ourcrowd Archives

How a trip to buy a juicer led to making the world a better place – and other stories behind the 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit

February 12, 2019 by OurCrowd

Ran Krauss went to an electronics store to buy a juicer but a drone caught his eye and he went home with that instead. Pretty soon, he fine-tuned his drone skills and eventually formed an automated industrial drone company called Airobotics. OurCrowd invested in it and Airobotics is now revolutionizing aerial inspection, security and emergency response.

Like Ran and his drones, many of our startups are disruptive. In fact OurCrowd itself turned the tables on traditional venture capital, opening up startup investing to a global crowd. So it makes sense that the annual OurCrowd Global Investor Summit is not just a standard conference – and this year it will be even more engaging, more entertaining, more thought-provoking – and ultimately more productive.

Below we explore seven reasons why this Summit is different from all other conferences.

1.Unlike other business events we don’t just do panels

We aim to provide real insight while also bein interesting and compelling. Our 21 breakout sessions break the molds, for example:

“Two Truths and a Lie,” where five masters in the VC world play an interactive game with the audience that will shed light on the mechanics and opportunities of fund investing.
“Demo Theater,” a lineup of the coolest, most eye-popping technologies from the innovators themselves.

Click here to find out what else is on the Summit agenda

2. Deep dives into a wide range of topics

Content covers the gamut of issues relevant to startup tech investing. From keynotes to workshops and breakouts to tutorials, attendees learn and get inspired.

“Hacked Cars, Stolen Identities, and Short-Circuited Pacemakers: Cybersecurity in a Connected World,” in which professionals from five key sectors will present on tech defenses that could make the difference between prosperity and failure, life and death.
The Great Tech Debates: Designer Babies, Big Brother, and the New Plagues,”where three pairs of experts will face off on the biggest issues of today. You do not want to miss this one!

3. Passion and expertise are our only criteria for speakers

[Read more…]

What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (December 2015)

December 22, 2015 by Dani Forman

Happy holidays and welcome to December’s edition of What We’re Investing In. By the end of 2015, there will be over 85 companies in the OurCrowd portfolio. In one month from today, we’ll kick off our 2^nd annual Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem to discuss future investment and tech trends while reviewing the incredible innovation we’ve seen in the last year. Register here; we hope to see you!

Here is a summary of all of the currently funding companies on the OurCrowd platform.

Smart Agricultural Irrigation

The Internet of Things is one of the most popular startup trends whose simple goal is to connect ordinary “things” to the internet. This company takes the mostly un-technological process of farm irrigation and streamlines it through an intuitive mobile application. The app instructs farmers to deploy sensors throughout their field, which then continuously analyze the surrounding soil and its specific needs. The information collected is transmitted to the farming equipment, automatically populating it with the optimal inputs. Aside from the farmer’s valuable time, this technology can save up to 25% of the extra water typically used to irrigate fields, dramatically cutting costs and increasing margins.

Digital Vaccine for Diabetes

There are 21.9 million diabetics in the United States alone. In 2014, 11% of healthcare expenditure on adults was attributed to costs relating to diabetes. In order to begin to solve the diabetes epidemic, this company has decided to focus on an even larger population of individuals classified as “pre-diabetic.” Using an accurate prediction engine, the company can assess individualized diabetes risk and conversion time horizon. The prescription only mobile application also includes a behavioral modification engine, which acts as a digital health coach. These small lifestyle changes suggested by the app have been proven to show drastic results in decreasing the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.

Cooling Commercial Buildings with Submarine Technology

Commercial buildings spend a huge amount of resources to maintain safe carbon dioxide levels. Traditionally, buildings replaced indoor air with fresh, outdoor air, a process that consumes a huge amount of energy and represents a large portion of a building’s overall energy costs. This company uses a proprietary technology to eliminate CO2 by recycling the air in a building instead of replacing it with air from outside. This revolutionary approach can save buildings up to 40% annually on their heating and cooling energy costs. The technology used in these systems were originally developed to maintain air quality in submarines and space stations.

Bringing Brick and Mortar Grocers Online

One of the latest brick and mortar business to move online is supermarkets. Huge retailers have been losing their once-loyal customers to intermediary brands like Instacart and Fresh Direct. The thesis of this company is simple. Empower brick and mortar grocers to keep their customers even as they migrate online. This turnkey solution provides a full-fledged online shopping experience with on-demand grocery delivery and pickup.

Next Steps

OurCrowd is a better way to invest in Israeli and global startups.

