MATERIALS FOR RELEASE:
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OURCROWD & XCONOMY RELEASE 2015 INDUSTRY REPORT ON THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF INVESTING
– Investors now focused on private companies
– VC investing increases dramatically
– Israel innovation ecosystem goes into overdrive
– Equity crowdfunding comes of age & OurCrowd leading the pack
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OurCrowd reports record year;
$200M raised since platform launch in 2013, has 91 portfolio companies, four exits to date.
OURCROWD IN NUMBERS 2015
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Jerusalem/Boston. January 13, 2016 – OurCrowd, one of the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platforms, has released, together with Xconomy, an extensive industry report on the democratization of investing and an overview of the industry in 2015. The detailed data reveal several key factors reshaping the landscape of investing and what they mean for companies and investors: the ascendancy of private companies, the dramatic increase in VC investing, the growth of crowdfunding, and the soaring number of new opportunities globally and in Israel, with a record year of investment in Israeli technology at approximately $5B.
According to the report based on data collected by industry experts, groundbreaking figures reveal that the world of business and investing are now experiencing sweeping, disruptive change. The most dramatic trend shows the sudden ascendency and dominance of private investing, with the amount of venture capital more than doubling globally to over $135B in 2015 compared to 2013, as investors race to grab a share of these private returns. While private companies with valuations of more than $1B were once so rare they were called ‘unicorns,’ now there are more than 140 such companies. Equity crowdfunding is rising as well, to $870M raised by 6,063 companies between October 2014 and September 2015, up from $386M in 4,712 offerings in the previous twelve months.
OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved said, “OurCrowd stands at the forefront of the key trends revealed in the report. Since our launch in 2013, we have raised $200M for our 91 portfolio startups, making us one of the largest investors in the Israeli tech ecosystem and one of the largest equity crowdfunding platforms globally. We are driving the democratization of venture capital, opening the door to tens of thousands of accredited investors who want to invest in the next generation of tech leaders.”
“We are really excited to partner with OurCrowd on this report documenting major new trends in high tech investing,” said Robert Buderi, founder and CEO of Xconomy. “The combination of equity crowdfunding, a dramatic increase in the number of large private companies, and a wave of innovation in countries like Israel is profoundly changing the investment landscape.”
The industry report is supplemented by an “OurCrowd in numbers” infographic with company achievements in 2015:
- Raised $200M since launch in 2013
- Includes 91 portfolio companies
- Completed the largest equity crowdfunding round in the industry’s history of $14.8M. This more than doubles the last largest round, Borro ($6.1M) raised in January 2015.
- The average new investment round was $2.26M
- Has completed 44 follow-on rounds to date; 26 alone in 2015.
- First-ever fund launched on the platform: OurCrowd First, at over $10M
- Exits-to-date: 4
- Trendlines Group – IPO SGX:42T | 2015
- BillGuard – Acquired by Prosper | 2015
- Nextpeer – Acquired by Viber | 2015
- ReWalk – IPO NASDQ: RWLK | 2014
About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is one of the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platforms for accredited investors to invest in Israeli and global companies. Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings startups to its accredited membership of 10,000 global investors. OurCrowd investors must meet stringent accreditation criteria and invest a minimum of $10,000 per deal of their choice. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigning industry experts as mentors and taking board seats. OurCrowd has raised $200M for its 91 portfolio companies, which include leading companies, such as mPrest, Enverid, Surgical Theater, Borro, Zebra, Consumer Physics (SCiO), BioCatch, and ReWalk, OurCrowd’s first portfolio company to complete a successful IPO on the NASDAQ. Visit us online at: gold.ocdvlp.com
About Xconomy: Xconomy is an innovative news and events organization with outposts in Boston, Boulder/Denver, Detroit/Ann Arbor, New York, Raleigh-Durham, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Texas, and Wisconsin. It is dedicated to providing business and technology leaders with timely, insightful, close-to-the-scene information about the local personalities, companies, and technological trends that best exemplify today’s high-tech economy. Xconomy is staffed by world-class journalists and media professionals, and supported by “the Xconomists,” who include some of the world’s leading innovators. Get to know them and the Xconomy team at www.xconomy.com/about. Sign up for RSS feeds, daily email newsletters, and email alerts from Xconomy at http://www.xconomy.com/rss-feeds/.
Press contact: Leah Stern, Director of Communications IL: +972.54.341.4861 / UK: +44.7470.196.826 / USA Phone: +1.877.848.0964 ext. 2 / E: leah@ourcrowd.com
