So can you tell me a little bit about some of these?

妳可以和我分享一下這一切嗎？

This is Ankiti Bose.

這是 Ankiti Bose。

She's 27, a fashion junkie and on course to become the first Indian woman to co-found a billion dollar start-up.

她 27歲，是一位時尚迷，並將成為第一位共同創立一個十億美元新創事業的印度女性。

I think to be an entrepreneur, or to do anything, you have to be a pathological optimist.

我認為要成為一個企業家，或是做任何事，你必須要是一個無藥可救的樂觀主義者。

Bose is CEO of online fashion marketplace Zilingo.

Bose 是線上流行市場 Zilingo 的執行長。

She started the business with her neighbour, Dhruv Kapoor, back in 2015, when she was just 23.

她和鄰居 Dhruv Kapoor 在 2015 年時共同開創事業，那年她只有 23 歲。

We were neighbours. Literally, it was unit 302 and 303, and we had never met.

我們是鄰居。我們分別住在 302 和 303 室，而我們從未見過面。

But my flatmate invited his flatmate over for a beer, and neither of us was actually supposed to be there.

不過我的室友邀請了他的室友來喝啤酒，而我們兩個本來都不應該在場的。

That casual get together in Bangalore gave birth to what would eventually become Zilingo.

因為那個邦加羅爾的聚會，最終創造出 Zilingo。

And in four short years has grown it into a global platform with more than seven million active users.

短短 4 年內它發展成為一個全球性的平臺，並擁有超過 7 百萬名活躍使用者。

I've come to Zilingo's HQ in Singapore to find out more.

我來到 Zilingo 位於新加坡的總部來瞭解更多訊息。

Ankiti, tell me, how did this all start?

Ankiti，告訴我，這一切是怎麼開始的？

It was 2014, and I was on a holiday with some friends in Bangkok.

在 2014 年，我和幾個朋友在曼谷度假。

And we were in this market called Chatuchak, which has over 8,000 small stores, designers.

我們在一個叫做 Chatuchak 的市場裡，哪裡有超過 8 千間小店舖和設計師品牌。

And I was like, "Wow, this stuff should be online."

我那時心想，「哇，這些東西應該放在網路上販賣。」

But they just couldn't sell online, they didn't know how to.

不過他們不能夠這麼做，因為他們不知道怎麼做。

And that was the inception.

而那就是一個開始。

At the time, Bose was working in India as an investment analyst for venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

那時候，Bose 在印度風險投資公司 Sequoia Capital 裡擔任投資分析師。

The fact that I was working in venture capital and consulting before that definitely played an important role in shaping our opinions on what would work and what would not work.

我之前在風險投資公司和諮詢方面的工作經驗對於哪些意見可行，哪些不可行的定案中發揮了重要的作用。

But as she closely followed the tech's pace, she was keen to do something of her own.

而當她密切遵循科技的步調，她也十分熱衷地創造屬於自己的東西。

We started spending a lot of time with merchants and we realized that there were some gaps, right.

我們開始花很多時間在和商家溝通，也意識到一些存在的差距。

So, everybody was solving for access to the internet.

所以，大家都在解決網路通路的問題。

But what about everything else that goes on before you actually sell the product?

但是在實際銷售產品之前，其他所有的事情呢？

So when she met Kapoor and found their skill sets well-matched, she decided to go all in.

因此，當她和 Kapoor 見面並發現他們的技能十分匹配時，她決定全力以赴。

We knew what we wanted to do together was the same.

我們知道我們想要一起做的事情是一樣的。

It was really quite serendipitous.

這真是一件非常幸運的事。

The business initially started by listing products from merchants across Southeast Asia.

業務的一開始是列出東南亞商家的產品。

But now works with businesses in 15 regions globally.

不過現在則是和全球 15 個地區的企業一起合作。

The business also has around 500 employees in eight countries.

公司在 8 個國家擁有約 500 名員工。

We have 25-year-olds, we have 50-year-olds.

我們有 25 歲的員工，也有 50 歲的。

Everybody's leading initiatives that they're really passionate about, and I really like to get behind that and that makes all the difference.

每個人領導著自己十分熱衷的計畫，而我也相當支持，這是很重要的。

Zilingo, which is a play on the word "zillions", has fueled that growth with $308 million worth of investment.

Zilingo，變化自「zillions」這個字目前投資額高達 3.08 億美元。

Plus $30,000 each from both Bose and Kapoor.

加上 Bose 和 Kapoor 各 3 萬美元。

At the close of its series D funding round in February 2019, that valued the company at $970 million.

在 2019 年的 D 輪融資結束時，公司的資產估計為 9.7 億美元。

With revenues having grown four times in the past year, investors suggest that could put the company on for a $1 billion valuation in the coming months.

隨著收入在去年成長了 4 倍，投資人認為在未來的幾個月內，公司便能夠達到 10 億美元的價值。

We don't put as much emphasis and importance on some of the more glamorous labels.

我們並沒有強調或將重點放在一些迷人的標籤上。

But I still think it's a huge achievement and just helps us think more about how big and audacious this whole thing can be.

但是我認為這的確是一個重大的成就，並且幫助我們思考更多有關這件事的大膽創新以及其重要性。

That would be all the more impressive given that India recently ranked as one of the least accommodating countries for women entrepreneurs.

這將讓人更印象深刻，因為印度最近被排名為最不能容納女性企業家的國家之一。

Ankiti's success is an important milestone.

Ankiti 的成功是一個很重要的里程碑。

This is Leanne Robers, founder of She Loves Tech, a global platform for women tech entrepreneurs.

這是 Leanne Robers，她是 She Loves Tech 的創立者，一個提供給女性科技企業家的全球性平臺。

I spoke to her about what Bose's achievement could mean for others.

我和她談到有關於 Bose 的成就能夠帶給其他人的意義。

Leanne, why do you think Ankiti's achievement is important?

Leanne，為什麼你認為 Ankiti 的成就是重要的？

Well, today there's such an under representation of women in technology and women in entrepreneurship.

直到今天，女性在科技業和企業界都非常缺乏代表型人物。

And it's really important to have female role models like Ankiti, because you can't be what you can't see.

因此擁有一個像 Ankiti 的女性典範是很重要的，因為你不能夠成為你無法預見的自己。

Look at the example of running a mile in four minutes.

就拿 4 分鐘內跑一英哩來說。

Back in the day, people thought that it was physically impossible for a human to break the barrier of running a mile in less than four minutes.

在過去，人們認為要在 4 分鐘內跑一英哩這件事是人類身體上無法打破的藩籬。

Until, Roger Bannister did it in 1954.

直到 1954 年 Roger Bannister 成功地做到了。

And after he did it, he broke this perceived barrier, and the floodgates just opened up.

在他做到以後，他打破了這個認知上的障礙，並打開了限制。

In the same way that Bannister broke barriers for runners, I hope Ankiti will do the same for women and encourage more women to enter into entrepreneurship, especially in Asia.

就像 Bannister 為跑者打破了限制，我希望 Ankiti 也能夠為女性做一樣的事，可以鼓勵更多女性創業，特別在亞洲。

And for Bose, that would be the real success story.

對於 Bose 而言，這將是個真正的成功故事。

One of the things that we didn't have as much growing up was role models in tech and new, innovative industries.

在我們成長過程中所缺乏的事情之一就是沒有科技業和創新產業界的模範榜樣。

And we want to make sure that maybe the next generation doesn't have that problem.

所以我們要確保在下一代不會有一樣的問題存在。