To find out more about these investment opportunities and others on our investment platform, contact our Investor Relations team or visit our website.

Dani Forman

Marketing Manager & Research Analyst

Dani is a marketing manager and research analyst at OurCrowd. He studied economics and political science at Bar Ilan University.

What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (November 2015)

November 19, 2015 by Dani Forman

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 spots in various major Indian cities, unlock the car with their phone, and drive away. The company launched with seven cars in 2013 and now owns a fleet of over 1,800 cars.

Turning the average employee into a data analyst ninja

OurCrowd is investing in a leading business intelligence software company that removes the dependency and need for expensive data scientists. Large organizations are looking to leverage the ever increasing amount of collected data to gain a competitive edge. Because the current process of translating data into coherent insights is so IT driven, companies end up waiting a long time for information that will help them make informed business decisions.

This company allows any member of a company to process data without a line of code and in a matter of minutes. The platform is extremely cost efficient, eliminating the need for consulting data scientists, and providing instant insights that can lead to more immediate ROI.

Leveraging underutilized computer memory for secure data storage

Israel has become renowned for its thought leadership in most of the major industries being innovated today. Data storage is one particular area that Israeli entrepreneurs have excelled in.

OurCrowd is investing in an Israeli storage company addressing the multi-billion dollar, on-premise storage market. While there are tons of companies focused on cloud-based solutions, this company is utilizing available memory on computers throughout a company’s network to store both structured and unstructured data. This approach has two unique advantages over existing solutions. Firstly, because the data is being stored on a company’s in-house computers, the need to invest in data storage hardware is essentially eliminated. Secondly, spreading encrypted data throughout thousands of company computers eliminates the cyber security risks associated with cloud-based solutions.

Free-dimensional video tech for improved sports viewing

For all the sports fans out there, this one’s for you. Imagine watching a football game and being able to see the field from the point of view of the quarterback, as he dissects the defense, scheming to craft the perfect play. By installing ultra HD stationary cameras around a stadium, this company is able to capture any moment in 3D, providing a qualitatively better viewing experience for the spectator. Instead of watching one replay from 5 different angles, you can get one 360° reenactment of the given moment. This technology has applications in multiple markets, such as coaching and analysis, broadcasting, and virtual reality.

Next Steps

OurCrowd is a better way to invest in Israeli and global startups.

To find out more about these investment opportunities and others on our investment platform, contact our Investor Relations team or visit our website.

Dani Forman

Marketing Manager & Research Analyst

Dani is a marketing manager and research analyst at OurCrowd. He studied economics and political science at Bar Ilan University.

What We’re Investing In: Current Investment Opportunities on OurCrowd (June 2015)

June 16, 2015 by Dani Forman

Venture capital activity dropped in the first quarter of 2015. For the first time since 2011, under 900 deals received funding from venture capital firms.

Equity crowdfunding, on the other hand, continues to see a steady, impressive rise in dollars invested. According to Crowdnetic’s Eric Smith, the young equity crowdfundung market is poised to double every year, as more and more individual investors learn about the opportunity.

This June at OurCrowd, in addition to launching three new investment opportunities, we also launched our first early-stage fund. Check out highlights of all the currently funding OurCrowd companies in this month’s edition of “What We’re Investing In.”

OurCrowd First

Finding promising early stage investment opportunities is an art. To find the right companies, the OurCrowd investment team sifts through upwards of 150 startups per month. Often, due to the size of the round or the maturity of the company, they are forced to pass on great, early stage opportunities.

To address this, for the first time on the OurCrowd platform, we are offering an opportunity to invest in a fund composed of early stage startup companies. The fund will make 20+ investments, ranging between $300K and $500K.

The fund model has numerous benefits over investment in individual companies. Investing in a fund allows investors to build a robust, diverse portfolio with one single commitment. Returns are also based on the performance of the entire fund, which greatly increases your chances of profitability.

OurCrowd First is being managed by serial entrepreneurs Eduardo Shoval and Yori Nelken. Both Eduardo and Yori have exited numerous companies and have served as mentors, coaches, and board members of startup companies.

Click here to learn more about OurCrowd First

Influitive

Influitive is the leading B2B advocate marketing software that enables companies to mobilize their advocates into brand ambassadors. Customer advocacy is by no means a new phenomenon. Satisfied customers are usually happy to share your product or service with a friend, with no real incentive. The Influitive solution allows companies to both encourage advocacy, and reward individuals for their efforts. The platform is gamified and points accrued can be used for rewards and preferential treatment with the company running the advocate hub.

