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Police Arrest VC Linked to CSG’s Defense Tech Investments, Raising New Questions Around Strnad’s Expanding Network

Source: https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/ekonomika-firmy-policie-zadrzela-sefa-startupove-firmy-s-niz-investuje-i-zbrojar-strnad-301214

Police arrest head of startup company in which arms manufacturer Strnad also invests

Presto Ventures, a company investing in startups, will temporarily operate without its founder Přemysl Rubeš. He has been detained by the police, but according to the company, the reason is not related to business. The arms manufacturer CSG also invests with Presto Ventures.

On Monday, police arrested Přemysl Rubeš, founder and managing partner of startup company Presto Ventures. According to statements by Rubeš’s colleagues, the police action was not related to Presto Ventures. Billionaire Michal Strnad’s CSG group also invests in this company through Presto Tech Horizons.

According to Rubeš’s partner at Presto Ventures, Vojtěch Roček, Rubeš had been suffering from health and mental problems recently.

“This culminated on Monday when people close to him (Přemysl Rubeš, ed.) called the police for his own safety. Presto Tech Horizons is not affected by this in any way, and at Presto Ventures we will look for ways to operate without him for a while,” Vojtěch Roček said in a statement to SZ Byznys. The editorial staff also tried to contact Rubeš by phone. However, his phone is turned off.

Over the past two years, Presto Ventures has been in the news mainly in connection with the venture capital firm Presto Tech Horizons, which focuses on investing in startups focused on military technologies such as drones. The aforementioned CSG group is also a co-founder of Presto Tech Horizons.

Presto Tech Horizons, which focuses on the arms industry, has invested, for example, in the American company Firehawk Aerospace, which is involved in 3D printing of fuel and engines for rockets, in the development of artificial intelligence for drone navigation, and in acoustic weapon locators.

Presto Ventures has invested in dozens of startups through its funds. These include, for example, the software company CloudTalk and the startup Inventoro, which provides services to online stores. Some of Presto Ventures’ investments have not been successful. This applies, for example, to the heating company Woltair. Despite its original great ambitions, it went bankrupt last year.

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