20130731_PEO_NAZRINHASSAN

PETALING JAYA (June 15): Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd CEO Nazrin Hassan passed away yesterday from complications of blast injuries due to an exploding handphone that was charging next to him according to a post mortem report, said the fund in a statement today.

A fire had broken out in the 45-year-old’s room at his Mutiara Damansara home in the early afternoon yesterday, when he took to bed following a migraine, reported The Star.

 “Cradle has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Nazrin have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor,” said chief operations officer Razif Aziz.

Meanwhile, chief investment officer Juliana Jan said the fund was deeply shocked and saddened by the news.

“Having worked with him for many years, his vision and passion have brought endless possibilities to not just Cradle, but to the start-up ecosystem. He touched and inspired us, the Cradle family, along with many start-up founders, investors and partners. He was one-of-a-kind leader and visionary who made an incredible mark in the start-up ecosystem. Our thoughts and prayers for his wife and children,” she said.

The fund said Nazrin had spent over 15 years promoting early stage funding for technology start-ups, with a stint as a council member of Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) where he lobbied for a development fud to narrow the funding gap of start-ups in the early stage.

This led to introduction of the Cradle Investment Programme (CIP) in June 2003 with RM100 million allocated from the federal government as part of an economic stimulus package.

CIP was originally managed by Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (MAVCAP) and Nazrin was the programmme’s Head of Structuring in July 2003, before he was appointed as the programme’s Acting Head as well as its Strategy and Policy Advisor the next year.

He left the programme in 2005 to focus on his own technology start-up and continued to be actie in TeAM.

In October 2007, he returned to Cradle after being appointed as its CEO by the Ministry of Finance which had spun out CIP from under MAVCAP into Cradle Fund, which continues to spur the growth of early stage funding for technology entrepreneurs.

“Cradle has lost a passionate, innovative and humble leader and the start-up community has lost an inspiring leader. His vision and love for innovation will always be at the core of what we do. Nazrin loved his work, but his greatest love was for his wife and children,” said Cradle Fund’s statement.

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