Influitive is a company we know well. We’re not just investors, we’re also paying customers. OurCrowd has been using Influitive internally for the past few months to power employee advocacy and we are in the process of sending out our first batch of invites to members of our investor community. We were so impressed with the product and the overall opportunity that we aggressively pursued an investment in this round.

This is CEO and founder Mark Organ’s second venture in the marketing software space. Eloqua, his previous company was sold to Oracle for $871M.

Click here to learn more about Influitive.

Stringify

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the hottest startup segments in the tech world today. There are currently an estimated 14 billion connected devices globally, translating into billions of dollars of revenue for IoT companies. Stringify, formerly known as Milla, is quickly becoming the marketplace for developers and consumers to connect internet enabled devices on any operating system.

The Stringify design studio allows individuals with no technical background to customize how their smart devices interact with each other. An example flow using Stringify would be, “At 8PM when I close the door to my bedroom, dim the lights, lower the temperature by 5%, and play calming music.” These flows are saved in Stringify’s marketplace and can be purchased by other smart device enthusiasts.

Stringify’s impressive management team brings years of experience from companies such as Cisco, JPMorgan Chase, and SanDisk. OurCrowd first invested in Stringify in October 2014.

Click here to learn more about Stringify.

HeroX

Today, anything from weddings, to charities, to life-changing technologies, any project can be crowdfunded. HeroX, an incentive-prize competition platform is doing the exact opposite of crowdfunding. Since the early 1900’s, people have been hosting competitions to inspire innovation. In 1919, Raymond Orteig, a New York based hotel owner offered $25K to the first person who created an airplane that could fly from New York to Paris directly. 8 years later, Charles Lindbergh claimed the prize in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis. Research shows that a well structured competition with the proper incentives can encourage teams to invest 10X the prize amount to declare victory over competing teams.

Peter Diamandis, co-founder and director of HeroX, is also the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, one of the original incentive competition platforms. Peter and fellow HeroX co-founder Emily Fowler, who also worked at XPRIZE, realized that they were passing up on great organizations who were too small to host competitions with the XPRIZE. That realization gave birth to HeroX, an online platform capable of hosting smaller scale, yet equally as important prize based competitions.

HeroX’s platform assists challenge hosts with challenge designs, project management, marketing, and recruiting trained judges to manage scoring and award winning.

Click here to learn more about HeroX.

Next Steps

OurCrowd is a better way to invest in Israeli and global startups.

To find out more about these investment opportunities and others on our investment platform, click here.

Dani Forman

Marketing Manager & Research Analyst

Dani is a marketing manager and research analyst at OurCrowd. He studied economics and political science at Bar Ilan University.

Want to learn more about investing in startups?

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What We’re Investing In: Current investment opportunities on OurCrowd (April 2015)

April 29, 2015 by Dani Forman

Diversification is one of the most basic and important principals of investing. This April, we launched a broad range of companies across a multitude of industries on OurCrowd’s platform. These span from cutting-edge brain technology to the world’s first meter-dosed medical cannabis inhaler. For more information on all of our currently funding companies, visit the site and click the “Browse Startups” tab.

Below, read about five of the companies we’re investing in this April on OurCrowd; for an under-the-radar investment, log in on www.ourcrowd.com.

Syqe Medical

Syqe Medical is the world’s first meter-dosed, medical cannabis inhaler. Today, doctors have no way to measure the intake of prescription cannabis to patients, which directly impacts the affectivity of the prescription. Syqe is getting in at the ground floor of what is projected to be an $11B legal cannabis market in the US alone. Perry Davidson, founder and CEO of Syqe, has over 9 years of experience in controlled substance regulation and state implementation in Israel.

Click here to learn more about Syqe

ElMindA

Over 2 billion people worldwide live with some form of a brain-related disorder. Early intervention and a better understanding of how the brain functions are critical to addressing this problem. ElMindA developed an FDA and CE-approved, next-generation mapping tool for visualizing the brain’s neural activity. The solution uses a 64 electrode wearable cap to measure neural activity associated with cognitive function, allowing for insights unparalleled by existing brain imaging and evaluation tools. The company has shown impressive early traction, partnering with major US professional sports teams, and is backed by an impressive roster of investors.

