Fashion Technology Platform Zilingo Acquires nCinga for $15.5 million

In a cash-and-stock deal Zilingo, a Singapore based fashion technology platform has acquired Sri Lanka-based software service company nCinga Innovations for a whopping $15.5 million.

Zilingo generates 80% of its revenue from its business-to-business operation of matching brands with suppliers in Southeast Asia & South Asia, The USA, Europe and Australia. A statement said, The acquisition will drive the adoption of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software across Zilingo’s global network of 6,000 factories and 75,000 businesses, and will enable access to new markets.

 

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With trade tensions in China, businesses are turning to Southeast Asia, India, Turkey and others to diversify their supply chains. To help navigate the shift, we’ll do a weekly brief on emerging hubs affecting the #fashionindustry. This week’s focus is on Vietnam because its manufacturing sector is ???? . In the first 8 months of 2019, US imports from Vietnam surged 34.8% y.o.y, while from China it shrank by 13.4% during the same period (source: IHS Markit 2019). Why Vietnam? No tariffs with the US. And recently the EU signed its own Free Trade Agreement in June with the country, meaning even more growth. To support the new demand in the region, Zilingo has brought 1.5K certified factories in Vietnam (photo) and Cambodia into its network of +4000 global suppliers, while working with the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) to improve access to and modernise the Vietnam clothing industry. 2 tips for buyers new to #Vietnam 1.Tees, jackets and trousers are the top categories of expertise 2. Work with experienced partners to navigate compliance and the best quality suppliers in this period of hypergrowth! #madeinvietnam #EVFTA #tradewar #businessoffashion

A post shared by Zilingo (@zilingo) on Dec 4, 2019 at 8:24am PST

“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,” Ankiti Bose, co-founder and CEO of Zilingo, said in the statement.

Imal Kalutotage, CEO of nCinga Innovations said, “We at nCinga are very inspired by Zilingo’s vision. 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.”