Zilingo ex-CEO’s criminal complaint is retaliation against whistleblowers: source

Zilingo co-founders (from left) Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor / Photo credit: Zilingo

Ankiti Bose, the co-founder and former CEO of fashion ecommerce startup Zilingo, has filed a criminal complaint against fellow founder Dhruv Kapoor and ex-COO Aadi Vaidya, the Times of India reports.

Bose, who was fired in mid-2022 following allegations of financial irregularities, claims that Kapoor and Vaidya misled her and Zilingo’s investors for financial gain. She also alleges that her two colleagues forced her to relinquish her shares under false pretenses.

In their statements, both Kapoor and Vaidya call Bose’s allegations “completely baseless and untrue.”

“A thorough investigation has already proven her wrongdoing, based on which she was terminated from the company. This appears to be nothing but retaliatory behavior,” says Kapoor. “Throughout my tenure at Zilingo, I upheld my integrity by aiding the board’s inquiry into Ankiti’s misconduct while fostering professional relationships and striving to build ethical products.”

“This seems like nothing but a clear afterthought done with a malicious intention to harm my reputation and harass me,” says Vaidya.

Meanwhile, a source close to Zilingo echoes Kapoor’s statement, saying that Bose’s lawsuit is “retaliation” against her co-founder as well as Vaidya, as both executives were the whistleblowers that brought to light Zilingo’s many issues.

In her complaint, Bose says that Vaidya “falsely” attributed loss-making deals to her and used them to falsely implicate her to Zilingo’s investors. Meanwhile, Kapoor and Vaidya were “sneaky and shady” in hiding company data from her, she alleges.

She also claims that Vaidya blamed her for errors “to fraudulently acquire my shares, which are valued at multiple crores.”

This is not the first time that Bose has leveled accusations against Kapoor and Vaidya. After being suspended from Zilingo in 2022, the former CEO said that both colleagues failed to help her when she was facing harassment.

Bose was sacked months later, but she teamed up with Kapoor on a management buyout plan that did not come to fruition.

This development is the latest chapter in the long-running Zilingo saga. Vaidya, who is now advising startups in Berlin, had resigned from Zilingo on July 2022, while Kapoor’s LinkedIn profile says he left by December 2022.

Zilingo, which was a soonicorn at one point, began liquidation proceedings in January 2023. According to Tech in Asia‘s database, it has raised US$306.9 million from investors like PeakXV Partners, Temasek Holdings, and EDBI.

See also: Zilingo’s layoffs expose internal fault lines