OurCrowd Summit: Israel’s President, UAE, climate, Fauda take center stage
A weekly selection of news and investment opportunities from OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform
OurCrowd Summit: Israel’s President, UAE, Fauda take center stage
The 2023 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem smashed its own records for attendance, content and inspiration, sweeping away any concerns that the current economic and political situation might be a damper. On Summit Day, more than 9,000 investors, entrepreneurs, sponsors and VCs from 81 countries accepted our invitation to learn how startups are taking a big bite out of greenhouse gasses, heard a senior official from Abu Dhabi talk about his personal journey to Jerusalem, and were inspired to witness how one man’s OurCrowd-backed startup saved his young son’s life. The Summit attracted worldwide coverage from the BBC , Reuters , PitchBook , The National , CNBC , Alarabiya , Fintech.TV , FoodNavigator and many more. The next OurCrowd Summit will be held in Jerusalem on February 28, 2024. The Summit featured more than 100 speakers. Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the debate currently raging in Israel over judicial reform and urged the opposing sides to come together and reach a compromise. “I think the same way you see the innovative spirit of the State of Israel, you also see it in this debate and I am very proud of my brothers and sisters,” the President said. In a historic appearance at the head of the largest Emirati delegation ever hosted in Israel, Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi , Acting Director General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, on his first visit to Jerusalem, said ADIO’s office in Israel was helping Israeli startups “seamlessly access the full range of opportunities that Abu Dhabi has to offer.” Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation, which launched a Global Health Equity Fund with OurCrowd, stressed the importance of aligning private capital with public good to address health equity worldwide. Cathie Reid, Director of Arc 31 in Australia, hosted a session on Startups Saving Lives, and describes how “while some aspects of life have changed forever (since last Summit), the incredible pace and energy of the Summit was reassuringly familiar.”
Lior Raz: Funding the future of ‘Fauda’
Lior Raz, the Israeli actor who shot to international fame with the smash hit series?Fauda,?uttered the words that legions of fans worldwide wanted to hear. “We have, hopefully, Fauda 5 very soon,” Raz told a packed audience at the 2023 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit. The global sensation starring Raz, who co-created the series with veteran journalist Avi Issacharoff, broke new ground in its treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by blurring the boundary between victim and victimizer, and giving both sides a human face. Raz was speaking during a panel on New Paths for Alternative Investing at the Summit in Jerusalem, the largest investor gathering in the Middle East which this year attracted nearly 9,000 people. The session examined prospects for private capital investment in entertainment content.
Surgical Theater: Life-saving startup?
OurCrowd’s MedTech startups play an important role in many people’s lives, but none more so than Surgical Theater . President and COO Alon Zuckerman who used his company’s technology, which adapts flight simulator technology to complex medical procedures, to save his son’s life. Itai Zuckerman fell victim to Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that forms from a kind of cell in bone or soft tissue. “Yes, I’m the President of Surgical Theater. But this is not just a job I do. It’s saving lives, my son’s included,” Alon Zuckerman said as he kissed Itai, who burst onto the stage dribbling a soccer ball in what participants hailed as the emotional highlight of Summit. Watch the unforgettable moment here . Surgical Theater is currently funding on the OurCrowd platform.
ThetaRay topples traffickers shipping girls from Ukraine
ThetaRay ’s anti-money laundering platform was instrumental in toppling a human trafficking ring exploiting vulnerable women in Ukraine. After the system detected a pattern of suspicious transactions at a major European bank, it immediately froze the accounts, stopped the payments, and issued a suspicious activity report to local law enforcement. It also provided details culled by ThetaRay including dates, names, and other pinpoint information. Three weeks later the bank’s compliance department received a phone call from Europol and Interpol saying they had identified a criminal ring trafficking underage girls from Ukraine. They issued an order to automatically freeze those accounts and try to stop the payments – weeks after the ThetaRay technology led the bank to do so on its own. “The money was frozen, it didn’t reach the destination. The girls were not shipped. They are still in Ukraine with their parents,” ThetaRay CEO Mark Gazit told the OurCrowd Summit in Jerusalem last week. “This is just one example of how artificial intelligence monitoring financial transactions, and the dedication of financial institutions, by ThetaRay and others, can save lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of underage girls.”
Flash Forest: One million trees in two months
Flash Forest aims to plant millions of trees to combat deforestation by firing its proprietary seed pods from drones, Cameron Jones, the company’s Founder and COO, told the OurCrowd Summit in Jerusalem. “Over the next two months, Flash Forest will plant over one million trees in remote forests in North America,” said Cameron Jones, the company’s Founder and COO. “We are actually going to be breaking some world records for the largest number of trees ever planted by drone, and we are going to redefine how reforestation is done over the next century,” he said as he displayed his company’s technology on the Summit center stage. OurCrowd has an allocation in Flash Forest's current funding round.
