Israel’s OurCrowd Appoints Audrey Jacobs as VP Investor Relations / Americas, Opens US Office
Fast growing hybrid VC-Crowdfunding platform, steps up US activities: Comes after OurCrowd completes investment rounds for first two US companies
Jerusalem, Israel – March 13, 2013 – OurCrowd (www.OurCrowd.com) announced today that it has appointed Audrey Jacobs as VP Investor Relations/Americas, in order to further develop its fast growing community of US and other Western Hemisphere accredited investors. Ms. Jacobs, the first US based employee of OurCrowd, has 20 years of experience in investor relations and Israel advocacy. Audrey was most recently the Director of StandWithUs/San Diego, a leading global Israel advocacy organization. At StandWithUs, Audrey built a vibrant community of thousands of passionate supporters of Israel that also included many venture capitalists, CEO’s and angel investors.
Jeff Belk, managing director of ICT168 Capital, LLC and a prominent San Diego-based angel investor/advisor said, “Audrey is a phenomenal communicator and has the energy of five people; she will be a powerful voice for OurCrowd and investments in Israeli startups.”
Audrey Jacobs will build the growing community of accredited investors who are using OurCrowd to identify, research and invest in scores of Israel’s leading startups. Audrey commented, “I am thrilled to join the dynamic and experienced OurCrowd team. I’ve seen what they’ve built in a short time and can’t wait to help grow this tremendous platform. Investing with OurCrowd is a great way to support, engage and invest in Israel. I look forward to spreading this message.”
Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd said, “Having worked with Audrey in the past I can confirm that she’s a force of nature. She is charismatic and passionate and we are looking forward to having someone of her caliber maintaining close contact with our investors from an American base.”
Steve Blumgart, OurCrowd’s Chairman, said, “One of Audrey’s first projects will be organizing a series of face to face meet-ups with our investor base, so OurCrowd members can meet our team and companies. We want to strengthen our community so as to develop our business not just as an investment and funding platform, but to provide critical support and business development assistance to our growing portfolio of early stage companies.”
Audrey will be opening the first OurCrowd office in San Diego, California. San Diego has an exciting community of tech companies and investors and has also become a hub for Israel-US startup collaboration. The University of California, San Diego has recently opened the first US-Israel Center for Innovation and Economic Sustainability as part of its Rady School of Management. Jon Medved commented, “We are delighted with the warm welcome we’re getting in San Diego, where we hope to put down serious roots as we further build our footprint widely across the US, Canada and Latin America.”
About OurCrowd
OurCrowd is a hybrid venture capital / Crowdfunding platform only for accredited investors who wish to invest in Israeli startups. Managed by a team of well-known investment professionals led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings these opportunities to its membership. Members choose those deals they wish to invest in via OurCrowd-managed partnerships. OurCrowd investors must meet stringent accreditation criteria and invest a minimum of $10,000 per deal. OurCrowd provides post investment support to its portfolio companies, assigning industry experts as mentors and taking Board seats. For more information, please visit our blog on OurCrowd.
