MCI Group, the leading PE/VC entity in Central Eastern Europe, continues to improve internal competences in private equity investment execution. In May, two seasoned managers were taken on board to develop the fund’s Internet projects.
In May 2013, the MCI team acquired two experienced managers known in the PE/VC industry: Tomasz Danis and Nicolas Jedraszak.
Tomasz Danis was appointed Investment Partner and Fund Manager of Internet Ventures FIZ, a fund co-financed by the National Capital Fund, investing in early stage companies operating on the digital media, Internet, software, mobile and wireless technology (B2C) markets. Target assets of the fund amount to 100 million PLN. Tomasz Danis will also be responsible for investments in portfolio companies of MCI.TechVentures fund, the largest fund in the MCI Group in terms of asset value.
Tomasz Danis worked at LinkedIn in California, where he was responsible for competitive strategy for the European market. In the years 2002-2005 and 2007-2012, he was involved with McKinsey & Company, where as Engagement Manager, he realized strategic and investment projects (including M&A) for the largest European companies focused on the telecommunications and media sectors as well as for the leading energy, petroleum, FMCG and private equity companies. In 2012, Tomasz Danis assumed the post of Managing Director of Rocket Internet CEE, the world’s largest e-commerce business accelerator, where he was responsible for identifying new investments, fundraising as well as establishing new start-ups and development of Rocket portfolio companies at growth stage. He graduated the Warsaw School of Economics (Finance and Banking) and Harvard Business School MBA, where his studies focused on technology venture capital, entrepreneurship and acceleration of Internet-based businesses.
Nicholas Jedraszak was appointed Investment Director and Fund Manager of Helix Ventures Partners, which invests in companies operating in cloud computing, Internet, software, mobile and wireless technologies (B2B). He has worked with MCI Management since April 2013. He has extensive experience in development strategy, venture capital, corporate finance, M&A and the capital markets. For the last nine years, he had realized over a dozen strategic projects in the petroleum, FMCG and IT sectors. Since 2011, he has been is directly involved in building strategy and distribution channels for online companies in Poland. His business career in Poland started with M&A capital transactions for Hexagon Capital (currently Global M&A Poland). Since 2009, he has been involved with the Internet and selected portfolio companies in the MCI Group. In 2007, he joined the Oil & Chemicals team at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Nicolas Jedraszak is a graduate of Solvay Business School w Brussels.
– We invest in companies who benefit from the development of the Internet in Poland, our region and the world. We will spend several hundred million zlotys on investments this year – said Tomasz Czechowicz, Managing Partner of MCI Management. – The competences and experience of Tomasz Danis and Nicolas Jedraszak perfectly align with our business philosophy. I believe that with their help we will be able to meet our ambitious goals even more effectively – he added.
Earlier this year, MCI Management announced that in 2013 it will execute investments worth 250 million PLN (in all of 2012, investments totaled 95 million PLN). MCI also published a results forecast for the first half of the year, which assumes generating consolidated net profit of about 90 million PLN in the first six months.