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OurCrowd Begins General Solicitation of US Investors in Compliance with New SEC Regulations
Under the new regulations, OurCrowd’s deals will be posted publicly online
Jerusalem, Israel September 23, 2013: OurCrowd, Israel’s leading equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors, has begun general solicitation of US investors for deals in compliance with new regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that go into effect today. Until now, OurCrowd and other equity crowdfunding platforms have been unable to generally solicit or generally advertise to US investors about investment opportunities.
As a result of the new SEC regulations, effective today, all of OurCrowd’s deals will be posted publicly for US investors on OurCrowd’s website as well as on social networks, email, and through online and offline advertising and public meetings. US investors in OurCrowd’s portfolio companies are still required to meet certain accreditation criteria, such as a net worth in excess of $1M or annual income in excess of $200K for the past two years along with a reasonable expectation of reaching this level in the current year. Going forward, accredited investors will be required to provide OurCrowd verification of their accredited status, which may be provided by third parties such as accountants, lawyers, registered investment advisors or registered broker-dealers.
OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved said, “These regulations represent a groundbreaking development for OurCrowd and others in the equity crowdfunding business. Until now we were marketing our deals in the US with our hands tied behind our back given that we couldn’t speak publicly about the investment opportunities on our website. Now the SEC has allowed us to speak loudly, directly and clearly about the fine investment opportunities on our website. This is an important day for entrepreneurs and investors worldwide and we look forward to being at the forefront of this new general solicitation revolution.”
OurCrowd General Counsel Jay Kalish said, “While the regulations go into effect today, we await additional rule adoptions by the SEC on important compliance requirements. In the interim, we are taking steps to obtain documented confirmation of accredited status from our US investors, as required by the new regulations. We understand that under the new regulations some of the burden for this confirmation has shifted from the investors to OurCrowd itself. We take this new responsibility very seriously and we will seek our investors’ cooperation and assistance in providing this accreditation information without undue difficulty.”
In light of the new regulations US investors are invited to view all current investment opportunities on the OurCrowd website.
About OurCrowd
OurCrowd is hybrid venture capital/crowdfunding platform for accredited investors only who wish to invest in Israeli and global technology companies. Managed by a team of well-known investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd selects opportunities, invests its own capital and enables accredited investors to invest in these startups. Accredited investors can choose the deals they want, and then invest via OurCrowd-managed special purpose partnerships. OurCrowd investors must meet stringent accreditation criteria and invest a minimum of $10,000 per deal. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, including assigning industry experts as mentors and taking board seats.
Press contact:
Kalia Natan
Mobile: +972–54-744-7340
Office: +972–2-636-9313
US: +1–914-401-6422
Email: press@OurCrowd.com
