ECONOMYNEXT- Zilingo, a Singapore-based fashion platform, said it has acquired Sri Lankan startup nCinga Innovations for 15.5 million US dollars in cash and stock
“What excited us about the nCinga product was their ability to dramatically improve efficiency and drive insights by digitising the shop floor,” Zilingo Co-Founder and Chief Executive Ankiti Bose said in a statement.
“We have partnered with them for a long time and their work has been crucial to our mission of creating a transparent, sustainable, economically viable and socially responsible apparel supply chain,” she said.
Zilingo said the acquisition will drive the adoption of nCinga’s nFactory software across its global network of 6,000 factories and 75,000 businesses.
nFactory uses internet of things technolocies, real-time event capturing and processing, predictive analytics and mobility devices for ‘smart factory’ transformations.
The software automates operations on the factory floor by enabling access to real-time data on the go.
nFactory has been deployed across factories in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
Zilingo plans to leverage its global manufacturer network to increase distribution of the software – specifically for core fashion manufacturing markets such as Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey among others.
It added that the acquisition will bring more features to the company’s customers in the United States, Europe and Australia, where brands traditionally lack transparency over the supply chain and manufacturing processes.
The acquisition marks one of the largest tech-buyouts in Sri Lanka.
nCinga, founded in 2014, was backed by Sri Lanka and Singapore-based BOV Capital.
The firm’s Chief Executive Imal Kalutotage said the Sri Lankan startup’s vision aligns with Zilingo.
“Both the teams align on shared values and a global ambition to make the fashion and apparel industry fair, transparent and efficient, we hope
to do great things together,” he said.
Founded in 2015, Zilingo raised 226 million US dollars earlier in 2019 through Sequoia Capital, Burda Principal Investments and Sofina, as well as new investors Temasek Holdings and EDBI.
Analysts believe Zilingo to be valued at close to 1 billion US dollars.
In October, Zilingo announced plans to invest 100 million US dollars to expand into the US as part of an accelerated growth strategy into new markets, including Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. (Colombo/Dec17/2019)