How a celebrity CEO's rule of fear helped bring down hot startup Zilingo

The story of how globetrotting tech star Ankiti Bose built and lost one of Asia's most vaunted startups

At first glance, the implosion of vaunted fashion startup Zilingo Pte looked jarringly sudden. 

When the Singapore tech darling suspended its 30-year-old chief executive officer Ankiti Bose over complaints about alleged financial irregularities, it was March. Within weeks, creditors were recalling loans, more than 100 staff had left, and Bose found herself fired, though she denies any wrongdoing. The company’s survival is now in question.

The Zilingo meltdown has rattled the tech industry in Southeast Asia and beyond. The startup had raised more than $300 million from some of the region’s most prominent investors, including Temasek Holdings Pte and Sequoia Capital India,