Rafiza Ghazali

Group CEO

Rafiza Ghazali was appointed as Cradle's Group CEO on 1st June 2020. She has over 26 years of experience in Finance, Audit, Investment, Strategy and Business Development within a wide range of industries, including Banking, Energy, Plantations, Property, Healthcare, Automative, Industrial, Media/Information and Consumer-Goods.

Rafiza brings a wealth of experience in strategy, innovation, finance and business management. She has held leadership roles across both private and public organisations and has successfully implemented programmes ranging from technology-based innovations, corporate-start-up partnerships to organisational transformation and re-structuring.

Prior to Cradle, Rafiza was the Chief Financial Officer at Velesto Energy Berhad ("Velesto"), a Malaysian-based multi-national player in the upstream oil & gas sector. During her tenure at Velesto, the company undertook a successful turnaround and transformation exercise that led to a return to profitability after four years.

Rafiza was Head of Group Innovation & Business Performance at Sime Darby Berhad ("Sime Darby") where she led a group-wide effort to drive innovation and entrepreneurship across the business units, including to encourage start-ups-corporate partnerships. Rafiza started her career at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Australia and later held senior roles in strategy, corporate finance and accounting in several leading organisations including Bank Negara Malaysia, RHB Investment Bank Berhad and Thomson Reuters.

Rafiza holds a Bachelor's Degree in Science (Economics) from the London School of Economics & Political Science. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Strategy & Innovation from the Säid Business School, University of Oxford.

Razif Abdul Aziz

Chief Operating Officer

A senior executive with over 20 years of experience in a variety of different roles ranging from business development, corporate, legal & regulatory affairs, communications and sales & marketing in various industry sectors such as defence, construction, FMCG, telecoms & broadcast, government and biotechnology.

Razif is passionate about the dynamics between business and Government, acquired through roles with a major industry regulator and an agency tasked with the development of the Malaysian biotech sector which made him recognise the value of mastering regulatory and public sector frameworks to facilitate business growth. He wrote extensively on the subject matter as a Guest Columnist for the local science newspaper, The Petri Dish, from 2011 to 2012.

He also had the privilege of participating in Malaysia’s development efforts to become a major global biotech player when he joined Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (BiotechCorp) in 2006. As head of a team charged with the development of local biotech entrepreneurs, he oversaw the management of the Malaysian Government’s BioNexus Programme from 2008 to 2012 which saw 217 companies receive Bionexus Status from the Ministry of Finance. The BioNexus Programme is a ‘virtual’ incubator designed to support the successful development of biotech entrepreneurs through an array of business support resources and services including funding and capacity building. During that time, Razif had the opportunity of learning from a diverse group of entrepreneurs about their challenges, trials and tribulations.

Razif read Law at Coventry Polytechnic (1991) and is a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London (1992).

Razif was appointed as Chief Operations Officer of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) effective January 2016 and currently is Acting Group CEO of Cradle.

Juliana Jan

Chief Investment Officer

Juliana Jan joined Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd in 2004 and is currently the Chief Investment Officer, responsible in managing the company’s latest investment portfolio expansion called Direct Equity 800 (DEQ800) and Co-investment initiative.

Juliana has an extensive and diverse experience in market research and grant as well as venture capital funding. She has a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics from the Missouri University Science and Technology – Rolla.

Juliana started as an analyst under the developmental grant (CIP50) team and in early 2009, she headed the developmental grant (CIP Catalyst) evaluation team. Then in 2010, she moved to head the commercialisation grant (CIP500) evaluation team and eventually the entire CIP500 unit. With the evolution of Cradle and the initiation of its equity play, she moved to head the equity team.

Juliana continues to be committed in building and developing strong growth potential start-ups in the country specifically in early stage through her work in Cradle. She played a major role as part of the working committee in the setting up of the various products in Cradle and the development of processes, such as the CIP Catalyst (developmental funding), CIP500 (seed funding) as well as the Co-investment andDEQ800 initiatives in 2014 and 2016 respectively.

Prior to joining Cradle, Juliana started her career as a market research executive in a technologyfunding agency, which provides both grant and venture capital funding, where her industry and market research projects varied from consumer product and biotechnology to other high technology industries. This has given her a strong background in spotting market trends, analysing gaps in the market and identifying market needs.

After two years in the market research division and another year in the CEO’s office, Juliana joined the investment unit in the same organisation as an analyst where she acquired experience in venture capital funding.

With her career experience, Juliana understands the needs of the market and the issues in the funding ecosystem from prototype development in the pre-seed stage, the seed stage, up to the later stage of fund raising.

