Zilingo, an online marketplace application that connects long-tail sellers across Bangkok, has raised $1.88 million in seed funding from Sequoia India, Beenext Ventures which is founded by Teruhido Sato. Along with them, founders of FreeCharge – Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon also invested in this round.
The company was founded by former investment analyst at Sequoia India – Ankiti Bose along with her friend Dhruv Kapoor, who was working at a gaming startup in Bangalore.
While Thailand seamless internet connectivity solution, there is a lack of e-commerce buzz in the country. Thus, identifying the lack of a functional ecommerce platform in Thailand, Zilingo enables sellers to list their products on its mobile marketplace.
The platform has listed a range of sellers from large shopping malls to street vendors. They are expected to provide features like free shipping, free packaging, door-step pickup and free & secure payment options.
The marketplace platform currently has more than 300 sellers on board in the fashion category. The company is planning to integrate more categories on the platform soon. The app is fully localized for its users, in their native language.
Ankiti Bose, CEO and co-founder of the company, said,
The SE Asian market is wide open and has multiple seller hubs such as luxury fashion from HongKong and South Korea, mass-produced products from Vietnam and Cambodia, beauty products from Indonesia. We plan on connecting these sellers to consumers across the countries in the next three months.
In the coming weeks, the company is planning to move to other metros in Thailand and start shipping across borders, including Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong. It plans to connect specialized production hubs from across the region to the 70 Mn buyers present, which in turn will create a colossal opportunity for long-tail retail.
Shailendra Singh, managing director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said,
We liked the team and their mobile-first product so much, that we agreed to invest at the concept stage. It’s early days, but we’re excited about the prospects.
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