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bne Tech
August 2, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
Investor in demised Polish cryptocurrency exchange BitMarket found dead
Tobiasz Niemiro, the co-founder of the Polish cryptocurrency exchange BitMarket, was found dead in his home in northern Poland last week, local media reported.
Niemiro and his business partner Marcin Aszkielowicz acquired BitMarket in 2015. The exchange folded in early July, however, leading some 400 users to lose an estimated 2,300 bitcoins, worth about PLN100mn (€23.32mn). The Polish prosecution is investigating what happened to the bitcoins.
Following BitMarket’s closure Niemiro and Aszkielowicz fought allegations they stole money of the exchange’s users. Niemiro said
in statements to the Polish media he was only a financial investor in BitMarket and that his investment objectives were not met.
“I lost everything because somebody led to the collapse of the stock exchange. Now I’m losing face and good name for which I’ve worked all my life. I am one of the victims,” Niemiro told the Polish financial news service Money.pl.
Niemiro’s body was found in his home in Olsztyn, northern Poland, with a gunshot wound to
his head. The police suspect suicide but the investigation to determine the circumstances
of the businessman’s death is ongoing.
Russia's Runa Capital raises $70mn to invest in ‘deep-tech’ startups
EWDN in Moscow
Runa Capital, a Palo Alto-headquartered venture investment firm with Russian roots, has closed $70mn for its third fund targeting early-stage “deep tech” startups, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN).
The firm started to market this fund a year and a half ago, seeking to raise some $135mn essentially from its existing LPs.
Launched in 2011, Runa Capital’s first fund targeted essentially Russian startups; but the firm quickly switched to a global strategy.
Runa launched its second fund in 2014, ultimately raising $135mn. So far, Runa funds invested in over 60 companies from 12 different countries. Among its exits were, as noted by TechCrunch, the French mobile app analytics Capptain (acquired by Microsoft), mobile banking startup Final (acquired by Goldman Sachs), web server NGINX (acquired by F5 Networks earlier this year for $670mn). The most recent exit was Acumatica, acquired just weeks ago by PE fund EQT Partners.