Feb 1 Online: Hear how Israel’s tech economy is coping with war

By simply taking a stand and leading an investment, we encourage insiders and other investors to stand alongside us

ON FEB. 1, OurCrowd will be hosting an expert panel discussion online where we will announce the latest news from The Israel Resilience Fund .

The fund is a pioneering initiative created by OurCrowd, Israel’s most active venture investor, to generate investment for Israeli startups impacted by the war with Hamas and Hezbollah while delivering robust financial returns.

Startup companies, by and large, are not profitable. They need investment in order to grow and reach their goals. But wartime is not always the easiest time to raise this investment. So we created this vehicle to provide a catalyst and the leadership to encourage others who may not be aware of Israel’s track record, which shows that it not only weathers crises like the current one, but emerges strengthened from them.

In December, we announced the fund had raised $13 million in commitments toward its $50 million target within just a few weeks, and made the first 8 investments. The fund has an Advisory Board of prominent global venture investors. OurCrowd is waiving all management fees and carried interest.

More investments will be announced at the event on Feb. 1 , where you will also have an opportunity to hear first hand how Israel’s tech economy is coping with the war.

The speakers include Eran Heffetz, CEO of Bites, who will describe what it’s like to run a tech company in Israel in the current environment. Bites is one of the Israel Resilience Fund’s first investments. Ron Fisher, a Senior Advisor at SoftBank and a member of the fund’s Advisory Board, will also participate, together with Noam Kaiser, a former Partner at Intel Capital, and Jeff Kupietzky, a serial entrepreneur and Operating Partner of the fund.

The strategy of the fund is to create a snowball effect by investing a relatively small amount – we are currently investing $350,000 to $500,000 in each company selected – and using it to leverage an additional 2, 3 or even more millions of dollars of additional capital to assure the 12-month or longer runway that companies need to get through this crisis and eventually raise more money in an easier climate.

By simply taking a stand and leading an investment, we encourage insiders and other investors to stand alongside us, so that our relatively small investment acts as a multiplier, creating a snowball effect that keeps growing.

Matching funds are also being deployed by the government-backed Israel Innovation Authority. It has launched a 400 million shekel ($110 million) fast-track fund, with more rumored to be coming soon, for Israeli startup companies with significant technological assets and short runways who are struggling to raise funds from their existing investors during these challenging times.

Join us on Feb. 1 to find out more and gain a better understanding of Israel’s remarkably resilient tech sector.

Click HERE to register.

About ‘Investors on the Frontlines’

I’m the CEO and Founder of OurCrowd , the global equity investment platform that gives individual accredited investors access to private market startup deals alongside top-tier VCs. If you are an investor, private family office or financial advisor, subscribe here for my biweekly commentary or follow me on Twitter . I welcome your comments in the response section below.