Nadir Mohamed, the former CEO of Rogers and a prominent figure in Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, has died.
“Nadir was more than a business icon. He was a mentor, a friend, and a guiding light in Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Matt Roberts, RBCx
The investor and philanthropist served as chair of Alignvest Management Corporation and was on the board of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board until last year. Mohamed passed away on Thursday at the age of 69 after several years of cancer treatment.
Mohamed joined Rogers in 2000. He served as CEO of Rogers Wireless from 2001 to 2005, then COO of Rogers Communications. He succeeded founder Ted Rogers as president and CEO in 2009, before retiring in 2013.
While he was well known across Canada for his leadership at Rogers, Mohamed was also a key figure in the nation’s tech ecosystem. He chaired the board of Digital Media Zone (DMZ) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), as well as its venture arm, DMZ Ventures. He was a founding board member of Toronto’s Vector Institute and Next Canada. As a venture capitalist, Mohamed co-founded Toronto-based ScaleUP Ventures (now known as Climate Innovation Capital).
In 2019, Mohamed received the Order of Canada for advancing Canada’s tech sector. Outside of tech, Mohamed served on the boards of multiple hospitals and was an advisory board member at the Brookfield Sustainability Institute.
“Nadir was not only a tremendously successful executive but he was also, more importantly, a gentleman,” Kevin Kimsa, general partner at Climate Innovation Capital, wrote to BetaKit in an email. “He led with kindness, compassion, and respect. He set the bar high for effective, professional leadership at a time when that was not always present.”
RBCx’s Matt Roberts told BetaKit that he would never forget when Mohamed interviewed him for a role at ScaleUP Ventures and shared stories about his time leading Rogers. Roberts, who later became a partner at ScaleUP, credited Mohamed as a mentor.
“Nadir was a stand-up guy who enriched Canada simply by being a part of it,” Roberts told BetaKit. “People like him are the reason for our country’s success, and I hope we never forget the debt we owe to leaders and mentors like him.”
In an email, Vector Institute board chair Ed Clark said Mohamed was a “fantastic combination of smart, nice, cares about people, and cares about the country.”
“Everybody he spoke to left feeling heard and important.”
Abdullah Snobar,
DMZ
Members of the Canadian tech and business community also mourned on social media following the news of Mohamed’s passing.
“Nadir was more than a business icon,” Sanjil Shah, managing partner of Alignvest, wrote in a LinkedIn post. “He was a mentor, a friend, and a guiding light in Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Cohere board member and former president Martin Kon wrote on LinkedIn that he credited Mohamed with several of his career choices, including his introduction to Cohere. He added that Mohamed’s impact “will go far beyond his too few years on this planet.”
DMZ executive director Abdullah Snobar had known Mohamed since 2007, when he was a student at TMU. He called Mohamed a generous and humble mentor.
“He always took pride in showcasing Canada at the forefront and making sure he could contribute wherever he could,” Snobar said. “He was focused on giving people a chance they wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
Snobar added that Mohamed consistently brought up DMZ’s responsibility to support people in the entrepreneurial ecosystem that had historically been underserved, like founders from immigrant communities like his own.
“It will be important to figure out how we honour this legacy,” Snobar said. “Everybody he spoke to left feeling heard and important.”
Image courtesy Rogers