From Startups to Sightseeing: My Adventures at the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit

Wow, I can't believe it's been three weeks since the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem, Israel, and I'm still buzzing with excitement! It was a hectic and fast-paced week, but it was definitely worth it. The summit was a great opportunity to gain knowledge about cutting edge tech innovation and expand my network.?

During the two full days of high-impact sessions, I learned so much about global trends in technology, sustainability, and investment:

AI is King: One key takeaway was that the next era of technology advancement is already here, with #AI at the forefront. Corporates and VCs are already investing huge amounts of capital into the sector, and Microsoft and Google are battling it out for consumer attention on how we use the internet going forward.

Never waste a crisis: The global macro conditions have slowed funding and impacted valuations, but this can also create new opportunities for investment. In fact, I witnessed how earnest founders and investors were to collaborate on disruptive and impactful startups.

The Abraham Accords also came up as a topic of discussion, and it was great to see how it helps drive innovation and support sustainable investment opportunities between Israel and the Gulf states. Attendees from the Middle East were present at the OurCrowd summit for the first time in history, which was truly remarkable.

What do Fauda and Finance have in common? I was also looking forward to speaking on a panel with Lior Raz, the creator, writer, and actor of the Netflix series Fauda. Unfortunately, due to a change in format, I didn't get the chance to meet him. But his presentation got me thinking about the qualities of successful founders: grit and resilience in the beginning, pitching many ideas to raise money, assembling a talented team to deliver outcomes, and iterating four (maybe five?) times.

Ultimately, what really stood out to me was the 1-to-many and 1-to-1 meetings at the Summit, which exponentially increased the chances of meeting a potential investor or investee from all over the world within a short span of 48 hours. It was amazing to exchange contacts and investment strategies with like-minded individuals from the US, Israel, Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

Of course, it wasn't all work and no play. The OurCrowd event also allowed conference attendees to sample the technology startup scene as well as the beautiful sights in and around Jerusalem. We went on tech tours to visit and meet Israel startups dishing out cutting-edge technologies and some of these companies also exhibited at the Summit. Enovid, a spray developed in Canada by SaNOtize and manufactured in Israel has been found to reduce viral loads in confirmed COVID-19 cases by 95% in 24 hours and 99% in 72 hours.

There were also other side gigs that included visits to historic sites where we gained a geopolitical understanding of about 5000 years of human culture. It was a very humbling experience. And what's a tech conference without fun? The Summit also invited a stand-up comedy show about cultural differences in the hi-tech world when an Israeli entrepreneur tries to sell his various business ideas in America.

After the conclusion of the main summit event, I managed to wind down with a day out in the outskirts of Jerusalem. I visited the beautiful mountain areas of Judean Hills where I appreciated the history of Israel winemaking and how kosher wine is made. It was interesting to learn that the entire winemaking process from crushing to bottling must be handled by Sabbath-observant Jews and no non-kosher finings or additives may be included.

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Overall, the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit was an enriching experience for me. I even had the opportunity to speak on-stage and interact with a larger group of attendees. I am definitely making plans to attend the next OurCrowd Summit. Who knows what exciting opportunities and experiences will be in store?

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Thank you, Jonathan Medved , Andrew (Andy) Kaye, Josh Wolff , Denes Ban , Or Alon and many more at OurCrowd for having me!