Summit Week Attendance
Entrepreneurs
Multinational Corporate Representatives
Venture Capitalists
Scheduled Meetings
Summit Week Events
The 2023 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit was where the startup world gathered… and business got done
2023 OurCrowd Summit Highlights
Extensive Global Press Coverage
Hover over the above images to play Summit sessions.
The Summit Day Experience
After a smooth registration, attendees plunged into a stimulating and crowded sensory experience of ideas, technology, and global networking.
- Incredibly diverse programming with industry leaders speaking on crucial topics, dramatic emotional moments on the main stage (how ThetaRay’s tech thwarted a human trafficking ring), and breakout sessions tackling political, economic and social issues (“How To Plant a Billion Trees”)
- OurCrowd University for Investors and OurCrowd Entrepreneurs Academy provided crucial education (such as “Tech Fundraising in a Down Market”)
- 109 exhibitors, including special spaces such as the Abu Dhabi and Morocco pavilions, Food and Agri Tech Space, and HealthTech Innovation Zone
- Interactive tech demos, such as AirEV’s private aircraft model and simulator, the SNC Start-up Nation Finder database, and Largix’s 3D printed furniture
- All-day networking, including 2,000+ facilitated meetings among investors, startups, corporate execs, and other members of the global crowd
“The future will be determined not by the resources of the ground, but by the resources of our minds.”
-Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, on the mainstage
Saving the Planet, Saving Lives
Audiences at the Opening and Closing Plenaries heard how private company technologies are tackling some of the most pressing threats to our world, including climate change and hunger, as well as impacting individuals and society, from AR-based surgery to companion robots for the elderly.
FoodTech to the Rescue
The ability of FoodTech to reduce carbon gases while providing healthy alternatives for a growing global population was on display, as FreshStart FoodTech incubator CEO Noga Sela Shalev revealed that agri-food is responsible for almost 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Alternative proteins may be an answer, but will people eat them? Celebrity Chef Nir Zook prepared “salmon” from startup Plantish and “lambchops” from Moon Steak live onstage. Master Chef Michal Ansky put them to the taste test, declaring them comparable to the originals and great tasting.
“If we want to treat global warming, there is no way to do that if we don’t treat and disrupt the food chain as we know it today.”
Noga Sela Shalev
CEO, FreshStart FoodTech Incubator
Reversing Climate Change
OurCrowd Investment Partner Liat Sverdlov introduced Eyal Harel, CEO of BlueGreen Water Technologies, who explained that 83% of C02 in the atmosphere circulates through water and how BlueGreen’s toxic algae remediation not only keeps water fresh but reduces carbon emissions, in one example removing 45,000 tons from a single lake in three days. Christina Karapataki, Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, warned that to get to net-zero, the grid must grow 400% by 2050, “There’s a ton of work to be done.” Breakthrough Energy, founded by Bill Gates, shares six investments with OurCrowd.
“Green hydrogen is the perfect fossil fuel replacement. It produces hydrogen from water… at under two dollars per kilogram.”
Talmon Marco
CEO and Chairman, H2Pro
The Personal Side of Tech
Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation urged the venture investing world “to better align private capital with public good,” and announced the Global Health Equity Fund, established with OurCrowd to help provide equal access to life-saving technologies. After hearing from a patient whose debilitating loneliness and deteriorating therapy compliance was improved by Intuition Robotics’ Elli-Q robot, the audience was treated to a heart-stopping story from Alon Zuckerman, President of Surgical Theater. He described how the company’s visualization software empowered clinical teams to make crucial decisions and prepare for surgery on Itai, a young boy with a life-threatening tumor. Suddenly, Itai ran onto the stage, kicking a soccer ball, cancer-free. To the audience’s amazement, and delight, Itai then revealed that Alon was in fact his father.
“This is not just a job I do. It’s saving lives, my son’s included.”
Alon Zuckerman
President, Surgical Theater
MENA Came to Israel
As a result of the Abraham Accords and OurCrowd’s first-mover status, the Summit enjoyed unprecedented presence from the Gulf states and North Africa. Major exhibitions sponsored by Abu Dhabi Investment Office and Abu Dhabi Global Market as well as Morocco Now were a destination, and business leaders from across the MENA region were onstage and in the halls.