Click here to learn more about ElMindA

Scalabill.it

A huge pain point for software startups today is trying to manage and match proof-of-concept pilots with potential institutional customers. Pilots are costly, time consuming and require special integration with each partner for every single pilot. Scalabill.it is streamlining and securing this process, with plans to become a marketplace for major corporations and technology startups. The Scalabill.it solution requires a one-time integration, which allows them to conduct multiple, simultaneous pilots. Scalabill.it is led by Toby Olshanetsky and Alexey Sapozhnikov, serial entrepreneurs who, between them, are responsible for five exits.

Click here to learn more about Scalabill.it

MyAgentFinder

MyAgentFinder (MAF) is a San Diego-based startup that provides high-quality leads for real estate professionals. According to a recent Goldman Sachs report, nearly 90% of real estate buyers and sellers use an agent, equating to an estimated $52B in commissions. MAF’s unique lead generation platform and business model will help deliver higher quality leads and maximize ROI for agents. Founders and brothers David and Avi Tal are both serial entrepreneurs with extensive experience in the real estate sector.

Click here to learn more about MyAgentFinder.

Stealth Mode: Mobile advertising using contextual targeting

Real time ad bidding closely resembles a stock market trading floor, much like one you may have seen in movies like the Boiler Room or Wolf of Wall Street. Companies spend billions of dollars annually using a “spray and pray” method of advertising, trying to hit the right person, with the right ad, at the right time. Serving ads has become even more difficult with the recent yet dramatic move to mobile. Experts project that mobile advertising spend could reach $73B by 2018. One of our latest investments on the OurCrowd platform developed a cutting edge mobile advertising platform that has the ability to deliver precise ads based on real life contextual data. By analyzing billions of data points and machine learning, this company can highly target relevant, potential customers.

Next Steps

OurCrowd is a better way to invest in Israeli and global startups. To find out more about these investment opportunities and others on our investment platform, click here.

Dani Forman

Marketing Manager & Research Analyst

Dani is a marketing manager and research analyst at OurCrowd. He studied economics and political science at Bar Ilan University.

Want to learn more about investing in startups?

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What We’re Investing In: Current Investment Opportunities on OurCrowd (March 2015)

March 8, 2015 by Dani Forman

March is a busy month at OurCrowd: In addition to the new, exciting investment opportunities on the platform, our team has been traveling the world hosting events for the global OurCrowd community. Check out our blog to see the full events calendar and join us on the road in a city near you.

With that, here is a summary of all the currently funding companies on OurCrowd:

XpresSpa – The leading airport spa chain

The frequent-flyers out there should recognize this brand. XpresSpa is the leading airport spa chain, with over 40 locations worldwide. The XpresSpa kiosks are visited by over 1 million passengers every year, who enjoy a wide range of spa services such as massages, manicures, skin treatments and haircuts.

Airport concessions in general are an $8B market that is growing at a rapid pace of 5% annually. XpresSpa plans on capitalizing in this market from two separate revenue streams, consisting of spa treatments and the sales of retail products.

We are investing in XpresSpa alongside veteran retail investor and CEO of Mistral Equity Partners Andy Heyer.

Learn more about our investment in XpresSpa.

Global Kinetics –Wearable sensor for tracking Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s Disease affects over 1 million people in the US alone, costing the economy over $25B annually. Global Kinetics developed a wearable device that provides neurologists and practitioners with real time data on their patient’s symptoms. Their device, the Parkinson’s KinetiGraph (PKG), is a combined data logger and cloud-based software program that can log up to 10 days worth of activity from each individual patient.

So far, Global Kinetics’ device has been approved by the regulatory bodies in the US, Europe, Australia and many Asia-Pacific countries. Andrew Maxwell, Global Kinetics CEO and founder has over 25 years of successful entrepreneurial experience in Australia and Asia.

Learn more about our investment in Global Kinetics.

CrediFi – Bloomberg for commercial real estate

CrediFi is a Bloomberg-like platform for the multi-trillion dollar commercial real estate (CRE) markets. Currently, investors looking to invest in real estate do not have a transparent database that can help them assess risk and make more informed investment decisions.

Using their own proprietary algorithms, CrediFi aggregates data from information on the Internet, public records, and institutional reports. The platform is designed to serve players across the CRE ecosystem, such as banks, private equity funds, property owners, and tenants.

CEO and founder of CrediFi, Ely Razin, is a seasoned financial data executive who sold his last company to Thomson Reuters. We are joined in this round of investment by another large VC as well as several strategic angel investors.

Learn more about our investment in CrediFi.

