NACO hires Claudio Rojas as new Chief Executive Officer

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By Ted Liu

The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) has appointed Claudio Rojas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Rojas, founder and owner of Hurt Capital, replaces Yuri Navarro, NACO’s former CEO who has been serving as acting CEO since his resignation in November 2018 to join Montreal based Panache Ventures. Navarro will serve as special advisor to Rojas in transition.

Rojas has held the roles of founder, managing director, board member, steering committee member and advisor to several prominent organizations including Canadian Dream Summit, FinTech Forum, Holt Accelerator.

Rojas, CFA, holds an MBA/JD from Western University.

“The NACO Board of Directors is thrilled to have Claudio join the NACO team. Claudio brings a broad set of skills to our organization and we are lucky to have someone that is both well-known in the NACO community, yet brings a new vision of how we can increase collaboration and partnerships with governments at all levels and other stakeholders to benefit our membership of angels, incubators and accelerators.” Sandi Gilbert, Chair of NACO’s Board of Directors.

photo credit: NACO

News Release

NACO Names Claudio Rojas as Chief Executive Officer

TORONTO, ON April 26, 2019 – The National Angel Capital Organization (“NACO”) today announces the appointment of Claudio Rojas as its new Chief Executive Officer. As Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem evolves from start-up to scale-up, Claudio is stepping into the leadership ranks of Canada’s only national industry association focused on improving access to critical early-stage capital and mentorship for Canadian entrepreneurs.

Building upon NACO’s exceptional achievements under the leadership of Yuri Navarro, there is an opportunity to increase our level of collaboration with other organizations impacting Canadian entrepreneurial activity. It is vital to continue to bridge and grow Canada’s innovation ecosystem by increasing diversity, inclusion and representation at all levels.

Industry leaders across Canada are coming together to build a business community that better reflects our population, including supporting women in STEM. NACO’s mandate is to accelerate the pace of change to usher in a more diverse and inclusive economy.

“As a national organization with a long history of helping to professionalize angel capital investing into Canadian companies, NACO is uniquely positioned to unlock the early-stage capital and mentorship that our founders need to grow and scale more rapidly,” says Rojas. “I’m excited to have an amazing operational team and the guidance of our highly accomplished board to bring transformative and positive change in a wide range of areas that will impact our ability to create, grow and scale innovative companies in Canada.”

Rojas has held the roles of founder, managing director, board member, steering committee member and advisor to several prominent organizations helping to advance Canada’s vibrant innovation ecosystem. He brings over 14 years of experience in finance, law and business, along with a long-term entrepreneurial mindset and thought leadership on founder-run companies.

“The NACO Board of Directors is thrilled to have Claudio join the NACO team,” says Sandi Gilbert, Chair of NACO’s Board of Directors. “Claudio brings a broad set of skills to our organization and we are lucky to have someone that is both well-known in the NACO community, yet brings a new vision of how we can increase collaboration and partnerships with governments at all levels and other stakeholders to benefit our membership of angels, incubators and accelerators.”

Rojas holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School, Juris Doctor from the Faculty of Law at Western University, has achieved all three levels of the CFA examinations, is a practitioner member of the European Corporate Governance Institute, and is a lawyer member of the Bar of Ontario, Canada.

“I’m passionate about helping Canadian founders scale their companies into global champions,” said Rojas. “We have extraordinary entrepreneurs across the country working tirelessly to build companies that will create the next wave of good paying jobs for Canadians. Beyond capital, angel investors bring critical resources that our founders need to scale, particularly mentorship, experience and connections to industry. NACO is Canada’s leading organization helping to unlock the early-stage resources that Canadian companies need to grow and scale globally.”

For more information about NACO, please visit www.nacocanada.com.

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About NACO

The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) is committed to advancing a thriving, early-stage entrepreneurial ecosystem in Canada. NACO provides intelligence, best practices, tools and resources to its members to unlock the angel capital funding and mentorship that is critical to helping Canadian founders to grow and scale their companies globally.