A former chief financial officer of Singapore fashion startup Zilingo has reportedly resigned to join Citigroup and co-head its Asia Pacific technology investment banking unit.
James Perry resigned from online fashion marketplace Zilingo, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources, to join Citigroup as a managing director in the new role, which is also based in Singapore.
Perry rejoins Citi in a similar capacity after exiting a year ago as its head of technology investment banking in Asia Pacific. Previously, he had over 20 years of corporate finance experience including in 40 initial public offerings (IPOs).
Zilingo Struggles
Although Zilingo almost reached unicorn status at the $1 billion valuation mark following fundraising in 2019, the economically crippling pandemic has proven to be a real headwind for the online fashion marketplace. In July, it said it trimmed 12 percent of its overall workforce while downsizing operations in the U.S. Australia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Perry joined Zilingo in early 2019 after it secured $226 million funding from investors such as Temasek and Sequoia Capital.
APAC Tech Fundraising Accelerates
The hire coincides with the flurry of tech IPOs that are taking place in the region. In the third quarter, Asia was home to two of the three largest IPOs globally including $7.4 billion raised by state-backed chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. in Shanghai and $4.4 billion by e-commerce giant JD.com in Hong Kong.
Jack Ma’s Ant Group is expected to be the upcoming blockbuster IPO next quarter with hopes to raise at least $35 billion which would lift its valuation to about $250 billion.
