OurCrowd Blog

Israel and the UAE stand to create a partnership of prosperity that will warm the economies of both countries and transform the lives of millions in the region. In December 2019, after more than a decade of doing business with the Gulf, with me and my team having to travel from Jerusalem semi-incognito on our US passports, I became the first Israeli investor to appear on a public platform at a business conference in the United Arab Emirates. Since news of the peace deal between the UAE and Israel was announced August 13, my Inbox has been flooded with messages from friends and business contacts in the Gulf. Since direct phone contact was established on August 16, my phone has been ringing off the hook with calls from the Emirates. We are now talking to more than a dozen potential partners in the UAE who are keen to explore the uncharted and enchanting prospects of business and investment with Israeli startups. Like many people, I have not flown abroad for months. It looks like my first trip will be to the UAE, perhaps on...

Companies making plant-based milk and meat products are heating up Hot on the heels of Beyond Meat, the plant-based burger company that scored the most successful IPO of 2019, I see the beginnings of a non-dairy milk war. Producers of plant-based milk substitutes are racking up record sales of products made from oats, peas, soy, almond, coconut and rice. In July, Blackstone, Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman, Howard Schultz and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation took a 10% stake in the Swedish oat milk company Oatly at a $2 billion valuation. The market is potentially huge and while Oatly is clearly the front runner with sales in 2019 of $200 million, investors are sniffing around other dairy substitute companies, realizing there will be many other creams in the crop. Noops, a newcomer offering non-dairy oatmilk desserts, closed a $2 million seed funding round in July led by 25Madison. Meanwhile, Beyond Meat is still on fire. Its second quarter sales, announced August 4, jumped 69% to $113 million. Its main rival, Impossible Foods, creators of the plant-based Impossible Burger and Impossible Sausage, increased distribution from 150 grocery stores...