Singapore’s highest-profile startups, Zilingo Pte, has suspended its Indian Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ankiti Bose after alleged discrepancies in company’s accounting, discovered during a due diligence process for a new funding at the firm, according to people familiar with the matter.
The alleged accounting irregularities in the Sequoia Capital-backed company were found as it was in advanced talks to raise $150 million to $200 million in a fresh round at a potential valuation of $1.2 billion, paving the way for it to become a unicorn.
Bose has disputed the allegations of wrongdoing and contends her suspension was due in part to her complaints about harassment against an investor in the company. She has hired an attorney, Abraham Vergis of Providence Law Asia, to represent her and has called the investigation a “witch hunt”.
Source said shareholders of the company and Bose are in talks through their representatives, debating the charges and her suspension.