A Keynote of Hope and Connection
Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Investment Office, told a packed audience, “What we are here to do is create opportunities for Israeli businesses… to access markets that were not available to them prior to the Abraham Accords, and to do that through the Abu Dhabi platform.” When he revealed it was his first time in Jerusalem, the audience broke into applause and after it finally died down, the Director General, clearly moved by the warm response, said, “That round of applause for me goes to Jon [Medved]. For me, he made this happen. It was a phone call from someone I’m honored to call a friend, and a brother, who made the ability for us to come to Jerusalem and be present with you today. And these long-term partnerships – and friendships, more importantly – are the main reason why we want to cultivate more commercial relationships with Abu Dhabi.”
“You can see the power of partnership in action through OurCrowd’s journey in Abu Dhabi. In just a year, OurCrowd moved from license to established market player.”
Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi
Director General, Abu Dhabi Investment Office
Perspectives and Case Studies
On the mainstage and breakout sessions at both the Summit and the OurCrowd Leaders Forum, audiences were treated to insider intel and best practices about doing business across the MENA region. Salman Jaffery, Chief Business Development Officer at the Dubai International Financial Center, sees unrealized potential in markets like UAE and Saudi Arabia. “We are looking for relevant technologies to existing problems,” he said. Maya Horgan Famodu, Managing Partner & Founder of Nigeria-based Ingressive Capital, cited the existing playbook for developing tech ecosystems, such as India and LATAM. “We’re a little bit at the end of where it’s blossoming out into leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning, real interesting technology investments to solve basic African problems.”
“What I look forward to in five years time is Israeli entrepreneurs and Arab entrepreneurs working on the same startup. That, I think, will be the full potential of the Abraham accords”
Dr. Sabah al-Binali
Executive Chairman, OurCrowd Arabia
The Power of Personal Interaction
The misconception that the Gulf States are simply a potential source of capital was belied by the experience at the Summit. Visitors to the Abu Dhabi and Morocco pavilions met with startups from those and other MENA countries and engaged in active discussions about cross-border cooperation and partnerships. In thousands of personal interactions throughout the venue, the emphasis was on making new contacts, reviewing opportunities, and developing relationships that could be followed up after the event. “There’s a lot of things to learn from here,” a tech entrepreneur said as he was interviewed by a news media outlet at the Moroccan pavilion, describing his home country’s status as an emerging market in the startup ecosystem and the importance of capturing best practices.
“It is especially exciting to welcome all of you – especially brothers and sisters from the Abraham Accords countries in the Gulf States and our region – with whom a joint conference of this nature would have been pure fantasy only a few years ago.”
Isaac Herzog
President of Israel, on the mainstage
New Paths to Investing
Attendees were intrigued to hear of a new class of investment opportunities previously unavailable to all but institutions and the largest, well-connected private investors. Fund managers from some of the most prestigious funds in the industry were on hand to explain their profiles and track records.
The Biggest Funds on the Biggest Stage
With the theme that diversification is key to investment success, Andy Kaye, President of OurCrowd, told a packed plenary audience, “Just as OurCrowd democratized venture capital, it is now democratizing a whole new category which we’re calling structured alternatives. This includes structured debt, venture lending, private equity secondaries, and a private equity index.” The new offerings will bring minimums down to accessible levels, he explained, providing capital calls so there’s no need to invest all the money upfront, and frequent distributions. Presentations by the managers of Arrow Global, and Upper90, and Genesis Alternative Ventures shed light on the opportunities.
“Founders are beginning to look at venture debt as a complementary way of raising capital.”
