Newsletter Archives

In the News: How startups are handling the COVID-19 frontlines

April 6, 2020 by OurCrowd

The COVID-19 pandemic arrived unannounced in late 2019, disrupting lives and businesses in ways that were previously unimaginable. Steering a company through the uncertainty of this crisis is daunting – here are four tips we shared with our own companies: Four Best Practices for Companies During a Crisis.

At OurCrowd, we’re not only backing a whole host of companies that are busy on the frontlines fighting the coronavirus battle, but we’re getting ready for the next pandemic as well. Watch my interview on CNBC as I discuss how tech is being utilized to combat COVID-19, and how the investment community is now very focused on helping these companies that are critical in this fight.

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In the News: Time to move fast and fix things

March 30, 2020 by OurCrowd

Now is the time for tech to drive the effort and support the global community in reversing the course of this coronavirus pandemic and help us establish a more successful, healthier and safer future. The tech world has the ingenuity, resources, imagination and drive to tackle the new challenges brought by COVID-19. Read more in this Al Jazeera op/ed published by Jason Greenblatt and myself.

Last week saw a great example of tech moving fast and fixing things, with our company Kryon, a leader in robotic process automation. In just 48 hours they managed to complete a typically 1-2 month process and helped Maccabi Health Care Services move all of the Israeli Health Ministry’s coronavirus testing data into their core database. Read it in The Jerusalem Post, and watch my interview on the story with Kryon and Maccabi.

Our portfolio company data.world is helping Tableu make Johns Hopkins coronavirus data available – and that’s just the start. Join our next webinar, where CEO Brett Hurt will discuss the use of big data to solve COVID-19, and how data.world is applying its technology to the current crisis. The webinar will take place Thursday, April 2nd at 7 PM Jerusalem, 12 PM New York, 9 AM San Francisco – sign up here.

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In the News: Startups Equipped to Combat the Coronavirus

March 23, 2020 by OurCrowd

It’s been another intense week as the global community continues to combat the coronavirus pandemic. I am proud of my team, working day and night to support our companies playing a part in this effort, mobilize our global community to join that effort in fighting the pandemic, and to identify selective opportunities to get in front of it. Read more about how OurCrowd is working through this period in my interview with CTech.

I highly recommend you watch the recording of the webinar we held last week, where, joined by members of our executive team, I shared our insider view into the impact of coronavirus on startups, implications for the market, portfolio companies fighting the battle, and OurCrowd’s next steps. We plan on maintaining strong connectivity with our community and holding various more webinars in the near future – stay tuned on that.

Furthermore, I believe that great companies are built in downturns and technology has a great role to play in solving and helping us get through this crisis. “From diagnosis, mitigation, patient tracking, contamination prevention, and protecting medical staff, to education and exercise for the homebound”, check out Israeli startups, several of which we are proud to have in OurCrowd’s portfolio, that are working to help defeat this pandemic.

With the above being said, and OurCrowd remaining aware as well as active in supporting the fight against this virus, read on for more tech updates.

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In the News: Join our Wednesday Webinar on coronavirus: Challenges & Innovation in the tech sector

March 18, 2020 by OurCrowd

Alongside governments around the globe, Israel is taking strict social distancing measures in the face of the COVID-19 global health emergency. The startup nation is also utilizing its strengths to tackle the coronavirus – read about Israel’s ingenuity in response to the pandemic. To remind you, I will be hosting a webinar this Wednesday, March 18th at 6 PM Israel, 12 PM New York, 9 AM San Francisco, alongside OurCrowd’s medical venture partner Morris Laster, about the impact of coronavirus on startups, how some startups are fighting back, and what steps we are taking as OurCrowd. Click here or to register for the webinar.

On a positive note, we are often blown away by the stories of success that our startups bring and this one no less so: Will Irwin had suffered from Essential Tremor for more than 2 decades when he heard about the Israeli startup, Insightec. He reached out to a colleague, Jonathan Wiesen, who sits on the OurCrowd Medical Advisory board, and the rest is history. Watch this video for their moving story.

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In the News: The impact of coronavirus on startups & OurCrowd’s next steps

March 9, 2020 by OurCrowd

As the global community comes together to combat the coronavirus, our thoughts are with those directly and indirectly affected. Israel has taken an active role in trying to prevent the spread of the virus and has reduced potential exposure in various ways. Read here how Israeli research groups are hard at work on a vaccine. OurCrowd is maintaining close contact with our portfolio and network to provide guidance in navigating this crisis. See here a note that Sequoia sent its founders and CEOs regarding the current situation.

Join me for a webinar next Wednesday, March 18th at 6 PM Israel, 12 PM New York, 9 AM San Francisco, about the impact of coronavirus on startups, how some startups are fighting back, and what steps we are taking as OurCrowd. Click here

“From healthcare to transportation; artificial intelligence to agriculture and food and fighting fires in Australia to protection from missiles, OurCrowd is saving and improving lives.” Have a look at this piece – From cancer to coronavirus, OurCrowd innovates for humanity.

Up until the coronavirus outbreak, Israeli tech companies were off to a promising start, as they raised over $1.5 billion in the first two months of the year. Watch this video, where Nomura Chief U.S. Economist predicts a strong H2 recovery from the corona crisis.

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In the News: Our new partnership with Jason Greenblatt to build business ties across the Middle East

March 3, 2020 by OurCrowd

We are delighted to share big news out of Jerusalem as former Assistant to the President of the United States, and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt joins OurCrowd as a partner, to build business ties across the Middle East. We are looking forward to more innovation and investment within Israel and beyond. Watch this video for Jason’s thoughts on how business collaboration between Israel and the region can help pave the way to peace.

Spend a few minutes seeing Startup Nation through a new lens in this Forbes piece on Israel’s tech, written following the 2020 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit: How Israel Became A Technology Startup Nation.

As 2020 dawns, our job is to forecast the trends of the next decade…Check out my thoughts in “Looking Beyond: Venture Capital Deploys for the Next Decade”, featured in IVC’s Annual Israeli Tech Review.

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In the News: Watch full-length content or join our highlights webinar | 2020 OurCrowd Summit

February 24, 2020 by OurCrowd

“A great event. Very well organized. For venture capitalists like myself, this event is even better than CES.”

– Dong-Su Kim, CEO, LG Technology Ventures

The 2020 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit was another record-breaking gathering; 23,000 registered from 186 countries. What was especially inspiring were the stories on stage – especially the 3 stories of 3 lives saved by our portfolio companies.

See what others are saying, watch what you missed, relive what inspired you at the 2020 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit! Check out the highlights, press, videos, photos and more content here. See the captured moments on Facebook and make sure to tag yourselves!

Join me on Monday, February 24th (10:00 Israel, 16:00 Hong Kong, 19:00 Sydney) for a 1-hour live recap of the Summit. Watch the highlights as I share some of the key moments, speakers and startups. Add to calendar by clicking below:

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In the News: What’s next after Israel’s biggest diplomatic event in its history?

January 27, 2020 by OurCrowd

Israel hosted its biggest diplomatic event in its history last week: delegations from 49 countries, including 41 heads of state, gathered in Jerusalem for The Fifth World Holocaust Forum.

We are looking forward to welcoming thousands more tech and investment leaders from around the globe this February 13th for the 2020 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit to share, celebrate and invest in Israeli and global tech. Space is limited; tickets for active OurCrowd members are guaranteed upon registration. Apply now.

Happy Chinese New Year from OurCrowd: We want to wish our Chinese friends all over the world a healthy, happy, and prosperous year ahead.

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