Azerbaijan invests $1M in Largix
The Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) is investing $1M in our 3D printing pioneer Largix . The funding is a result of the MOU OurCrowd and AIC signed in July 2022 to invest in leading technologies relevant to the needs of Azerbaijan’s economy. Largix’s giant-format Additive Production System can 3D print room-size objects using common polymers, cutting costs and helping industries overcome the growing shortage of skilled production workers. OurCrowd has an allocation in Largix's current funding round.
Segula Technologies partners with C2A Security?
领英推荐
French automotive engineering giant Segula Technologies will work with our mobility cybersecurity pioneer C2A Security to provide vehicle makers with a new range of cybersecurity services. The platform will enable manufacturers to test their vehicles’ resistance to cyber threats and meet new automotive security regulations and standards.?Segula and C2A will deploy the strategic offering across Segula’s 30 countries of operation, incorporating a full range of cyber risk assessment and remediation analysis solutions. “We have identified at C2A Security a capacity to respond with rigor and agility to the most demanding requests of all the players in the automotive sector, whether they are manufacturers, equipment suppliers or suppliers,” says Emmanuel Ifrah, Israel Director of Segula. C2A Security is currently funding on the OurCrowd platform. Details available under NDA.
IDF rescue hospital in Turkey uses Sight Diagnostics device
The innovative blood test diagnosis device from our portfolio company Sight Diagnostics was used in the Israel Defense Forces field hospital helping victims of the disastrous earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Israel21C reports . The OLO analyzer uses AI algorithms and only needs two drops of blood to perform a complete blood count, delivering test results in just 10 minutes. The fast and accurate diagnosis of survivors can speed up the provision of appropriate medical treatment. The 150+ Israeli medical experts returned to Israel on Wednesday after a week of treating about 470 victims, including 150 children in Turkey, The Times of Israel reports.
NT-Tao to join Israel’s nuclear fusion institute
Alternative energy pioneer?NT-Tao ?will join Israel’s leading universities in forming the national nuclear fusion institute,?Brian Blum reports in Israel21C . The Israel Energy Ministry has pledged $11.5 million for the institute, where the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Technion and Tel Aviv University will work alongside NT-Tao, which is developing a compact system for nuclear fusion. The Israel-based, early-stage startup presented its groundbreaking technology at the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit. NT-Tao recently raised a $22 million Series A round led by Delek US, with participation from OurCrowd investors. The funding will enable NT-Tao to keep expanding its team, expedite prototype developments and build its new research facility.
Norway awards new grant to Wind Catching Systems
Norway’s Ministry of Climate and Environment awarded Wind Catching Systems a second grant for its floating offshore wind technology. Wind Catching Systems is developing a floating wind power plant based on a multi-turbine design. The $900,000 award from ENOVA, the ministry’s alternative energy unit, is intended to help Wind Catching Systems validate the technology and cost estimates for a full-scale Windcatcher system.?“This is the second grant Wind Catching Systems has received from ENOVA. The support from ENOVA is a strong validation of both our technology and our team. We are now fully focused on maturing our technology towards our first offshore installation,” says Ole Heggheim, CEO of Wind Catching Systems, who discussed the company's collaboration with GM Ventures and General Motors at the OurCrowd Summit. In October, the company received a $2.1 million grant from ENOVA to support the design and testing of the wind turbine at the heart of the Windcatcher. ENOVA is promoting the development of technology and innovation to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
MagniLearn AI to teach English to Arabic speakers in East Jerusalem
AI-powered technology from?MagniLearn ?will help teach English as a second language to Arabic speakers in East Jerusalem,?the Jerusalem Post reports . Nurtured at the?Labs02 ?incubator, MagniLearn has developed a “linguistic engine” that is tailored specifically to Arabic speakers. It understands where students are struggling and adapts the lessons to match their individual needs. The Jerusalem Municipality greenlighted the online program, which the company hopes will eventually be used by Arabic-speaking students throughout Israel. The company’s English-as-a-second-language technology is already in use in South Korea, Japan and Thailand. “Our technology is designed to be easily customizable to any language and subject, making it a powerful tool for providing efficient and?high-quality education solutions?globally,” Dr. Lana Tockus, MagniLearn’s CEO, tells the Jerusalem Post . “We are honored to be a part of this worldwide effort to improve education through deep technology-based solutions.”
NCSOFT taps Workspot, Google Cloud to enhance gaming experience
South Korean?gaming giant NCSOFT ?is working with Google Cloud and OurCrowd portfolio company?Workspot ?to enhance its multiplayer online role-playing games. The two companies provide NCSOFT with a Cloud PC platform that monitors the gaming environment, optimizes performance, and takes action in real time to mitigate a disruption. “Our collaboration with Workspot adds an additional layer that takes the quality of our services to new heights, all aimed at delighting our customers,” says Youngmin Noh, Executive Director of NCSOFT Platform Center, which operates Guild Wars, Throne and Liberty and other popular games in 60 countries.
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Startup Beat?is a weekly selection of news and investment opportunities from?OurCrowd , the global venture investing platform.
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