Startup Bangladesh Secures a Seasoned Successor Nurul Hai
State-owned venture capital company Startup Bangladesh Limited (SBL) has appointed a new Managing Director. On September 1, Monday, Nurul Hai officially joined the position as the third Managing Director of the company. His name has already been updated on the organization’s official website.
Before joining SBL, Hai served as Vice President at Washington D.C.-based global impact fund management firm SEAF, where he worked on international impact investing and development-oriented ventures. In Bangladesh, he managed SEAF’s Bangladesh Ventures Fund, successfully completing several portfolio exits while also overseeing an Agri-Ventures Fund.
The newly appointed Managing Director believes that “a thriving startup ecosystem is built when government ambition effectively converges with private sector execution.” He said he has translated this conviction into practice through “an investible pipeline, transparent decision-making frameworks, and tangible results.”
SBL’s former Managing Director was Sami Ahmed, who had formally assumed the role in February 2022. However, during the Awami League that was ousted in the student uprising, there have been various allegations of party-based recruitment and biased investment decisions, corruption and injustice towards entrepreneurs against him. Then he stepped down from his post in May 2025. Nurul Hai has been appointed as the first managing director through a systematic recruitment notification and examination..
Before that, the first Managing Director Tina Jabin and Sami Ahmed were directly appointed to this post. However, there is no information about them on the SBL website.
According to sources, Hai brings over 16 years of experience in venture investing, impact fund management, company building, value creation, investment banking, and impact research. His career spans South Asian markets, as well as assignments in East Africa and the Caribbean, where he helped entrepreneurs transform resilient business models into measurable and profitable enterprises. Through rigorous monitoring, strong governance, value addition, and timely exits, he safeguarded investors from potential losses.
Hai’s previous leadership roles include forming the research and alternative asset management teams at LankaBangla AMC, where he implemented disciplined processes to run public market funds. As an advisor, he managed transactions ranging from USD 2 million to USD 40 million across consumer, agri-ventures, technology, and industrial sectors. His earlier roles at IL Capital, BD Capital, BRAC Bank, and Asian Tiger Capital Partners sharpened his expertise across origination, valuation, documentation, monitoring, and exit execution.
He also maintains an extensive network with DFIs, VCs, PEs, financial institutions, and other institutional investors, facilitating fundraising and market access for companies. At the same time, he upholds strong ESG and governance standards, with a particular focus on gender-lens investing and climate action. Hai has successfully executed exits through IPOs, trade sales, settlements, and self-liquidations.
In addition to his professional work, Hai contributes to the startup ecosystem as a pitch judge at Unistartup, an APAC mentor and strategic advisor at 2X Ignite (part of 2X Global), and a board member of the Global Centre for Risk and Innovation—platforms through which he coaches operators and improves investment readiness and standards.
Hai holds an EMBA in Finance from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and a BBA in Finance from the University of Dhaka.
