The OurCrowd Global Investor Summit hosted in Jerusalem, Israel is the meeting place of key decision-makers in the global startup ecosystem, catalyzing conversations around cutting-edge technologies, the brains behind them, the corporations using them, and opportunities for investments and funding. The summit is hosted by OurCrowd, a global venture investing platform, and Israel’s most active venture investor. Led by the serial entrepreneur, Jon Medved, and a team of seasoned investment professionals, OurCrowd’s mission is to connect accredited investors to emerging ‘startup superstars.’
The summit is only now making a comeback after its 2020 edition which had 23,259 people registering from 183 countries, 104 exhibitors and 61 sponsors, and over 1400 facilitated meetings among attendees. This year’s summit, which began yesterday, draws even more entrepreneurial figures both physically in Israel’s historic city of Jerusalem and virtually. Already on its second day, 9,034 persons representing over 81 nations are registered for the summit. With over 1,000 multinational corporations and 380 portfolio companies also present, the summit is more than just “the biggest investor event in the Middle East and the fastest-growing in the world” but has also become a “…gathering place to set the themes and trends [of the tech industry] for the coming year,” according to OurCrowd.
A fertile ground for startups to grow and cultivate new perspectives
This summit comes at a time when investment in Israeli startups is at an all-time low, following the recent financial doldrums in the tech industry. With funding dropping by almost half, according to The Times of Israel, the startup scene in Israel might be looking bleak to some. However, as Medved notes, the slowdown is only a part of the predictable cyclical tech market and startups must only learn to revisit their funding strategies and pivot, not give up. Now in its 10th year, the OurCrowd summit has proven to be a great avenue for these startups to cultivate new perspectives by learning from each other and picking the brains of some of the best people in the game.
The 2023 OurCrowd Investor Summit has featured various panel discussions so far, with topics ranging from how technology can mitigate some of the world’s greatest challenges worsened by recent crises (like COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian war) to how much influence tech has on climate change. Riding on the theme of the summit — “Startups: Saving the Planet” — some of today’s deliberations revolved around growing global concerns like how the best medical tech could become more accessible, how startups are overcoming the hurdle of sourcing, storing and protecting power EV, what tech trends would be the most disruptive in the coming year and the new paths for alternative investing.
Driving the innovation revolution across the world
The speakers at some of the sessions at the OurCrowd Summit range from the President of Israel himself, Isaac Herzog — who spoke today about the essence and importance of the Abraham Accords — to Jon Medved, founder and CEO of OurCrowd, and corporate leaders from global institutions. Some of these institutions include Israel Innovation Authority, OurCrowd Arabia, Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), Freightos, Rebel Fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Office, AIR, DOTS, Breakthrough Energy Venture, SaNOtize, Hertz Ventures, and many others. Also featured is the presentation of the fourth OurCrowd Maimonides Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science, Leadership, and Menschlichkeit presented to Morris Khan for his different businesses that have contributed to the growth of Israel as the Startup Nation of the world.
While the summit has showcased some of OurCrowd’s portfolio startups that have gone public, there have also been several live product demonstrations from private companies across the transportation, food, agriculture, telemedicine, and health industries — giving investors first-class access to some exciting tech solutions in health equity, sustainable energy, alternative proteins, cybersecurity and many more. Ourcrowd boasts $US 2.1 billion in investment commitments, with 42 funds secured around the world.
Israel has been branded the ‘Tech Juggernaut,’ and it is not without cause. Apart from having one of the highest concentrations of high-tech and technologically advanced workforce, it’s gatherings like this where the startup world meets, learns, and does business that sparks the innovation revolution that drives the economy of not just the country, but the whole world.
