Tag: SpaceIL

Finding the space to invest: SpaceIL and Israel’s place in the new space race

Finding the space to invest: SpaceIL and Israel’s place in the new space race

Jun 11, 2014 | ,

OurCrowd launched a new webinar series called ‘Teach-In Tuesdays’. In this series, we’ll explore investing in early-stage Israeli companies, identify and explain influential tech trends, stay up-to-date with the crowdfunding industry, and examine actionable insights from our own experience running OurCrowd’s investment platform. Yesterday, we held a webcast as part of the OurCrowd Teach-In Tuesdays series on SpaceIL’s audacious vision to make history by landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon (on a shoe-string budget). SpaceIL is competing for $20 million as part of the Google LunarX Prize competition to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the space sector. Additional topics covered in the webcast: Why donors (including Sheldon Adelson for $16.4 million) are so passionate about contributing to Israel and SpaceIL The amazing story behind the founding of SpaceIL, crowdsourcing,  and what drives the founders to try and get to the moon How the team is developing a grassroots — volunteer — ecosystem around space travel and what the future looks like for the hundreds of engineers volunteering to make this a reality Featured experts: Yariv Bash, co-founder of SpaceIL. Yariv holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Tel Aviv University. In his spare time,...

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Teach-in Tuesdays: Join us (online) for 2 educational events during June

Teach-in Tuesdays: Join us (online) for 2 educational events during June

Jun 5, 2014 |

Last month we had hundreds of investors from around the world join us for events from our new webinar series called Teach-In Tuesdays. In this series, we explore investing in early-stage Israeli companies, identify and explain influential tech trends, stay up-to-date with the crowdfunding industry, and examine actionable insights from our own experience running OurCrowd’s investment platform. During June, we’re hosting 2 exciting installments of our Teach-In Tuesdays series. Register for them below. Finding the space to invest: SpaceIL and Israel’s place in the new space race Tuesday, June 10th (7:00 PM Israel / 12:00 PM NYC /  9:00 AM San Francisco) Join Zack Miller, Head of the Investor Community at OurCrowd, and Yariv Bash, co-founder of SpaceIL, for a lively discussion about SpaceIL’s audacious vision to make history by landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon (on a shoe-string budget). SpaceIL is competing for $20 million as part of a Google competition to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the space sector. Join us to learn: Why donors (including Sheldon Adelson for $16.4 million) are so passionate about contributing to Israel and SpaceIL The amazing story behind the...

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Shooting for the Moon with SpaceIL

Shooting for the Moon with SpaceIL

Jun 1, 2014 | , , ,

Background: Israelis and Space Since the 1960s, Israelis have actively engaged in researching and exploring space, initially focusing on academic research.  With time, efforts shifted to generate an Israeli space industry, piggybacking on Israel’s technological advantages, culminating with the 1983 establishment of the Israel Space Agency, a subdivision of the already existing Ministry of Science and Technology. In 1988, Israel joined seven other nations with space launch and spacecraft capabilities when it launched its first satellite, Ofeq-1.  Many more satellites have since been launched bringing Israel’s total to thirteen satellites, developing an international reputation through its substantial achievements. The Potential of Space The space industry as a whole, including Israel’s, has greatly contributed to the global economy, and also provides political and strategic advantages to involved nations.  More specifically in the case of Israel, satellite and space technology plays a significant role in its communication and miniaturization innovations.  Space capabilities have also played a role in ensuring Israel’s military and security advantages, which in turn lead to political advantages.  Whether in gathering of valuable information, or the establishment of...

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Beam Me Up, Scotty! The Next Generation of Transportation Technology

Beam Me Up, Scotty! The Next Generation of Transportation Technology

Aug 5, 2013 | , , ,

Is it a bird? A plane? Neither, in fact; it’s the Hyperloop, the soon-to-be-released tube-based transportation system and newest brainchild of Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX. Heralded as the “fifth mode of transportation” – the other four being the train, plane, automobile, and boat – the Hyperloop is expected to traverse the approximately 350 miles between San Fransisco and Los Angeles in 30 minutes, which averages to a speed of 700 miles per hour, just shy of the speed of sound. Can this be done? After spurring disruptive innovation in other industries, has Mr. Musk finally gone Hyperloopy? Or, like Ford with the popular automobile and the Wright brothers with the airplane, will this herald the new method of transportation that will forever change the rhythms of our lives? The Hyperloop is just one example of a larger trend towards the next generation of transportation, a shift that will indelibly change our lives. In this post, I would like to discuss 3 areas of  massive change : the Hyperloop personal space flight innovation for automobiles The...

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