Aramco selects Groq chips for world’s largest AI data center + Invest in incubator startups
A weekly selection of news and investment opportunities from OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform
Deal of the Week
OurCrowd Incubators: Access to early-stage startups backed by government funding
Since OurCrowd was founded over a decade ago, we have made a clear effort to back incubators which nurture a plethora of startups across many sectors. Today, OurCrowd is the leading investor in Israeli incubators and has expanded to the international incubator market. OurCrowd currently co-owns six incubators, five in Israel and one in New Zealand, which combined, have 70 portfolio companies operating across sectors. An additional incubator, based in Uruguay, is due to begin operations by the end of 2024. Each incubator company receives up to 75-85% in non-dilutive government funding, in the form of a “conditional loan” with the government not receiving any equity. The equity purchased with government funding goes to the incubator owners, such that OurCrowd receives up to 85% leverage on its investment dollars in Israeli companies funded through the incubators. For the first time, OurCrowd is offering all its investors a chance to claim a stake in its existing and future incubator portfolio. Additional information on this unique opportunity is available under NDA.??
Saudi Aramco selects Groq chips for world’s largest AI data center
Oil giant Aramco will finance the construction of the world’s largest AI inferencing data center in Saudi Arabia, powered by chips from Groq , an OurCrowd portfolio company. Aramco and Groq plan for it to become a hub for companies running AI systems across the Middle East, Africa and India, Matthew Martin reports for Bloomberg . The facility will be based on Groq’s LPU AI inference technology which delivers fast, affordable, and energy efficient AI. The LPU and related technologies are designed, manufactured, and assembled in North America. The Saudi center, funded by Aramco “in the order of nine figures,” will open this year with 19K Groq LPUs with plans to extend to 200K units, says Groq CEO Jonathan Ross. Aramco is “planning to do massive capital deployments for this, and it is a way to help diversify the economy away from oil,” Ross says. “This initiative not only aims to create the largest facility of its kind but also ensures seamless access to advanced AI computing power for everyone,” says Tareq Amin, CEO of Aramco Digital. Aramco’s decision to use Groq chips for this major project firmly establishes the startup as a competitor to NVIDIA, which currently dominates the global AI chip market.
CropX acquires EnGeniousAg for nitrogen sensing technology
CropX made its sixth acquisition with the purchase of EnGeniousAg , developers of nitrogen sensing technology for plants, water, and soils. The addition of EnGeniousAg’s tech to the CropX cloud-based digital agriculture platform will “enable a new level of precision in nitrogen fertilizer management to reduce farm input costs and boost sustainable operations,” the OurCrowd portfolio company says. CropX serves more than 3,000 customers in 70 countries, helping farmers reduce water usage by up to 50%, cut chemical fertilizers by 20%, increase yields by 20% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13%. Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the largest expenses in global agriculture, costing farmers billions of dollars each year while substantially increasing greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leakage to watersheds and aquifers. “Acquiring this nitrogen sensor technology underscores CropX's commitment to providing farmers with one-stop-shop agronomic solutions,” says Tomer Tzach, CEO of CropX. “Nitrogen management is a critical, unsolved challenge of modern farming.” CropX is now funding on the OurCrowd platform. Click below for more information.
OurCrowd AI lifts the veil on private market investing
“In early July, I traveled to Abu Dhabi to host a live demo of Danna, our new AI copilot for private marketing investing,” writes OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved . “Developed by Integrated Data Intelligence , the OurCrowd AI subsidiary led by my colleague Dr. Hasanat Dewan and based at the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Danna is set to disrupt the private investment landscape by collecting vast amounts of data and utilizing AI to structure, aggregate, learn, and validate usable information and insights at massive, automated scale. The result is a platform that professional investors can use to analyze individual private companies, predict their growth trajectory, future valuation, market success and exit potential, and generate gold standard investment memos covering company-level details alongside information about the relevant market, sector, technology and competition. In July, we illustrated its capabilities by displaying its findings on Wiz, an Israeli cloud security company that was an unlikely candidate for an exit since it had raised $965M at a valuation of $12B barely weeks before. However, Danna’s dashboard suggested that Wiz was likely to be an exit target at an even higher valuation. My audience was somewhat bemused. Days later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google had offered $23B to acquire the company. That’s when my phone started ringing.” Read more in Jon’s ‘Investors on the Frontlines ’ column.
US Navy, DoD, pledge $12.5M to Ursa Major for 3D-printed rocket motors
Ursa Major , an OurCrowd startup that produces rocket motors through 3D printing, signed a $12.5M contract with the US Navy and Department of Defense Office of Strategic Capital to develop new solid-fuel rocket engines, Margaux MacColl reports for TechCrunch . The company, which has raised $274M according to PitchBook, will match the funding, bringing the money allocated for the effort to $25M. Today, only a couple of defense companies can produce solid rocket motors – a major problem now that the war in Ukraine has stretched the US supply chain. The motors that need replacing “will take anywhere between five and 18 years at the current rate of production,” says Bill Murray, Ursa Major’s Chief Product Officer. “It really boils down to relying on outdated production techniques.”
