Sacked Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose gave herself 10x salary hike without approval: report

Ankiti Bose was just 23 when she founded Zilingo in 2015. (Image: @ankitibose/Instagram)

Ankiti Bose, the Indian-origin co-founder of Singapore-based fashion tech firm Zilingo, who was sacked as CEO last year over alleged financial discrepancies, allegedly gave herself a 10X salary hike without the approval of the company’s board, according to a report by Inc42. The report comes at a time when Bose, 31, has filed a $100 million (roughly Rs 820 crore) defamation lawsuit against investor Mahesh Murthy for accusing her of taking money from a start-up illegally.

Between 2017 and 2019, Bose reportedly gave herself, co-founder Dhruv Kapoor and chief operating officer Aadi Vaidya a major pay hike.

Her salary, according to the report, grew from SGD 5,500 in 2017 to SGD 58,900 (more than 10 times) in 2019. While Kapoor’s salary grew 3x, Vaidya’s salary grew 7x in this period.

Read: Who is Ankiti Bose, the suspended Zilingo CEO who co-founded the company at 23

Ankiti Bose, who grew up in Mumbai, had described her dismissal as CEO a “witch hunt” and flagged threats to herself and her family.

Zilingo, backed by Sequoia Capital India and Temasek Holdings Pte, had said in May last year that the decision to suspend Bose over alleged discrepancies in the firm's accounts was taken jointly by the board and not by any individual investor.

The B2B start-up offers tech platform for fashion retailers to source wholesale supplies. Zilingo has been one of the most celebrated startups of Southeast Asia.

Zilingo, one of Sequoia Capital India's key investments in Southeast Asia, entered the unicorn club when it raised a $226-million funding in April last year.

Zilingo was founded by Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor in 2015 to help small businesses across South and Southeast Asia sell their goods online. Bose was just 23 when she co-founded the company.

In 2019, when Zilingo raised $226 million from investors including Sequoia and Temasek, Bose was considered a visionary who changed the entrepreneurial game for South East Asia as the company’s valuation went up to $970 million. She was only 27 then.