Bat Blue – Cloud-based cyber security solution

Last year, the number of global cyber attacks increased by 48%, driving the annual expenditure on cyber security to grow to over $70B. Bat Blue is addressing this global crisis with a cloud-based platform that provides comprehensive protection for clients across all computers, mobile devices and remote access points.

Using cloud-based cyber security software gives clients multiple advantages over current enterprise solutions, including increased reliability and the capacity to scale the software on demand.

Bat Blue’s customer roster includes household names like ESPN, Disney, Tumblr and NYSE. Babak Pasdar, CEO and founder of Bat Blue, recently published this video explaining how Bat Blue’s proprietary solution could have protected Target and Home Depot against their recent data breaches.

Learn more about our investment in Bat Blue.

Next Steps

OurCrowd is a better way to invest in Israeli and global startups. To find out more about these investment opportunities and others on our investment platform, click here.

Dani Forman

Marketing Manager & Research Analyst

Dani is a marketing manager and research analyst at OurCrowd. He studied economics and political science at Bar Ilan University.

Anthony DeChellis Appointed President of OurCrowd

February 17, 2015 by OurCrowd

Boom.

We are very happy to announce today that Anthony DeChellis, former CEO of Private Banking Americas at Credit Suisse, has
joined us as the President of OurCrowd, operating out of the firm’s New York office. Prior to Credit Suisse, DeChellis was head of Private Wealth Management at UBS and ran Private Banking in Europe for Merrill Lynch.

“Anthony DeChellis has joined OurCrowd because equity crowdfunding has become a major force in disrupting the future of capital markets,” said OurCrowd CEO, Jon Medved. “Crowdfunding is now competing with traditional sources of capital by delivering more efficient investment flows driven by transparent and collaborative processes. DeChellis, who ran wealth management businesses at three of the world’s largest banks, now brings to OurCrowd his critical global perspective and proven industry leadership.”

Anthony DeChellis commented, “I am pleased to be joining the equity crowdfunding market leader OurCrowd, which is bringing capital to entrepreneurs with ground breaking efficiency. OurCrowd has opened up opportunities for investors who were previously shut out of this alternative asset class. Broadening the VC investor community should serve to not only democratize wealth creation opportunities, but also enhance the probability of success for those companies who engage and fund through ‘the crowd.’”

Largest Equity Crowdfunding Round in History

February 12, 2015 by Leah Stern

Today was a monumental day at OurCrowd, as we announced the closing of the largest equity crowd funding round in history. OurCrowd led a $19.5M Series E funding round for Borro, the UK-NY based, asset-backed online lender. Other investors included Rocket Internet AG (RKET), Canaan Partners and Augmentum Capital. OurCrowd alone raised $6M of the capital invested, making this the single largest equity crowdfunding round ever completed and demonstrates how equity crowdfunding can complement and even lead traditional funding sources, like venture capital.

“In under two years, OurCrowd went from participating in early seed rounds to now successfully leading a $19.5M dollar major funding round together with Tier 1 VCs such as Canaan and the renowned internet company, Rocket,” said OurCrowd Founder and CEO, Jon Medved. We are delighted to be investing in quality companies like Borro, which is redefining the Fintech industry.”

Launched in the UK in 2009 and in the US in 2012, Borro has defined a new category of online personal asset-based lending. Borro focuses on providing liquidity to individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners who use luxury personal assets such as watches, jewelry, supercars, fine art, antiques and high-end handbags as collateral for short term loans.

Borro was recently ranked #8 right behind Lending Club (NYSE: LC) #6 and OnDeck #7 (NYSE: ONDK) in KPMG’s 50 Best Fintech Innovators Report. OurCrowd ranked #22 on the list. Borro is backed by a consortium of high caliber VC investors with significant expertise in online finance. Investing alongside OurCrowd is Rocket Internet AG, a German internet company based in Berlin that builds online startups and owns share of various internet companies including Foodpanda/Hellofood, Home24, Jabong, Jumia and Lamoda. Other Borro investors include Canaan Partners (investor in Lending Club) and Augmentum Capital (investor in the UK’s top lending marketplace, Zopa). Borro has recruited notable financial industry veterans to its board of directors who bring a significant amount of experience to the company, including Nigel Morris (co-founder Capital One) as Chairman and Paul Grattan (ex-CEO Egg, First Direct.)

Here are two recent news articles on the closed round in the Wall Street Journal and Tech Crunch.

For the full press release click here.