Former Myntra CFO Ramesh Bafna frontrunner to be new Zilingo CEO

Bafna’s appointment has not been finalised yet, these people said.

This comes at a time when the company’s board is thinking about removing cofounder and CEO Ankiti Bose, who is presently suspended from the ecommerce firm, multiple sources aware of the matter said.

Bafna, who was most recently with Myntra as its CFO and SVP, joined the Sequoia Capital-backed startup in March. He has been involved in the review of the alleged financial irregularities at the firm as well, another person privy to the talks said.

“He (Bafna) is one of the contenders and has a good chance to become the CEO. He is also negotiating certain terms before taking charge, given the firm is in trouble now,” a person aware of the matter said. Before Myntra, Bafna was at Flipkart for more than five years across various finance functions.

When contacted, Bafna declined to comment.

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News wire Bloomberg reported on April 19 that Zilingo’s board was looking to remove Bose, a former Sequoia Capital India, from the company she cofounded with Dhruv Kapoor in 2015. Bose has been suspended from the firm till May 5.

ET reported on April 12 that Bose had disputed the allegations of irregular accounting practices and contested her suspension, terming the company’s action a “witch hunt”. She had alleged that the action on her was triggered by harassment complaints she raised against one of the investors in the company.

Shailendra Singh, managing director at Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia,
has also resigned from the board of Zilingo, as per Bloomberg.

Sources told ET that an existing senior employee or an investors-approved executive is likely to succeed Bose even as its current funding talks have stalled owing to the latest controversies.

ET reported on April 12 that Zilingo had received a term-sheet for new funding at a $1.2 billion valuation and the alleged discrepancies were found in the company’s accounting during the due-diligence process for the proposed funding round. A spokesperson for Zilingo’s board told ET in an emailed statement that proper due process has been and will be followed in the ongoing investigation. “Any question of change in management is speculative and premature at this stage,” the statement added.

An email query sent to Sequoia Capital India did not elicit an immediate response.