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OURCROWD FIRST NAMED ISRAEL’S MOST ACTIVE MICRO VC FUND
IVC-APM Report recognizes OurCrowd seed fund’s strong start in 2015
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Tel Aviv / Jerusalem, Israel. February 10, 2016: OurCrowd First, OurCrowd’s seed fund for investing in early-stage Israeli and global ventures, has been named Israel’s most active micro venture capital fund in 2015, according to the latest IVC-APM report by the IVC Research Center and APM & Co. Law Firm.
The report analyzed the most active venture capital funds according to the number of early stage investments made in Israeli companies during 2015. OurCrowd First topped the list with seven first investments from its 2015 $10M fund. To date, OurCrowd First has built a highly diversified portfolio of 10 carefully vetted early-stage companies.
“We are delighted that OurCrowd First has, in its first year of operation, become the most active micro VC in Israel,” said OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved. “This highlights our commitment to providing seed capital to the growing cohort of Israeli entrepreneurs.”
“We are seeing an unprecedented number of high quality seed investment opportunities in Israel,” said Yori Nelken, General Partner at OurCrowd First. “I have been active as an entrepreneur and investor here for the last 20+ years and am impressed not only with the sheer number of companies, but also the high quality of companies and teams approaching us for funding.”
OurCrowd First invests up to $500K in seed and Pre-A investments in high-growth sectors including the Internet of Things, industrial energy, mobile, augmented reality, 3D printing, and medical big data. These investments are generally made alongside major investors including Artis Ventures (YouTube), Khosla Ventures, Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce) and BRM Group (Checkpoint).
OurCrowd First’s Portfolio:
- Invertex: Pioneering customized 3D scanning technology and leading the way to consumer-based, instant product creation.
- CAPESTER: The first and only video authentication platform that empowers you to right everyday wrongs.
- MPIRICA: Provides patients and self-insured employers with a simple and trustworthy measure of medical quality.
- Missbeez: This app brings beauty specialists to the door of the busy modern woman.
- Turbulent Energy: Patented technology for increased efficiency and dramatic emissions reduction for combustion of fuel oil or natural gas.
- Zebra: Teaching computers to read medical imaging files, one algorithm at a time.
- Stringify: The app connects physical and digital ‘things’ to help automate devices in the world of Internet of Things.
- Rimoto: App providers keep users connected while they travel by providing them with specific, free data streaming connectivity to their own apps.
- PushApps: Enriched push notifications with content recommendations, images and cross-sells, personalized and relevant to message context.
- TechSee: Patent pending visual support technology leverages mobile, machine vision, deep learning and augmented reality to transform the technical support experience.
OurCrowd First prides itself on providing mentorship and assistance to companies both at the board of director’s level, as well as helping to raise additional funding.
“Since engaging with OurCrowd First, we have established deep partnerships,” said Eitan Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of TechSee. “OurCrowd First is well beyond just funds. It’s like having an extension of our own management team providing strategic advantages, including support at the board level, introducing high-level customers, helping with key hires and providing assistance with the fund raising process for additional rounds.”
About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is one of the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platforms for accredited investors to invest in Israeli and global companies. Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings startups to its accredited membership of 11,000 global investors. OurCrowd investors must meet stringent accreditation criteria and invest a minimum of $10,000 per deal of their choice. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigning industry experts as mentors and taking board seats. OurCrowd has raised over $200M in equity crowdfunding for its 93 portfolio companies, which include leading companies, such as mPrest, enVerid, Surgical Theater, Borro, Zebra, Consumer Physics (SCiO), BioCatch, and ReWalk, OurCrowd’s first portfolio company to complete a successful IPO on the NASDAQ. Visit us online at: www.OurCrowd.com and www.OurCrowdFirst.com
Media Contact:
Leah Stern +972.54.341.4861 / UK: +44.7470.196.826 / leah@ourcrowd.com
