The venture capital fund backed by Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire who was sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the European Union, is trying to wipe out its operations because of the war in Ukraine.
The website of the investment fund that has offices in Russia and Germany has been wiped clean. Their website only shows their name, and it's only for this story.
A search on the internet archive Wayback Machine shows that in the lead up to the U.S. allies placing sanctions on Abramovich, the fund's website showed extensive details of its operations and investors.
With the U.K. sanctions in place, the government now has a say in the sale of the team. The EU and U.K. tried to freeze his assets. A spokesman for the soccer team declined to speak Friday, saying he forwarded questions to the personal spokesman for the owner.
The leaders of Impulse VC did not reply to many emails. According to research done by PitchBook,Abramovich is its main investor. According to PitchBook, the Russian billionaire has helped finance venture capital deals through his separate investment vehicle, which is worth an average of $6.65 million.
Yacht “Solaris” linked to Russian oligarch and politician Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is seen in the waters of Porto Montenegro in Tivat, Montenegro March 12, 2022.The United States is home to a few of the Abramovich-linked investments.
The impact of current and future sanctions, including those by the United States, will likely not be able to be avoided by venture capital funds tied to Russian executives.
The chairman of Signum Global Advisors said in an interview that he doesn't see how VC funds will be exempt from the current and future sanctions on Russians.
The company that appears to be laying low under the public glare of sanctions is Impulse. The Wall Street Journal reported that a business associate of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took control of a British Virgin Islands- listed company hours after Russia started their invasion of Ukraine.
According to data from Marine Traffic, two superyachts owned by Abramovich have made their way to Turkey, despite the fact that government officials there have said they have no intention of imposing sanctions against Russia.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC on Friday that the Biden administration could target him next, even though he has denied having any ties to Putin. The Wall Street Journal reported that the president of Ukraine advised Biden to hold off on sanctions because he could help broker a peace deal with Putin.
The venture capital fund invested between $250,000 and $5 million according to the website from February.
Their investment criteria says they were looking for companies with $1 billion in potential value.
Over 60 companies from around the world were included in the Impulse portfolio. Their investments have focused on companies in the U.S., EU, U.K. and Russia.
Worksuite, a San Francisco based company, saw seed investments from Impulse with Abramovich labeled as the lead partner for the deals. According to research by PitchBook, Worksuite saw millions of dollars worth of seed investments from Impulse.
A Worksuite representative didn't return a request for comment before publication.
The two New York based drug research companies saw millions of dollars in funding from the company.
The companies that saw early investments from Abramovich did not return requests for comment.
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