BlueScope Steel signs green iron deal with Helios
The venture arm of Australia's BlueScope Steel signed a preliminary agreement with Israel-based OurCrowd portfolio company Helios Project to trial its green iron, which is produced with clean energy rather than coal, from 2026, Melanie Burton reports for Reuters . Helios has developed a way to produce iron and other metals using sodium as a reducing agent that requires less energy than conventional methods and produces no direct carbon emissions, only oxygen. The steel industry currently accounts for some 10% of global emissions. “Decarbonizing the steel industry is an incredible challenge and we are thrilled to collaborate with companies like Helios that could support us on our journey,” says Andrew Garey, CEO of BlueScopeX, the company’s venture fund.
Beckman Coulter, Scopio Labs add world's first digital bone marrow imaging and analysis
领英推荐
Beckman Coulter, a clinical diagnostics leader, and Scopio Labs , an OurCrowd MedTech pioneer in AI-powered digital imaging and analysis platforms, expanded their long-term partnership to include the global distribution of Scopio’s Full-Field Bone Marrow Aspirate (FF-BMA) Application. Bone marrow aspirate analysis is a vital procedure providing essential information for the assessment of various hematologic diseases. Scopio’s novel technology replaces traditional analysis that uses manual, labor-intensive, time-consuming methods with a fully digital workflow seamlessly integrated with Scopio's CE-marked X100 and X100HT scanners. It also enables hematopathologists to review bone marrow smears remotely. “With Scopio's technology, lab scientists can assess hundreds of cells to evaluate morphological features with the support of artificial intelligence using the world's first BMA digital imaging and analysis solutions,” says Chris Hagen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Core Lab Specialty Products, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics.
Dandelion Geo, world's most efficient geothermal heat pump, expands across US
Dandelion Geo,the heat pump that pushes the boundaries of efficiency and output using proprietary technology, will soon be available across the US . Developed by Dandelion Energy , OurCrowd’s leader in home geothermal heating/cooling systems, the Dandelion Geo has the highest heating efficiency of any heat pump on the market, delivering heat at an unprecedented low cost. In addition, the unit is able to heat air to a higher temperature than other heat pumps, making it compatible with ducts found in existing homes, especially older and larger properties, with exceptionally quiet operation.?
Sheba Medical Center selects Sequentify panel for cancer patient study
Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Israel's largest hospital, will conduct a study to improve cancer patient care through personalized oncology treatment, using the InfiniSeq myeloid malignancies panel developed by OurCrowd portfolio company Sequentify . The study will focus on identifying clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential in patients previously diagnosed with solid tumors. “Our ultimate goal is to deliver better, faster, and more cost-effective results to our patients,” says Dr. Dan Dominissini, Director of the Diagnostic Division at Sheba Medical Center, which was recently ranked #9 among the world’s hospitals by Newsweek.
?
BioLumic CEO: Leveraging ‘A-Ha’ moments to drive AgTech innovation
“In agriculture innovation, timing is everything. It’s crucial to balance the excitement of a breakthrough with strategic patience,” Steve Sibulkin, CEO of OurCrowd portfolio company BioLumic , writes in CropLife . BioLumic uses Light Signal Recipes, specific light treatments to influence plant development and growth, to become not only more valuable but also quicker to deploy. “For startups, agriculture remains one of the toughest industries to disrupt. Innovation isn’t just difficult, it’s notoriously slow. At BioLumic, where we’re developing novel crop traits that activate genetic expression in plants rather than changing the underlying genetics, our operational focus has always been on simplification and scale. The results of our traits have been validated repeatedly, but the commercial challenge of scaling across crops and geographies remains crucial,” Sibulkin says.
Check out all funding opportunities on the OurCrowd platform
?
More than 1,100 high-tech jobs worldwide
Looking for a job? You may find your next adventure with an OurCrowd portfolio company on our?Portfolio Jobs ?page. We have more than 1,100 vacancies at our portfolio companies around the world, seeking skilled staff at all levels from coders to bookkeepers, data scientists to dealmakers. Click on the link and start looking for the next step in your high-tech journey.
?
About this Newsletter
Startup Beat?is a weekly selection of news and investment opportunities from?OurCrowd , the global venture investing platform.
Subscribe now to receive Startup Beat every week.
OurCrowd is a global venture and private market alternatives investing platform. To date we have more than $2.3 billion in commitments, 235,000 registered investors, 460 portfolio companies, 57 venture funds and 65 exits.
Are you interested in investing in privately held startups, funds and exclusive private market alternatives? Join our worldwide community of accredited investors. Register for the OurCrowd platform?HERE .
Nothing contained in and accompanying this communication shall be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation to purchase any security by OurCrowd, its portfolio companies or any third party. Information regarding OurCrowd’s limited partnerships and/or portfolio companies and the investment opportunities on OurCrowd’s website is intended and available for accredited investors only (criteria at?our website ). OurCrowd urges potential investors to consult with licensed legal professionals and investment advisors for any legal, tax, insurance, or investment advice.