Jeremy Loh
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Genesis Alternative Ventures
A Valuable Education
One class in the OurCrowd University track for investors was “How To Make Alternative Investments Work for You.” Attendees learned about the importance of portfolio diversification, how the private markets can provide that diversification due to low correlation with the public markets, and insights into how to build a venture portfolio. Diversification was also a theme hit by Edward Talmor Gera, Founder and CEO of NewVest, an institutional fintech platform of index funds that provide passive exposure to private markets in the same manner that ETFs and Index Funds. He explained how the firm enables more investors to access private equity opportunities, and why this is important. “The number of public companies is now the same as private companies. So if you want plain exposure to the broad economy, you have to have exposure to private equity. Public equity is not enough.”
“Funds are a good way to begin investing in the venture asset class.”
David Shore
VP Investor Relations, OurCrowd
Leading Managers at the Leaders Forum
On both the mainstage and in special sessions for accredited investors only, fund managers enlightened a VIP audience on nuances of alternatives investing. Marc Fuhrmann, Principal, Real Estate at Arrow Global, described his firm’s local knowledge of its markets, which gives it an advantage in selecting credit deals for its income-generating debt fund. Based on his experience at Goldman Sachs, Billy Libby, Co Founder and CEO of Upper90, said, “The best investors have an informational advantage.” He explained how venture debt can help startup founders raise funds without diluting their equity, while providing regular returns for investors. Jeremy Coller, Founder and CIO of Coller Capital, a pioneer in the secondaries market, explained why providing liquidity to private equity investors is so high performing and growing. “I’m confident this business is going to be at least half a trillion in 2030, from nothing 35 years ago.”
“For the next couple of years, there will be an increase in distressed assets and non-performing loans and the need for bridge financing.”
Marc Fuhrmann
Principal, Real Estate at Arrow Global
OurCrowd Leaders Forum
The OurCrowd Leaders Forum, an exclusive gathering of 1,365 top investors, multinational execs, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs, joined together on the eve of Summit to understand and address the deepest questions facing the global innovation community.
Invaluable Insider Insights
Two of the most popular talks of the entire Summit were given by veterans of the investment community at the Opening Plenary of Leaders Forum. Alec Ellison, Chairman of OurCrowd US and former Vice Chairman of Jefferies, provided a survey of the current capital markets, the trends that defined 2022, and how global macro decisions are impacting investments. “There will be a greater focus on cash flow growth and improvement,” he forecast, “at the expense of revenue growth.” Shlomo Dovrat Co-Founder and General Partner of Viola, a leading technology-focused investment group, gave a tour-de-force on “Technology Transformation in an Unstable World.” He explained that the age of the consumer innovation cycle – social, mobile, and cloud – is starting to plateau. “The good news is that we’re in the early days of the most exciting innovation cycle in our history, the era of AI-everything.”
“It was the year where the tech innovation world in which we sit learned that macro matters.”
Alec Ellison
Chairman, OurCrowd U.S., former Vice Chairman, Jefferies
Task Forces: Setting the 2023 Agenda
Perhaps the most exciting session at Leaders Forum was the final one, which gathered groups of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate representatives to discuss one of 16 important themes. This year, these roundtables were designated as Task Forces, reflecting their mandate to produce key insights and practical steps for the coming year. One Task Force dealt with opportunities and threats resulting from the revolution in AI, with ChatGPT a major talking point. Raz Bachar, Managing Director, Microsoft Israel and Dan Brahmy, CEO, Cyabra, anchored the discussion. Dan described the ABC’s of disinformation campaigns: Actors, Behaviors, and Content. Generative AI reduces the barriers significantly for content, allowing malicious entities and individuals to make more believable fake personas. “Healthcare in the Next Decade” included Dr. Dirk Richter, Director of Health Sector Innovation at Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health, Gidi Stein, CEO of Medaware, and Anil Soni, CEO, WHO Foundation, who observed that both innovation investment and individual generosity are essential to address global health challenges.
“The barriers to creating fake accounts, mimicking human behavior, and generating realistic content, have never been lower.”
