Singapore-based fashion tech startup Zilingo’s co-founder and former CEO Ankiti Bose has termed investor Mahesh Murthy’s magazine article as “fiction”. She says it has tarnished her image and caused her significant financial damages. The opinion piece, she alleged, was written with malicious intentions to spread “vicious rumours”.
“Any mention of any financial irregularity or malfeasance on my part is an absolute lie,” Bose told FE in an interview over phone from Singapore, adding the opinion piece – ‘From Vulture Capital to Victim Capital: Mahesh Murthy’s Perspective on VCs in India’ – comprised a “litany of lies, distortions and venomous claims”.
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The opinion piece published in Outlook Business magazine on March 1, 2023, was “discriminatory and defamatory”, she said.
“My case (Zilingo issue) has not been not resolved yet and I have been asking for evidence for over a year now. Then, if somebody who has a voice decides to impose his version, he should be held responsible for his words because he has knowledge of things we don’t know,” she added.
Last week, Bose filed a defamation lawsuit against Murthy, who is also the founder & CEO of digital marketing agency Pinstorm Technologies, before the Bombay High Court seeking $100 million in damages.
According to Bose, there was some kind of a “methodical vengeance” and media narrative to get some clicks and hits. This came at a time when questions on why she was ousted from Zilingo were yet to be answered, and the article had repercussions on her integrity as a professional and reputation.
When pointed out that Murthy’s article doesn’t mention Zilingo’s or Bose’s name, she said there were a lot of “identifiers” – such as the fashion portal in Singapore that was funded by Sequoia – in the opinion piece.
“If you take all the identifiers together, there is just one person he is referring to,” Bose said, adding she is yet to hear from Murthy or his legal team.
“I am curious why Murthy had made these allegations against me. In general, vicious rumours and downright lies have been doing rounds for some time. I have done nothing wrong and I want to move on with my life, but if somebody is going brew these malicious statements, then I will stand up and take action.”
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To a question that aspersions were cast against her earlier also, and no actions were taken then, she said most of the narratives were by “unnamed, faceless people”, sometimes quoted as sources too.
On Zilingo, Bose said she was waiting for the due process to end and will comment at the appropriate time. Bose, who was featured in Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list in 2018 and Fortune’s 40 Under 40, was ousted from Zilingo in May last year over alleged financial irregularities.