Equity Crowdfunding

Gateway to Asia: OurCrowd announces strategic partnership with UOB to bring equity crowdfunding to Singapore

Gateway to Asia: OurCrowd announces strategic partnership with UOB to bring equity crowdfunding to Singapore

Mar 3, 2016 | ,

The Startup Nation and Smart Nation just became that much closer. Earlier today, OurCrowd announced that it has closed a strategic partnership agreement with United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB), headquartered in Singapore. This collaboration is OurCrowd’s first official foray into Asia and represents a significant step towards developing the FinTech ecosystem in the region. OurCrowd, together with UOB and with the support and investment of the Sassoon Investment Corporation, an investment holding company with deep roots in Asia, is working to bring equity crowdfunding to Singapore and beyond – offering a new asset class to accredited investors in the region of Asia. The partnership pairs UOB’s strengths and depth of experience in serving entrepreneurs as well as small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the region with OurCrowd’s expertise in investing in some of the world’s most promising startups via equity crowdfunding. This is an important announcement for OurCrowd but it’s equally important for our investors. Through this collaboration, OurCrowd’s global investor community will be able to invest in innovative Asian companies with differentiated and highly scalable products, who in turn will now get access to another source of funding through OurCrowd’s equity crowdfunding platform. This isn’t...

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Who’s afraid of the big bad bear? An internal memo on startup investing during a down market

Who’s afraid of the big bad bear? An internal memo on startup investing during a down market

Feb 17, 2016 | ,

Last month, I traveled to the VC and financial capitals of the world – Silicon Valley and New York City – for meetings with VCs and potential investment opportunities, plus a few days of meetings at CES, the largest consumer technology conference in the world. Being another tough week for the financial markets, it was an interesting time to take such a trip. Here are some of my thoughts that I wrote up initially as an internal memo after returning, and decided to share with our broader community. While we generally spend our time focusing on the micro side of investing – companies, their teams, the competition, the technological and business advantages — it is important that we remember that investment opportunities do not exist in a vacuum. We need to raise our eyes to view the broader picture. Below, I discuss: The overall global investing environment What it means that valuations are coming down Takeaways: Private market investing during a public market downturn But… good companies will continue to be built, raise capital and create wealth OurCrowd in the...

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The road already traveled: Why invest in startup follow-on rounds?

The road already traveled: Why invest in startup follow-on rounds?

Feb 10, 2016 | , ,

Today, access to quality investment opportunities are no longer a luxury reserved for the well-connected. Everything from startups to real estate development projects are now available to the masses for investment. This access has garnered lots of attention from prominent investment thought leaders. One of the biggest issues they’re grappling with is how to educate the public to make sure they are investing responsibly in these new, often risky asset classes. In this post, we’re going to talk about what Brad Feld refers to as a new, official trend in the world of venture capital. The Opportunity What’s this new trend we speak of? In January 2011, Union Square Ventures launched their first “Opportunity Fund.” The fund was formed to invest exclusively in USV portfolio companies raising follow-on rounds of investment. This investment strategy was born out of the realization that a majority of returns in a fund are generated by a small number of the portfolio companies. Fred Wilson, USV’s founder and managing partner described the rationale behind launching the fund in 4 basic points: “This fund is meant to...

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OurCrowd’s Jon Medved featured on CNN: “Tech Investments in 2016”

OurCrowd’s Jon Medved featured on CNN: “Tech Investments in 2016”

Feb 9, 2016 | , ,

OurCrowd CEO Jonathan Medved was featured on CNN’s “Quest Means Business,” where he discussed the future of tech investments with the show’s host, Richard Quest. In the interview, Jon discussed the power of the ‘crowd’ and how equity crowdfunding is a game changer, the Startup Nation’s booming tech sector, and OurCrowd’s 2016 Global Investor Summit — where 3,000 investors, entrepreneurs, and industry tech leaders gathered for the biggest investor event Jerusalem has ever seen. View the video below or play it on...

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Introducing OurCrowd Continuity Fund (OC²): A new investment offering

Introducing OurCrowd Continuity Fund (OC²): A new investment offering

Feb 3, 2016 | ,

OurCrowd is proud to announce the launch of its OurCrowd Continuity Fund (OC2), a special opportunities fund devised to take advantage of preemptive rights in select follow-on rounds for portfolio companies. OC2 has an automated investing process, only investing in follow-on, up-rounds led by top venture capital and strategic investors. The dynamics of startup growth and venture investing is such that preemptive rights are a critically valuable asset for being able to invest in breakout stars, and OC2 is structured to give its investors first access to unexercised preemptive rights. Four reasons why we’re excited about launching OC2 Access to otherwise limited opportunities: As an investor, one of your most valuable assets is gaining a seat at the table to invest in the follow-on rounds of your companies that emerge to be the biggest winners. Pro rata rights are not about downside protection, they are about guaranteeing you the right not to be crowded out of highly competitive future financing rounds for your companies. OC2 is opportunistically leveraging OurCrowd’s pro rata rights across its 90+ portfolio companies to gain access to...

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