Juliana is very passionate about helping entrepreneurs and start-ups. The knowledge and know-how she gained prior to joining Cradle and also at Cradle has been invaluable in enabling herto assist Cradle recipients by advising them and sharing information about the market and funding criteria.

Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke

Vice President, Finance & Operations

Norman is currently the Vice President of Finance and Operations in Cradle Fund Sdn. Bhd. He started his career as an auditor with KPMG, and has then, over 12 years, held various Finance, Accounting and Management positions in local as well as multinational Oil & Gas related companies and government agency. He holds an Accounting degree from University of Queensland, Australia and a Software Engineering degree from Multimedia University, Malaysia.

Azman Hood

Vice President, Stakeholders Engagement

Azman Hood began his career as a Research Executive with the Corporate Planning unit of Malaysia Building Society Berhad. Having just graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accounting) from Acadia University in Canada, it was a role that allowed him to combine his love for learning new things with his keen eye for financial detail. Followed by a short stint with Tenaga Risk Management Services Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of TNB, Azman took the leap into entrepreneurship as a freelance writer, focusing on tertiary education content and business plans. In addition to providing audio and written content for annual reports, career guides and e-learning software applications, he found a niche in conducting market research and financial projections for business plans.

From there, he immersed himself in high technology startups as business development manager for a small but innovative group, and was in charge of writing proposals for fund raising from the Government, banks, institutional and individual investors. This resulted in a deep working knowledge of the funding mechanisms and fiscal incentives provided by the Government in support of innovation funding.

With this knowledge, Azman joined the Government-linked agencies such as Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation, Malaysia Debt Ventures and currently he is the Vice President of Investment – DEQ800 at Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, in a technology and business due diligence and investment management capacity. He finds fulfillment in working with these funding institutions as he is able to critically analyse the business potential of new emerging technologies, which contribute directly towards creating an innovative, high-income Malaysian economy by the year 2020.

An avid yet unprolific angler, he quotes Calvin’s Dad in saying “The key to enjoying your Job, is to have a Hobby that is much worse.”

Munir Shah

Vice President, Corporate Services

Munir Shah is the Vice President of Corporate Services for Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) where he is in- charge of Legal Advisory, Human Capital Management and company secretarial functions for Cradle.

Munir started his career as a practising lawyer in Messrs. Lee Hishamuddin as soon as he was called to the Malaysian Bar in 2002.

He has vast experience and knowledge in legal practice and advisory, especially in the area of civil litigation and corporate advisory. Munir also served as a committee member of the Negeri Sembilan Bar Council from 2004 to 2005.

Munir is also a certified Professional Intellectual Property Manager by the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM), in support of his passion in advising entrepreneurs on patentability of new inventions or innovations, as well as patent search, drafting of patent specification, filing and prosecuting domestic and international patent applications.

Munir graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B (Hons) from the International Islamic University.

Eliza Elias

Vice President, Marketing & Ecosystem Development

Eliza Elias is the Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle).

Eliza holds overall responsibility for growing revenue, increasing market share and contributing to company’s growth and profitability, which encompasses Organisation Marketing Strategy, Market Research, Communication Design and Planning in line with overall company strategy and objectives.

A graduate from the University of Bedforrdshire, UK (previously known as University of Luton) in Public Relations and Communications, Eliza has more than 14 years of experience in the Malaysian Start-ups’ Ecosytem.

She transformed Communications within the organisation from an administrative function into a strategic business partner and a key enabler for Cradle’s rapid growth and success. She works closely with investment team and ecosystem players to develop effective communication and marketing strategy for a high performing workforce in the local funding industry.

Previously, Eliza was the Head of Marketing for Cradle. Her role includes overseeing the organisation’s overall marketing activities. She managed the Corporate Communications unit, which oversees all internal and external communications as well as event activities to help Cradle build its credibility as an early stage start-ups influencer.

Prior to Cradle, Eliza began her career with the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) – an association that furthers the interests of technopreneurs and assists in the development of the digital economy in Malaysia. Her main scope of work was to assist the management in coordinating all aspects of public relations activities as well as event management. During her tenure with TeAM, Eliza was actively involved in various projects such as The National Games Engine Project (NGEP), The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project and the TeAM book entitled Go For Broke! Tales of Technopreneurship!

In 2007, Eliza joined Cradle. Eliza is very passionate about sharing her experience and knowledge with entrepreneurs. With her diverse working experience and skills in the local funding industry, she brings a deep understanding of intercultural relations and global corporate culture to Cradle, its entrepreneurs and partners.