The Alignvest Management Corporation family is mourning the loss of Nadir Mohamed, the company’s long-time Chairman and one of Canada’s most admired business leaders. Mohamed, who passed away on September 19 at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer, leaves behind an inspiring legacy that reaches far beyond the boardroom.
For Reza Satchu, Alignvest’s co-founder and managing partner, and for the extended Alignvest family of entrepreneurs and investors, Mohamed’s life is an ideal model for young founders seeking to lead through humility and consensus-building.
Building Alignvest on a Foundation of Family and Trust
Alignvest began more than a decade ago with a mission to create an investment platform that was entrepreneurial in speed and institutional in discipline. When Nadir Mohamed joined as Non-Executive Chairman, he brought to the team the same quiet strength he once demonstrated as CEO of Rogers Communications, where he succeeded Ted Rogers and oversaw a dramatic transformation of the company’s wireless business.
“Nadir was a rare combination of intellect, integrity, and empathy,” Reza Satchu said in a statement. “He led with quiet strength and inspired everyone around him to be better. His impact on Canadian business and entrepreneurship is immeasurable.”
For Satchu and the Alignvest partners, Nadir’s leadership created a sense of family inside the firm. He guided discussions with patience, sought consensus rather than conflict, and treated every member of the team, from analysts to senior partners, as an equal stakeholder in the company’s mission.
A Family Dinner that Sparked a Lifelong Bond
Their friendship began almost by accident. As Satchu recalls, his parents introduced him to Nadir more than 20 years ago, when Satchu was starting a self-storage business and Nadir had just moved to Toronto to lead Rogers’s wireless unit.
“My wife and I were going to have a dinner party, and my parents said, ‘We told them to come over to your house.’ And of course, I said to my parents, ‘OK, you’ve got to stop doing that,” Satchu remembered with a laugh. But the invitation held, and Nadir and his wife came. “Nadir was, in all his humility, talking about his good fortune, and others at the table were sort of beating their chests and talking about all the things they’d done to get there.”
That dinner set the tone for a family-like friendship that would shape both men’s careers. Satchu notes that Nadir’s ability to blend business acumen with deep personal warmth made him a natural mentor: “I think he saw the power of believing in yourself and believing you can build things.”
A Model for Young Founders
Nadir’s leadership at Rogers proved that a people-first approach can thrive even at the helm of a $35-billion company. As he helped Rogers shift from a broadcasting pioneer to a wireless leader, he also invested time in Canada’s startup ecosystem, co-founding ScaleUP Ventures (now Climate Innovation Capital), championing the Digital Media Zone at Toronto Metropolitan University, and supporting NEXT Canada, the entrepreneurial accelerator Satchu founded.
“He viewed Rogers as a place where he could give back to Canada and be the one in corporate Canada who was helping bridge the gap between the startup ecosystem and the corporates,” Satchu said.
As a fellow immigrant from East Africa, Reza Satchu has embodied many of the same values that Nadir championed. Over a career marked by bold ventures and aggressive mentorship, Satchu has been recognized with Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, the 2025 King Charles III Coronation Medal, and Canada’s Top 25 Immigrant Award for 2025.
Through NEXT Canada, Satchu continues to mentor thousands of young founders, echoing Mohamed’s belief in the power of entrepreneurial ecosystems — and in the principle of treating colleagues and partners as extended family.
As the Alignvest family reflects on Nadir’s life and guidance, Satchu is clear about the path ahead: the company will continue to build on a foundation of integrity, partnership, and collective purpose. The example Nadir set of fostering unity and believing in the potential of others remains central to Alignvest’s DNA.
