Author: Dani Forman

The road already traveled: Why invest in startup follow-on rounds?

The road already traveled: Why invest in startup follow-on rounds?

Feb 10, 2016 | , ,

Today, access to quality investment opportunities are no longer a luxury reserved for the well-connected. Everything from startups to real estate development projects are now available to the masses for investment. This access has garnered lots of attention from prominent investment thought leaders. One of the biggest issues they’re grappling with is how to educate the public to make sure they are investing responsibly in these new, often risky asset classes. In this post, we’re going to talk about what Brad Feld refers to as a new, official trend in the world of venture capital. The Opportunity What’s this new trend we speak of? In January 2011, Union Square Ventures launched their first “Opportunity Fund.” The fund was formed to invest exclusively in USV portfolio companies raising follow-on rounds of investment. This investment strategy was born out of the realization that a majority of returns in a fund are generated by a small number of the portfolio companies. Fred Wilson, USV’s founder and managing partner described the rationale behind launching the fund in 4 basic points: “This fund is meant to...

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What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (December 2015)

What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (December 2015)

Dec 22, 2015 | ,

Happy holidays and welcome to December’s edition of What We’re Investing In. By the end of 2015, there will be over 85 companies in the OurCrowd portfolio. In one month from today, we’ll kick off our 2nd annual Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem to discuss future investment and tech trends while reviewing the incredible  innovation we’ve seen in the last year. Register here; we hope to see you! Here is a summary of all of the currently funding companies on the OurCrowd platform. Smart Agricultural Irrigation The Internet of Things is one of the most popular startup trends whose simple goal is to connect ordinary “things” to the internet. This company takes the mostly un-technological process of farm irrigation and streamlines it through an intuitive mobile application. The app instructs farmers to deploy sensors throughout their field, which then continuously analyze the surrounding soil and its specific needs. The information collected is transmitted to the farming equipment, automatically populating it with the optimal inputs. Aside from the farmer’s valuable time, this technology can save up to 25% of the extra water typically...

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What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (November 2015)

What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (November 2015)

Nov 19, 2015 | ,

Welcome to the November edition of What We’re Investing In. For all the first time readers, every month we compose a summary of all the currently funding investment opportunities on the OurCrowd platform. This month, we’ll take a look at four companies ranging from a fast growing car rental business to a “free-dimensional” video technology company. To find out more details about these companies, join and accredit at www.ourcrowd.com. Hyperlocal, on-demand car rentals in India The sharing economy is one of the fastest growing segments in the tech world today. Pair that with the unprecedented growth of recent Internet penetration in India (350M people online and growing), and you’re looking at a market ripe with opportunity. This particular company is capitalizing specifically on an opportunity in the private transportation market in India. The majority of the Indian population that can’t afford to buy their own cars currently rely on chauffeured ride-sharing applications like Uber or Ola Cabs. This company allows its customers to rent cars through an intuitive mobile app, pick up the car at one of hundreds of local...

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What We’re Investing In: Current Investment Opportunities on OurCrowd (June 2015)

What We’re Investing In: Current Investment Opportunities on OurCrowd (June 2015)

Jun 16, 2015 | ,

Venture capital activity dropped in the first quarter of 2015. For the first time since 2011, under 900 deals received funding from venture capital firms. Equity crowdfunding, on the other hand, continues to see a steady, impressive rise in dollars invested. According to Crowdnetic’s Eric Smith, the young equity crowdfundung market is poised to double every year, as more and more individual investors learn about the opportunity. This June at OurCrowd, in addition to launching three new investment opportunities, we also launched our first early-stage fund. Check out highlights of all the currently funding OurCrowd companies in this month’s edition of “What We’re Investing In.” OurCrowd First Finding promising early stage investment opportunities is an art. To find the right companies, the OurCrowd investment team sifts through upwards of 150 startups per month. Often, due to the size of the round or the maturity of the company, they are forced to pass on great, early stage opportunities. To address this, for the first time on the OurCrowd platform, we are offering an opportunity to invest in a fund composed...

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What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (April 2015)

What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (April 2015)

Apr 29, 2015 | ,

Diversification is one of the most basic and important principals of investing.  This April, we launched a broad range of companies across a multitude of industries on OurCrowd’s platform. These span from cutting-edge brain technology to the world’s first meter-dosed medical cannabis inhaler. For more information on all of our currently funding companies, visit the site and click the “Browse Startups” tab. Below, read about five of the companies we’re investing in this April on OurCrowd; for an under-the-radar investment, log in on www.ourcrowd.com. Syqe Medical Syqe Medical is the world’s first meter-dosed, medical cannabis inhaler. Today, doctors have no way to measure the intake of prescription cannabis to patients, which directly impacts the affectivity of the prescription. Syqe is getting in at the ground floor of what is projected to be an $11B legal cannabis market in the US alone. Perry Davidson, founder and CEO of Syqe, has over 9 years of experience in controlled substance regulation and state implementation in Israel. Click here to learn more about Syqe ElMindA Over 2 billion people worldwide live with some form of...

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