Zilingo acquires software firm nCinga Innovations in US$15.5m deal

SINGAPORE-BASED fashion technology platform Zilingo on Tuesday said it has acquired software company nCinga Innovations in a US$15.5 million cash and stock deal to scale up its global supply chain capabilities.

The acquisition of Sri Lanka-based nCinga Innovations will drive the adoption of the manufacturing execution system (MES) software across Zilingo's global network, enabling it access to previously untapped markets, the company said. It added that the MES software will help to automate operations on the factory floor by enabling access to real-time data.

"The acquisition will bring added features to the company's customers in the United States, Europe and Australia, where brands traditionally lack transparency over supply chain and manufacturing processes," Zilingo said.

The company also plans to leverage its global manufacturer network to increase distribution of the software, specially for core fashion manufacturing markets such as Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey.

Ankiti Bose, co-founder and CEO of Zilingo, said: "What excited us about the nCinga product was their ability to dramatically improve efficiency and drive insights by digitising the shop floor - 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."

Zilingo's latest announcement comes after the fashion startup in October said it will pump US$100 million into its new US operations.

Earlier this year, it raised US$226 million in Series D funding, bringing the total amount raised by the company to US$308 million. Key investors in the latest round included Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings and Singapore investment fund EDBI, among others.

The startup works with 75,000 businesses and 6,000 factories on its platform, across 17 countries.