KUALA LUMPUR, August 1 — The private sector must engage more with start-up influencer Cradle Fund in order to encourage the start-up ecosystem here, said Razif Abdul Aziz.

The acting chief executive of Cradle said the days of solely relying on government funding to spearhead the start-up community were numbered.

"We have offered up suggestions and we are considering how we can get more private funds into the space,” he said when addressing the media after meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons.

"I think the days where the government pumps money in large amounts into the fund are numbered.”

"We must be able to show returns and benefits to investors. The government needs to capitalise the space and attract interest from private sources like private funds, corporates and companies because they’re the ones that will be going to make the money and benefit when participating in this.

He said this was in line with the fact that government funding was steadily decreasing in the annual Budget.

The government’s role in the sector should be to act as a catalyst in the beginning of the collaborations, while projects had to be attractive for private investors to remain interested, he added.

"To make certain things attractive for the private sector is our focus, over the last six years, there’s been a robust amount of private funds coming in which suggests their interest,” said Razif.

He also said Cradle was looking to finance up to 30 start-up companies.

"The main takeaway is that business continues as usual for Cradle,” said Razif.

"We’ve been around for 15 years and people know us, it’s business as usual and nothing has changed, I don’t see reason for the market to be concerned,” Razif added.

He also revealed that the council was in support of Cradle and the start-up ecosystem, adding that concerns of its relevance in the years to come could be put to rest.

"The council made it very clear that they will continue to support this space so they should not be concerned, start-up companies can expect us to remain in business,” he said.

Razif added that during his meeting with the CEP, one council member suggested the government’s enthusiasm in retaining the fund.