Zilingo Co-Founder Ankiti Sues Mahesh Murthy: The Story Of Battle Between Start-up Co-Founder And Venture Capitalists!

Ankiti Bose, the cofounder of Singapore-based fashion tech firm Zilingo, has launched an Rs 820 crore defamation complaint against angel investor Mahesh Murthy for his recent column, which discusses the rising number of scams in the Indian start-up environment.

Murthy was a managing partner at Seedfund, an early-stage venture financing firm that has sponsored companies such as Redbus and Chumbak.

What is the lawsuit that takes into cognisance the Indian start-up ecosystem?

According to the High Court of Bombay website, Bose filed an action on April 20, 2023, through the legal firm Singhania & Co LLP and has listed the media organisation Outlook Business as a respondent party in the lawsuit. Bose is seeking a permanent injunction in preventing Murthy from releasing any defamatory information (on social media or elsewhere) against her.

Pradeep Jain, the legal firm Singhania & Co LLP partner, verified the situation but refused to provide any further details because the case is still pending.

Murthy’s current essay in Outlook Business, published on March 1, is “discriminatory and defamatory,” according to Bose.

The paper, ‘From Vulture Capital to Victim Capital, Mahesh Murthy’s Perspective on VCs in India,’ according to Bose, has a “litany of lies, distortions, and venomous claims.”

Murthy also mentions businesses such as Zilingo, Trell, BharatPe, and GoMechanic that have been in the headlines for suspected fraud since last year in the column and discusses the backdrop of “how founders have turned tables on Indian venture capitalists.”

While Murthy does not specifically mention Bose in the piece, he does mention “one lady” who “ran a popular fashion portal and took Sequoia’s money,” which Bose says is far too detailed about her.

Murthy’s essay, according to Bose, is a continuation of her three-year vengeance against her. This nasty media campaign has ruined her reputation, caused significant financial losses, and is based on fabrication, with no proof against her.

According to reports, Bose and Zilingo were in the crosshairs last year after potential financial irregularities in their accounting were identified during a due diligence procedure for a fresh investment round.

Bose stated that she has always thought that having a public platform should come with a sense of duty and probity. Murthy’s ‘opinion’ post merely promotes the sexist attitudes and gossipy innuendo that prevent more female entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential.

Messages and emails made to Murthy and the CEO of Outlook Publishing India received no response.

The fashion-tech business suspended former CEO Bose and subsequently fired her in May of last year, after which she stated in an interview that she was not given the opportunity to respond to any of the claims levelled against her.

Bose resigned from her position as a director of the holding firm Zilingo Pte Ltd and its subsidiaries in June 2022.

Zilingo sold its technological assets and acquired the business Ncinga Innovations to Zurich-based e-commerce management software firm Buyogo AG earlier this year.

It had engaged EY Corporate Services Pte as provisional liquidator and authorised the liquidation proceedings.

Conclusion.

The above case is an example that every coin has two sides, and so is witnessed in the Indian start-up system. On the one hand, there are companies like GoMechanic etc., which have witnessed and accepted financial irregularities in the firm, whereas the other side has start-ups like Zerodha and Zoho, which are not only bootstrapped but also have magnificent business models.

Though there are firms which may create a negative image and depict the loopholes of the Indian start-up ecosystem but it is completely unjustified to mention that the entire Indian start-up ecosystem is devastating and venomous. 

Let’s see who wins this lawsuit that is the start-up or the venture capitalists!