lack of leadership. Bose said in an interview with Bloomberg News in 2019 that Perry’s experience and respect in the financial world would compliment her “young and crazy” self and give confidence to investors. Bose spent most of the year trying to pull in more funds. By the end of 2019, Singh and other directors had told Bose several times to slow the cash burn. By the time we got to the stage where we had all these senior people, I don’t think I was a control freak.” “It was not easy, we did not succeed at everything,” she said in July. “It was chaotic and painful, but we did do it and we made the best effort we could.” Bose declined to comment specifically on the campaign, but said it was part of the company’s $10 million annual marketing budget. By late 2017, they decided to reposition Zilingo into a business-to-business platform, where small manufacturers and wholesalers could sell goods directly to small retailers in the region. “Board members were concerned about the company’s performance over the last few years and sought to share suggestions to address the company’s performance including cash burn,” Zilingo and its board said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “In March 2022, investors received complaints about serious financial irregularities which appeared to require investigation. “We think the world of her,” he told a fellow VC in 2016, in an email seen by Bloomberg News.