Author: wp_archive_user

10 Israeli startups that electrified investors at CES 2015

10 Israeli startups that electrified investors at CES 2015

Jan 15, 2015 | ,

Silicon Wadi has relocated to Las Vegas this week, as numerous Israeli startups are giving CES 2015 attendees a taste of what the Startup Nation is all about. Here are 10 Israeli startups that caught my attention at CES 2015: VocalZoom Ever wonder what it would be like to have voice recognition that actually works in real world, noisy environments? VocalZoom* combines an optical sensor (which measures the micro-vibrations on your face with an eye-safe laser) with an acoustic microphone to drastically improve the accuracy of voice recognition, unaffected by external noise. Status: VocalZoom announced at CES that its short-range optical sensor + microphone (called the SEEON) will be available in the final form factor for its OEM partners beginning in Q3 2015. CES Quote: “Customers are starting to understand the depth of the innovation and the disruptive performance that VocalZoom’s technology can offer. For IoT, home automation, autonomous cars, etc. the interface of choice will be voice, and nothing today can operate at the expected level.” Umoove While VocalZoom is all in on voice as the next big...

Read More
3 Warren Buffett-inspired tips for investing in promising startups

3 Warren Buffett-inspired tips for investing in promising startups

Jan 4, 2015 |

Widely considered one of the most successful investors of all time, Warren Buffett attributes much of his success to his disciplined adherence to an investment formula. Primarily a value investor, Buffett sticks to a rigid set of parameters when evaluating investment opportunities. Given his success, it’s not surprising that over the years, so many have tried to emulate his investing style when making decisions about their portfolios. Difficult as this may be when assessing stocks, trying to apply his philosophies when evaluating startup investments is even more challenging. Startup ventures typically have little or no income, making many of Buffett’s models for evaluating the intrinsic value of a company extremely hard to calculate. Furthermore, startups don’t have track records that can be studied to understand their stability. The result is that startup investors that seek to invest using Buffett’s principles, a.k.a Buffettologists, must rely on some of Buffett’s more qualitative parameters when assessing an early-stage company. Outlined below are three Warren Buffett-inspired investment tips to help you identify promising startup investment opportunities. 1) Invest in a great team One...

Read More
Lenders, Keepers: An Investor’s Guide to the Online Lending Opportunity

Lenders, Keepers: An Investor’s Guide to the Online Lending Opportunity

Jan 1, 2015 | ,

Something old, something new, something borrowed… is a big opportunity in the online lending market.    In December 2014, investors with a keen eye on the world of fintech witnessed history in the making. First, Lending Club, an online peer-to-peer lending marketplace for unsecured consumer debt, began trading on the NYSE and within the month, had a valuation of over $9 billion. OnDeck, a web-based small business lender, followed suit with their IPO on December 17th, with a valuation at $1.5 billion. Shortly after, KPMG released its recent ranking of the best, most disruptive financial service tech companies. Not surprisingly, Lending Club and OnDeck ranked high in their 50 Best Fintech Innovators Report, at #6 and #7, respectively. That’s just the beginning of the story; there are a lot of reasons why the relatively young online lending industry heated up at the end of 2014 and will power investment opportunities through 2015. Before we go any further, let’s take a step back and understand what today’s online lending market fully entails. The Good, the Big, and the Ugly: A...

Read More
What We’re Investing In: Current Investment Opportunities on OurCrowd (December 2014)

What We’re Investing In: Current Investment Opportunities on OurCrowd (December 2014)

Dec 25, 2014 | , , ,

Happy holidays and welcome to OurCrowd’s ‘What We’re Investing In’ series. To date, OurCrowd and our network of angel investors have invested over $80M in 56 startup companies. Aside from these exciting investment opportunities, we are also launching a series of educational webinars with leading tech industry experts to further dissect the sectors that we are investing in. Stay tuned and visit www.ourcrowd.com for more information. Borro – Secure asset backed loans The 2008 financial crisis brought to light the desperate need for reform in the traditional yet antiquated banking and lending systems. In just six short years, companies like Lending Club and Prosper managed to capitalize on the opportunity and broker over $5B in unsecured, peer-to-peer loans. Borro, a UK-based lending platform takes a novel, more secure approach to online lending. Taking a loan from Borro requires pledging a physical asset, which is appraised and held in a warehouse for the term of the loan. Asset backed lending mitigates risk for the lender and allows asset rich individuals to borrow money without actually selling any of their assets....

Read More
Don’t believe these 4 myths about equity crowdfunding

Don’t believe these 4 myths about equity crowdfunding

Dec 3, 2014 | , , ,

Equity crowdfunding is quickly finding its legs. For 2014, we estimated upwards of $700 million of capital invested in startups would be through equity crowdfunding platforms. Investors who have already migrated to these platforms are the early adopters, quick and flexible and open to trying an innovative new way to invest in the next Google, Facebook and Apple. However, many investors are still reticent to getting their feet wet since it’s still not entirely clear how equity crowdfunding works. This article dispels four myths about equity crowdfunding to offer investors a new investment track in some of the most exciting opportunities in the startup scene. Myth #1: Companies that choose crowdfunding couldn’t raise venture capital Raising money via crowdfunding channels may look easy, but in reality, it isn’t. And companies that are considering fielding an investment on an equity crowdfunding platform are, more times than not, choosing between many different sources of funding. Many of these companies have already raised an investment from an early stage venture capital firm or from other angel investors. Many will ultimately go on...

Read More