Singapore’s Zilingo to invest $100m in fashion supply chain in the US

Global fashion platform Zilingo announced plans to set aside US$100 million to build out its fashion supply chain business amid its ongoing expansion in the US.

Zilingo co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose / Photo credit: Zilingo

Zilingo launched its operations in the US in the summer of this year, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. It said this is part of its accelerated growth plans in new markets such as those in Australia, Europe, and the Middle East.

With the US$100 million push into the US, Zilingo aims to digitize the apparel sourcing process, removing the need for some of the middlemen that can eat into profit margins. The investment also includes hiring sales and product staff.

The fashion sourcing firm also looks to use AI to predict upcoming fashion trends, helping companies reduce overproduction, according to a statement.

“The fashion industry is exploitative, wasteful, and frankly, completely broken,” said Zilingo co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose. “We’re bringing technology to a supply chain that hasn’t changed since the industrial revolution.”

The Singapore-based company was founded in 2015 as an ecommerce platform that allows sellers to connect directly to end consumers in Southeast Asia. It has since evolved to provide sourcing, software, data, and financing services to fashion retailers and factories across 17 countries.

Earlier this year, Zilingo raised US$226 million in a series D round from a syndicate of investors, including Sequoia Capital, Burda Principal Investments, Sofina, and Singapore state-linked funds Temasek and EDBI.

Zilingo said it plans to use the funds to fuel its geographical expansion efforts and for “long-term value building across the supply chain.”

According to The Business Times, the series D round pushed the company’s valuation to around US$970 million, almost scratching unicorn territory.