A young New Zealand national who founded a Ksh1.2 billion company while he was still a teenager has died while in Kenya where he was hiding.
K24 Digital has established that Jake Millar, who was the founder of two startup companies Oompher and Unfiltered was found dead on Monday, November 29.
Reports say that Millar who died aged 26 was hiding in Kenya to avoid backlash after his business went down subjecting him to struggles and poverty.
His first business enterprise was Oompher which he launched at the age of 18 when he was still studying at Christchurch Boys High School.
The company could later be sold to the New Zeland Government at a six-figure sum which was never made public.
Oompher is a company that showcased motivational videos from people who are influential in society which caught the attention of the country’s Ministry of Education.
He later started Unfiltered, another company which expanded its scope to live events and moved beyond the borders of his home country.
The new company started attracting funding from high-ranking investors and was at some point valued at Ksh1.2 billion.
It is worth noting that the entrepreneur was also an ambassador for Lifeline which once raised over Ksh2 billion with the aim of fighting suicide in New Zealand.
The philanthropist first revealed that he was to come to Kenya in March this year after he was linked to Rendeavour which is a development company that was founded by his compatriot Stephen Jennings.
Millar, however, had refuted the claims explaining that he was only jetting into Kenya to try new tricks and have a new experience in life.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that already his family was being provided with consular assistance.
“The Ministry is aware of what happened and the death of Jake Millar and is currently providing assistance to his family,” it said in a statement.
