Trends in Israeli startup investing by Jonathan Medved

Due to last minute issue John will not be able to give this session. Instead, Gadi Mazor, General Partner of OurCrowd will give the session.

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As a General Partner and CTO at OurCrowd, Gadi was responsible for developing OurCrowd’s groundbreaking web-based investment platform. Gadi takes part in reviewing potential deals and engaging in investment opportunities. With over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Gadi’s input and unique point of view are paramount in the evaluation of the deal flow.

Mr. Mazor, a serial entrepreneur, has founded and managed three startup companies in the fields of character and voice recognition and wireless communications. Gadi holds patents on various aspects of wireless communications and served on the US Senate committee that defined the US public alert system. His companies sold wireless solutions to over 1,600 enterprises, including the US Senate and House of Representatives, CitiGroup, Coca-Cola, Raytheon, and more.

Trends in Israeli startup investing - through the lens of the entrepreneur
Is the party almost over or is it just beginning? Entrepreneurs depend on capital to develop and bring their products to market, so how are recent trends in Israeli startup investing affecting Israel's next generation of companies? As part of this discussion, Jon addresses the common fear of a crisis in Israeli venture capital and delves into the role of angel funding and of crowdfunding in Israel. Is there enough early stage money available and what should young companies expect during their next rounds?
About the speaker:
Jonathan Medved is an investor, serial entrepreneur and according to the Washington Post “one of Israel’s leading high tech venture capitalists”. In the NY Times Supplement “Israel at 60” Medved was named one of the top 10 most influential Americans who have impacted Israel.

Medved is the founder and CEO of OurCrowd, which The Wall Street Journal named “Investment of the Week…bringing together ten seasoned investment pros to create a crowdfunding hybrid to back Israeli startups.” In less than six months since launch, OurCrowd has invested more than $16Million in its platform and its18 portfolio companies. According to the The Next Web, “the investment team at OurCrowd rocks”, while Pando Daily called OurCrowd “ the most interesting recent development in the (angel investing) area”.

Medved has been part of the founding teams at several successful Israeli startups, and as a venture and angel investor over the past two decades he invested in over 100 Israeli startup companies, helping to bring over a dozen of them to values in excess of $100Million. Medved has currently over 30 startup companies in his personal angel investor portfolio, including his OurCrowd portfolio.
Between 2006-2012, Medved was the co-founder and CEO of Vringo, a leader in the innovation, development and monetization of mobile technologies and intellectual property. Medved led Vringo to a successful completion of its IPO (Initial Public Offering) in June, 2010 and it trades today on NASDAQ under the symbol VRNG.
Medved was the founder and General Partner of Israel Seed Partners, one of Israel's leading venture capital funds. Started by Medved in 1995 in his garage; he co-managed the fund until January 2006. Israel Seed had over a quarter billion dollars under management in four funds and has been an investor in 60 leading Israeli companies.