Startup Investing

Innovation is elementary: The Periodic Table of Israeli Tech

Innovation is elementary: The Periodic Table of Israeli Tech

Dec 2, 2015 | ,

Think you know the chemical makeup of the successful Israeli tech scene? CB Insights data and analytics recently published a periodic table to help visualize the depth and breadth of Israel’s tech scene. The Periodic Table of Israeli Tech features venture capital firms, accelerators and incubators, angel investment groups, crowdfunding. It also exhibits prominent funded Israeli companies in select industry categories, along with notable exits. OurCrowd is honored to be listed in the periodic table under ‘crowdfunding’, the sole company in this list under that category. Additionally, OurCrowd is proud of its five portfolio companies — and one latest investment opportunity — who are listed on the table too in their select industries: Argus Cyber Security, AppDome, Fireblade, Corephotonics, Ubimo, and Parko. Check out the periodic table of Israeli tech below: Want to meet and learn more about OurCrowd’s innovative portfolio companies? Join us at our Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem on January 25th, 2016! Apply now at...

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Beyond tech: Why investors are bullish about internet startups

Beyond tech: Why investors are bullish about internet startups

Dec 1, 2015 | ,

In 2013, two American graduate school dropouts started a car-rental business in India with seven vehicles. Now, two years later, the company has a fleet of 1,800 cars. A seeming success by anyone’s standards, and for Western consumers, a seemingly traditional business: car rental. One more detail: the company, Zoomcar, is an internet startup, meaning users make reservations online or via a mobile application, then pick up the vehicles at numerous locations, or have them delivered to their doorsteps. Zoomcar illustrates how a growing number of startups do not rely on the kind of high-tech, often hard-to-understand technology requiring years of development. Increasingly, internet startups seek to disrupt markets rather than disrupt technology itself – and many are seeing wild success. According to a recent list from the Wall Street Journal, five of the top ten unicorns (tech startups valued at more than $1 billion) fit this category. And they can be great investments, offering opportunities to capitalize on the ever-changing (and sometimes for newcomers, intimidating) tech sector. The most well-known standouts in this sector include online accommodation marketplace...

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Sports tech panel: Which tech trends are shaping the future of sports?

Sports tech panel: Which tech trends are shaping the future of sports?

Nov 25, 2015 | ,

“The way athletes train, the way a coach prepares, even the way the fans view the game is dramatically different, all because of technological advancement.” -NFL Hall of Famer Curtis Martin “It is certainly an exciting time to be in sports tech.” – Sports lawyer/Forbes, Inc contributor Darren Heitner As long as there have been humans, there have been sports, though we’ve come a long way from sticks and rocks. In the sports arena, the future is now: Sports technology is evolving fast, already in stadiums providing mind-blowing experiences for athletes, spectators, and even home viewers. That’s why the sports tech industry is producing some of the hottest investment opportunities today, ranging from performance enhancers and wearables (IntelliGym, Fitbit) to improving fans’ sports-viewing experience (Replay Technologies) and diagnosis & treatment of sports brain injuries (ElMindA). OurCrowd recently hosted a live conversation with NFL Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin, and Darren Heitner, Sports lawyer and Inc. magazine/Forbes contributor, each bringing their unique viewpoint as we explore what’s next in sports tech. The conversation was moderated by OurCrowd’s sports tech lead and BizDev rep,...

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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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Looking to Asia: The state of India’s startup ecosystem

Looking to Asia: The state of India’s startup ecosystem

Nov 17, 2015 |

If you follow tech news, you know that this year many in the industry are betting on India. The country is no longer synonymous with outsourcing and R&D, but with entrepreneurship, especially out of Bangalore, a city that boasts more than 1700 startups according to AngelList. Private equity, VCs, and hedge funds are all laser-focused on what’s now considered the third largest technology startup ecosystem in the world. But why India? Thanks to a booming population with a burgeoning middle class, domestic consumerism is on the rise. India’s young talent  — optimistic, resourceful and motivated, some even dropping out of business school to start their own companies — account for many of the new tech startups sprouting up in the last seven years. While India’s startup scene may be flourishing and evolving, however, it isn’t new. In Harvard Business Review, serial entrepreneur and global virtual incubator founder Sramana Mitra, says India has “done well in the last twenty odd years to build its technology industry through services. Today we’re seeing a maturing of the industry.” From the commercialization of...

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