Malaysia’s early-stage investment firm Cradle has announced that Rafiza Ghazali will step down as CEO while Zilingo‘s global head for public relations and communications Naushaba Salahuddin has resigned from the company. Sequoia Capital India-backed browser testing startup LambdaTest has appointed Maneesh Sharma as COO.
Cradle Fund CEO steps down
Malaysia’s early-stage investment firm Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) has announced that Rafiza Ghazali will step down as group chief executive officer (GCEO) with effect from May 31, 2022, to pursue other opportunities.
In the interim, the board has appointed Cradle’s senior vice-president of corporate services, Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke, as acting GCEO. The appointment is effective June 1, 2022, until a permanent replacement is confirmed, according to an announcement.
Rafiza has been instrumental in expanding the mandate for Cradle beyond providing grants to taking a leading role as the start-up ecosystem builder via the MYStartup Strategy.
The new appointment will be announced once a decision and all necessary approvals have been obtained.
In the meantime, the board will continue to work closely with Vanhaecke and the senior management at Cradle to provide the necessary support for a smooth and seamless leadership transition.
Cradle is Malaysia’s early-stage startup influencer, incorporated under the ministry of finance Malaysia in 2003. Cradle has helped fund over 1,000 Malaysian tech startups and holds the highest commercialisation rate among government grants in the country.
LambdaTest appoints Manish Sharma as COO
Sequoia Capital India-backed browser testing startup LambdaTest has appointed Maneesh Sharma as chief operating officer (COO), according to a statement.
Sharma was general manager at GitHub India, which has recorded phenomenal growth over the past few years under his leadership.
Before joining GitHub, he held leadership positions at leading technology companies, including Adobe and SAP.
Sharmae was also the JAVA ambassador at Sun Microsystems, where he drove developer engagement across APAC. He is also been the founder of an online library and hyperactive startup investor and evangelist.
LambdaTest allows users to test their websites and apps on over 2,000 different browsers, across different operating systems and device combinations.
Last year, the startup raised $16 million as part of its Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital India. Other investors who participated as part of the round include Telstra Ventures and Wamda Capital.
Zilingo PR chief resigns
Zilingo‘s global head for public relations and communications Naushaba Salahuddin has resigned from the company, according to a statement on her LinkedIn post.
This development comes a few days after Zilingo’s board has dismissed co-founder and CEO Ankiti Bose “with cause”, nearly two months after suspending her from the fashion marketplace.
“I felt best to step away from my position due to the way the events of the past 48 hours have unfolded, how several individuals now in control of the company have possibly made misleading and damaging statements, and also because there may have been several breaches of due process in the current goings-on in this matter which I cannot support or stand by,” Salahuddin said in her post.
In April, Zilingo was said to have suspended chief executive officer Ankiti Bose amid a probe into the company’s accounting and financial practices. Bose’s suspension was linked to questions about the company’s financials. Two of its key shareholders, Temasek Holdings and Sequoia Capital India, have reportedly initiated an investigation into Zilingo’s financial practices.