OurCrowd joins international consortium to win incubator tender in New Zealand

Expands OurCrowd global network 

(December 16, 2019 – Jerusalem) OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform and Israel’s leading venture investor, announced today that it is part of a consortium that has won a tender to run a start-up incubator in New Zealand. This represents the first time that OurCrowd has participated and won an international tender of this kind, and reflects the growing international focus of the Israel based investment platform.

Joining a consortium of companies led by New Zealand’s Sprout, OurCrowd and its partner companies were chosen by the New Zealand government agency, Callaghan Innovation, to run a new agtech and foodtech incubator in New Zealand. The consortium includes leading US based agtech venture group Finistere Ventures and New Zealand’s food giant Fonterra and animal management leader Gallagher. “We’re very excited to join this exciting consortium and participate in our first global incubator outside of Israel,” said Jon Medved, CEO and Founder of OurCrowd. “This will hopefully be the first of many international incubators with which we will partner around the world. This is our second incubator in the food and agtech arena, and there is no better place to do this than the incredible innovative environment of New Zealand.”

OurCrowd has a wealth of experience running incubators in Israel including: The OurCrowd LABS02 deep tech incubator in Jerusalem in collaboration with India’s Reliance and US-based Motorola Solutions and Hebrew University’s Yissum; the LABS08 incubator in Beer Sheva, focused on cybersecurity and digital health in collaboration with Soroka Medical Center and the National Cybersecurity Directorate; and the recently awarded “Fresh Start” foodtech incubator in northern Israel with Finistere and Israeli food industry leaders Tnuva and Tempo.

Sprout Chief Executive, Dean Tilyard, said, “By bringing together two global companies with internationally connected and experienced investment partners, Sprout is developing a world class platform to allow early stage agritech and future food technologies to be commercialised and launched into international markets. Together we will be able to provide more support for entrepreneurs and organisations who want to move fast and think big and who are committed to building solutions for problems that address the challenges and opportunities of global food production.”

Finistere, led by kiwi born founder and partner Arama Kukutai, are active agrifood tech Tier 1 investors with offices around the world. “The last five years has seen unprecedented capital flow into start-ups in the agrifood space, with over $25B USD invested into more than 2500 start-ups according to Finistere & PitchBook Data. We believe there is huge opportunity for Sprout to help position early start-ups to go global with the support of this syndicate and the bold investment by Callaghan,” said Kukatai. “Jon and the OurCrowd team bring a depth of expertise and significant relationships to help the companies we invest in grow,” he added.

About OurCrowd:

OurCrowd is a global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individuals to invest and engage in emerging companies. The most active venture investor in Israel, OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its capital, and provides its global network with unparalleled access to co-invest and contribute connections, talent and deal flow. OurCrowd builds value for its portfolio companies throughout their lifecycles, providing mentorship, recruiting industry advisors, navigating follow-on rounds and creating growth opportunities through its network of multinational partnerships. With $1.3 billion of committed funding, and investments in 200 portfolio companies and 18 venture funds, OurCrowd offers access to its membership of 39,000 individual accredited and institutional investors, family offices, and venture capital partners from over 183 countries to invest alongside, at the same terms. OurCrowd’s portfolio is diversified across sectors and stages, ranging from seed and series A through late stage and pre-IPO firms. Since its founding in 2013, OurCrowd portfolio companies have been acquired by some of the most prestigious brands in the world, including Uber, Canon, Oracle, Nike, and Intel. To register and get involved, visit www.ourcrowd.com.

For Press Material:  https://blog.ourcrowd.net/nz-incubator

Contact: Estee Yaari, estee.yaari@ourcrowd.com