Asia's fastest growing marketplace Zilingo has raised US$226M in its recent 
Series D financing, bringing the total funds raised by the company to US$308M. 
The company now looks to Vietnam as well as other key Asian markets as part of 
its growth strategy to expand its B2B business.

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190408/2427156-1LOGO

Key investors from this latest round of fundraising include Sequoia Capital, 
Temasek Holdings, Burda Principal Investments, Sofina, Singapore investment 
fund EDBI as well as existing investors.

"Sequoia's investment in Zilingo dates back to when the company wasn't even yet 
incorporated and the name wasn't finalized. Ankiti and team have rapidly 
transformed their original ideas about Zilingo into a platform company that 
serves fashion consumers, merchants, retailers, brands and manufacturers, 
collectively representing a multi-hundred-billion-dollar market size. We are 
amazed by the team's ability to envision and execute against such an ambitious 
roadmap and are excited to continue to support them on their journey," said 
Shailendra Singh, Managing Director at Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore.

Zilingo's purpose is to create value for its merchants and provide them access 
to the world's most efficient fashion supply chain

Zilingo started as a fashion and lifestyle marketplace in 2015 by Ankiti Bose 
and Dhruv Kapoor. While dealing with thousands of small sellers on their 
platforms, the founders saw their pain points first-hand. These businesses were 
unable to improve their margins or grow any further due to the lack of access 
to technology & capital -- while the big international brands kept growing 
aggressively. A small merchant neither has the volume to source as cheaply as 
large conglomerates, nor do they have enough influence to get the best rates 
from service providers or warehouses.

This propelled Zilingo to expand its core business beyond just their 
marketplace. The company soon developed its own proprietary suite of tools to 
enable fashion merchants to access manufacturers across Asia; unlocking the 
best procurement rates, optimized logistics services, financial solutions, 
insurance, loans & analytics for them.

While most e-commerce companies remain focused on B2C and C2C commerce, 
Zilingo's approach has been unique and focused on the underserved use case of 
creating value for fashion merchants and manufacturers. Today, Zilingo's B2B 
business focuses on solving two major problems in the global fashion industry: 
One, the lack of clarity for international clothing brands who are looking to 
produce in Asia and two, the lack of year-round demand consistency for clothing 
manufacturers in Asia who need to keep their factories running.

In 2018, the company saw exponential revenue growth after investing in building 
up their B2B and supply chain capabilities and delivering them through the 
Zilingo Asia Mall and Z-Seller platforms.

Co-founder and CEO, Ankiti Bose who now joins the ranks of a very small group 
of women founders leading Asia's big tech startups said, "The role of 
technology should be to create inclusive growth. In the fashion industry, core 
supply-chain inefficiencies hinder small & medium merchants from unlocking 
their full potential as compared to the big brands. We are building a level 
playing field by providing the best-in-class services & products to each 
merchant - irrespective of their size. We think this approach can unlock 
immense growth for manufacturers as we build this supply chain ecosystem of 
tools and services, supported by Zilingo's proprietary software, aimed at 
improving efficiency."

Asia: The untapped and infinite powerhouse of Fashion Supply in Numbers

Of the US$3 trillion of global fashion manufacturing, US$1.4 trillion comes 
from Asia alone. If this supply is optimised further, billions of dollars' 
worth of value can be unlocked.

One of the biggest challenges facing manufacturers is the seasonality of demand 
-- the peaks and troughs of orders. Zilingo helps factories overcome this 
uncertainty by bringing in year-round demand. This allows factories to maintain 
consistent supply and maintain their skilled headcount without the need for 
their own in-house sales teams.

Zilingo acts as a trusted partner plugging the gap between supply and demand 
whilst adding technology, fintech, and economies of scale on top. Customers who 
partner with Zilingo enjoy the benefits of the Zilingo network and can purchase 
fabric and raw materials at better pricing through Zilingo. Manufacturers can 
access advanced payment and design support through Zilingo. Both manufacturers 
and brands are supported by local Zilingo teams who can provide support and 
expertise.

Zilingo has grown tremendously by integrating its B2B and B2C platforms and 
focusing on serving its merchants as well as manufacturers better. The company 
has grown 4x in revenue in the last 12 months as more and more merchants are 
willing to pay for services which add value to their business both in the short 
and long term.

The company will use the funds to invest in the infrastructure and tech needed 
to further integrate & digitise the fashion & beauty supply chain

The company plans to invest the capital for long-term value building across the 
supply chain, building new and deeper relationships with manufacturing partners 
in Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, China, and expansion into new markets such as 
the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and the United States of America this 
year.

Zilingo is committed to accelerating growth by working closely with its 
merchants and manufacturing partners to leverage its proprietary technology and 
unlock the immense global potential and opportunity for manufacturers, 
merchants and consumers in fashion & beauty.

"Fashion and beauty merchants are hungry for tools that can help them scale. At 
the same time, the ecosystem is marred by outdated tech. It is imperative for 
us to build products that introduce machine learning and data science 
effectively to SMEs while also being easy to use, get adopted and scale 
quickly. We're re-wiring the entire supply chain with that lens so that we can 
add the most value," says Co-founder and CTO Dhruv Kapoor.

About Zilingo

Zilingo is a commerce platform that is making the fashion and beauty supply 
chain more efficient through technology. With over 27,000 merchants on the 
platform Zilingo connects businesses across the entire supply chain and 
empowers them with everything they need to run a business - from design, 
product development, fabric procurement, manufacturing, cataloguing, marketing, 
inventory management, distribution, billing, customer service, working capital 
& trend forecasting. With over two million product listings on Zilingo.com, 
users can effortlessly shop from a selection of indie labels, local designers, 
international and celebrity brands - all in one place. Founded by Ankiti Bose 
and Dhruv Kapoor in 2015, the company has offices in 8 cities globally with 
over 400 staff covering 20 different nationalities.

Zilingo is available for download for free on the App Store and Google Play 
across Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

For more information, please visit www.zilingo.com.

SOURCE  Zilingo