- Partnership within the framework of the “Uruguay Innovation Hub” Program
- Plan together to establish Uruguay based Incubator for early stage companies
March 26, 2023 – JERUSALEM, Israel — The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of Uruguay (MIEM) and OurCrowd, Israel’s most active venture investor and a leading operator of Israeli and global incubators are pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate in the potential establishment of a Technology Incubator in Uruguay within the framework of the Uruguay Innovation HUB Program (UIH).
The MOU was signed on Sunday, March 26th, at OurCrowd’s offices in Jerusalem with OurCrowd CEO, Jon Medved, OurCrowd Partner and Head of Incubators, Ori Sobovitz, and Uruguay’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Omar Paganini.
The Uruguay Innovation Hub, seeks to strengthen the country’s position as a technological hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, with the aim of promoting it as a nucleus for the development of new businesses for the region and the world.
“The vocation of our country is to become a hub at the Latin American level,” said Uruguayan President, Mr. Luis Lacalle Pou, at the occasion of the launching of this initiative in November 2022.
The Uruguay Innovation Hub, a semi-private and cross -institutional program, under the umbrella of the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) will support the acceleration of national and international startups, attract investment funds and promote the installation of open laboratories that strengthen the national ecosystem by accessing disruptive technologies.
“We are thrilled to advance tech ties between our two countries and the region overall,” said Uruguay’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Omar Paganini. “Uruguay is ready to take the leap that will make it a regional reference, with a global projection, in the attraction of innovative ventures at different stages. We have a thriving and mature technological ecosystem that serves as the foundation for the development and testing of new products and strengthens our innovative position. In the same sense, the economic, social, institutional and legal stability of the country provides certainty and confidence to attract long-term investment.”
“OurCrowd currently operates five government-backed incubators in Israel and one abroad, which utilize Israel’s renowned technological and academic resources to support early-stage startups,” said Ori Sobovitz, OurCrowd Partner and Head of the incubator programs. “We plan to build on this model in Uruguay, already a regional magnet for innovation, which we view as a springboard to expand across Latin America. We seek to incentivize the private sector, including VC’s, MNC’s, and local conglomerates, to invest in these companies, substantially contributing to the entire ecosystem.”
Israel’s incubators program in the early 1990’s was a key factor in Israel’s transformation into the Startup Nation. Becoming part of an incubator means supporting innovation, job creation, boosting the domestic tech ecosystem and rising to the challenges of the 21st century.
OurCrowd will offer its expertise in running government-backed incubators, as well as leverage the broad, in-depth technological knowledge, professional analyst teams, extensive networks and strategic partners to identify promising early-stage startups that can benefit from the support and guidance in their commercial growth and future funding needs. To date, OurCrowd co-owns five government backed technological incubators in Israel and one government-backed incubator in New Zealand, incubating more than 60 early-stage startups.
About MIEM: The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining is responsible for designing and implementing government policies related to the industrial, energy, mining, telecommunications, audiovisual and postal communication services, industrial property and micro, small and medium businesses. It is also responsible for guiding the transformation and strengthening of the national productive apparatus, its energy matrix and its communications infrastructure, for sustainable and inclusive development, within the framework of regional integration and insertion in a globalized world.
About ANII (Uruguay): The National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) is a government entity that promotes research and the application of new knowledge to the productive and social reality of the country. ANII makes funds available to the public for research projects, national and international postgraduate scholarships and incentive programs for innovative culture and entrepreneurship, both in the private and public sectors. ANII developed the National System of Researchers, a program of economic incentives for national researchers categorized based on a strict evaluation system. He also created the Timbó Portal, which allows free access to all kinds of scientific publications from around the world for all Uruguayans. The ANII works as a mechanism for articulation and coordination between the actors involved in the development of knowledge, research and innovation.
About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is the online global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individual accredited investors to invest and engage in emerging technology companies at an early stage. Acclaimed by PitchBook* and Startup Nation Central as the most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies across all sectors and stages, invests its own capital, and provides its global platform of over 220,000 registered members from 195 countries with unparalleled access and freedom to co-invest from as little as $10,000 in the companies and funds of their choice.
Founded by CEO Jon Medved in 2013 with the vision of democratizing world-class venture capital investing, OurCrowd has grown rapidly into the world’s leading online venture investing platform and as of 2023 has over $2.1B in commitments, and deployed capital into 380 portfolio companies and 42 funds across five continents. To date, OurCrowd’s startups have recorded 61 exits including several public market listings: Beyond Meat (BYND), Lemonade (LMND), Innoviz (INVZ), Hub Security (HUB), Arbe (ARBE), Alpha Tau (DRTS), Freightos (CRGO); and numerous high-profile acquisitions: JUMP by Uber, BriefCam by Canon, Argus by Continental, Crosswise by Oracle, Replay by Intel, Corephotonics by Samsung, CyberX by Microsoft, and Kenna Security by Cisco.
OurCrowd builds value for its portfolio companies throughout their lifecycles, providing mentorship, recruiting industry advisors, navigating follow-on rounds and creating growth opportunities through its network of multinational partnerships.
*Every year since 2013
About OurCrowd Incubators: OurCrowd’s incubators invest in early-stage startups with deep innovative technologies that have a significant market opportunity. Our incubators leverage the broad, in-depth technological knowledge, professional analyst teams, and extensive networks of OurCrowd and its strategic partners to identify promising early-stage startups that can benefit from support and guidance in their commercial growth and future funding needs.
To date, OurCrowd co-owns five government backed technological incubators in Israel and one government backed incubator in New Zealand, incubating more than 60 early-stage startups.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
OurCrowd
Leah Stern
Partner, Global Communications
+44 747 019 6826
leah@ourcrowd.com
MIEM
Álvaro Irigoitía
Director de Comunicación Institucional
+598 92360336
Alvaro.Irigoitia@miem.gub.uy