Dan Brahmy
CEO and Co-founder, Cyabra
Meaningful Engagement
Scheduled meetings were a centerpiece of this high-level event, including 660 between portfolio company CEOs and investors and 313 with multinational corporate executives. Mark Gazit, CEO of cybersecurity startup ThetaRay, said the meetings he had “were extremely relevant to our business and helped us further our goals,” and cited “powerful introductions that led to real and tangible results for our company.” Attendees also got a sneak peek at the Summit Day venue, including select exhibitors already on hand. That included Sanotize, a breakthrough healthcare company whose first-in-class antimicrobial product has been proven 99.9% potent vs. viruses, including coronavirus. The Summit provided the company an opportunity to conduct the first-ever large-event clinical study for flu prevention, and the results may be a game changer.
“What a great way to spend the day, with a tremendous group of people.”
Christina Karapataki
Partner, Breakthrough Energy Ventures
A Packed Summit Week
Summit Week was more active, more productive, and more fun than ever, with corporate meetups, VC forums, insider access to accelerators and labs, and touring opportunities providing a unique insider’s look at the innovation ecosystem, as well as some great partying.
Curated Tech Tours
Curated by OurCrowd staff, the Tech Tours have become a key feature of the Summit, offering onsite demos of cutting-edge technologies and candid sit-downs with corporate chieftains and high-profile businesses. Five sector tracks as well as a dedicated press tour covered the breadth of the Israeli startup ecosystem. The Energy & Water tour traveled along Israel’s coastline to explore how local tech is managing the climate crisis despite the region’s scarcity of natural resources. BlueGreen Water Technologies CEO Eyal Harel demonstrated its water cleanup capabilities and explained how “water is carbon’s natural regulator.” On the Content tour, attendees gained insights into the $300 billion entertainment market and the role venture capital can play. Avi Issacharoff, journalist and Co-Creator of “Fauda”, advised, “For any kind of investor, the number one secret is to find a project he is excited about.”
“Our drones can map the site and tell us where to plant and where not to plant, so we can develop true biodiversity.”
Co-Founder & COO, Flash Forest
OurCrowd Events Day and Night
Attendees were treated to a slate of proprietary events and activities during Summit Week, including the OurCrowd Leaders Forum and Tech Tours. This year, Summit Day was moved to Wednesday to allow appropriate time for followup on connections made during Summit Week and seal the deal on new partnerships and opportunities. High-level, invite-only investor meetings took place at the iconic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Nightlife activities capped each day. Summit After Dark took place in Tel Aviv, co-hosted by sponsor Pearl Cohen and the Tel Aviv Municipality, and in Jerusalem at the First Station, a lively center of music and food repurposed from the Ottoman-built terminus of the historic Jerusalem-Jaffa railway. The OurCrowd Cocktail Gala at the world-famous Israel Museum provided luminaries of the tech ecosystem with fine food, wine, and conversation as well as tours of private collections. And the good vibes of Summit Day continued as it always does with ShukTech at the Mahane Yehuda Market, the cultural center of Jerusalem.
“There are still enormous resources going into venture capital.”
Founder & CEO, OurCrowd
History, Culture, and Tech
Summit attendees from overseas took advantage of their trip to Israel to take a deep dive into the fastest-growing tech ecosystem in the world, as well as 3,000 years of culture and history. Official Summit partner events included major tech investing conferences such as LongeviTech,Tel Aviv, an interdisciplinary conference for the global community exploring ways to ensure financial wellness and healthy aging. Events targeting specific audiences included a Founder’s Bootcamp and a workshop on addressing challenges and opportunities in growing tech communities. Cultural and recreational activities on offer included a boutique wine tour, opportunities to volunteer for food distribution to the poor, and private tours, including both day-trips and three-day adventures.
“There are more ageing people than children being born. This challenge will have to be met by all governments and societies in the world.”
Chairman of the Global initiative on Ageing Foundation, at LongeviTech
“There is a parallel between startups and content. We start with an idea and we need to have seed money in order to make it happen.”
Lior Raz, Star & Co-Creator, “Fauda”
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OurCrowd, the online global venture investing platform, empowers individual accredited investors and institutions to invest in emerging technology companies. To date, OurCrowd has received over $2.1 billion in commitments, and deployed capital into 380 portfolio companies and 42 funds.
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