Author: OurCrowd

Autonomous Cars: 8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2015 (3/8)

Autonomous Cars: 8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2015 (3/8)

Dec 9, 2015 | ,

It’s that time of year! Join us for the next eight days for what’s become an OurCrowd tradition: highlighting during Hanukkah — the festival of lights – the top eight Israeli tech trends that spark the interest of our investment team and what they see on the ground. Trend #3: Autonomous Cars Behind the trend: Science fiction writers and fans have been dreaming up self-driving cars for almost 100 years. In July, CNBC reported Google’s claim that autonomous cars will finally be available to consumers as early as 2020. But, of course, as with any discussion on artificial intelligence these days, the debate continues over whether we humans are ready for cars to drive themselves. Relying on cars to brake and steer may offer us a false sense of security and lead to more accidents, or, as hackers showed us last summer, the more we rely on our car’s digital capacities the more vulnerable we may be to virtual, invisible pranksters or villains. What’s up next: It seems that nothing is putting the brakes on driverless cars (well, except that one time when...

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Green Tech: 8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2015 (2/8)

Green Tech: 8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2015 (2/8)

Dec 8, 2015 | ,

It’s that time of year! Join us for the next eight days for what’s become an OurCrowd tradition: highlighting during Hanukkah — the festival of lights – the top eight Israeli tech trends that spark the interest of our investment team and what they see on the ground. Trend #2: Green Tech Behind the trend: For its entire existence, Israel – out of necessity — has been a leading research hub in areas related to the environment, from water conservation and desalinization to agriculture to alternative energy sources. So much so, other countries often seek advice and innovation first from Israel: this year, in fact, California turned to Israel to learn how to deal with four years of devastating droughts. As concerns rise about ramifications of climate change, more attention is being paid in general to clean air and water, as well as food security; all areas in which Israeli startups are developing solutions. The Israeli delegation to COP21 (the UN climate change conference held in Paris last week) was headed by no less than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reports...

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3D Printing: 8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2015 (1/8)

3D Printing: 8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2015 (1/8)

Dec 7, 2015 | ,

It’s that time of year! Join us for the next eight days for what’s become an OurCrowd tradition: highlighting during Hanukkah — the festival of lights – the top eight Israeli tech trends that spark the interest of our investment team and what they see on the ground. Trend #1: 3D Printing Behind the trend: From food to home décor, 3D printing has moved from the conceptual futuristic novelty to real and readily-available to the masses. Whereas two years ago, many of us were laughing at the $300,000 price tag attached to a 3D-printed hamburger, now anyone sitting at a laptop in their own kitchen can print items as varied as flower vases, jewelry, cellphone cases, and even clothing! 3Dshook is one company making that possible with a massive collection of designs for print at home with consumer grade FDM printers. The designs are available to subscribers of their Print on Demand service. Then, there’s Israeli firm Massavit that’s kicking the technology up a notch or two with the development of an advanced, super-sized printer which will offer solutions in...

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OurCrowd’s portfolio company CrediFi featured in the Times of Israel

Dec 7, 2015 | ,

OurCrowd’s portfolio company CrediFi was featured in The Times of Israel, an English-language news website covering Israel, the region & the Jewish world. CrediFi is a data and risk analysis platform enabling greater transparency and insight-driven investment decisions for the multi-trillion dollarCommercial Real Estate finance markets. An Israeli startup is hoping to bring order to one of the most lucrative businesses in the world and one of the most disorganized — the commercial real estate market. And what’s more, said Ely Razin, CEO of CrediFi, which provides the first source of hard data about the industry, his Jerusalem-based start-up consists largely of immigrants from the US and other English-speaking countries. CrediFi raised $334,935 from OurCrowd investors in April 2014 and $888,028 in a follow-on round in March 2015. Read more on The Times of Israel...

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Israel’s emerging tech hubs, Perion buys Undertone for $180M, & 10 startups you should know [OurCrowd Newsletter]

Israel’s emerging tech hubs, Perion buys Undertone for $180M, & 10 startups you should know [OurCrowd Newsletter]

Dec 7, 2015 |

Find out which Israeli startup made an impressive acquisition of a fellow US-based company; explore Israel’s emerging high-tech hubs outside of Tel-Aviv; discover 10 innovative Israeli startups that you are likely to hear about in 2016; and more this week from Startup Nation… Start getting this weekly newsletter via email: Subscribe now Israel’s Perion acquires US ad company Undertone for $180M Israeli marketing software company Perion Network Ltd. has acquired the U.S.-based digital advertising company Undertone in a deal valued at $180 million. Learn more. OurCrowd & Portfolio Companies in the News OurCrowd First featured in Arutz Sheva Consumer Physics and Curiyo featured in Inc. Bizzabo featured in Israel21c Trendlines featured in Crowdfund Insider Covertix featured in Connected World Ubimo featured in MediaPost 10 Israeli startups you should know Inc., a leading monthly publication and website focused on growing companies, listed 10 innovative Israeli startups that you are likely to hear about and encounter in the near future. Learn more. Gal Kalkshtein on promoting entrepreneurship in Israel Serial entrepreneur Gal Kalkshtein discusses his road to success and heading towards the new frontier of innovation, in support...

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