Author: OurCrowd

OurCrowd’s portfolio company BillGuard featured in CBS MoneyWatch

Nov 19, 2014 | ,

OurCrowd portfolio company BillGuard was featured in CBS MoneyWatch,  a division of CBS News and personal finance website that provides advice on retirement, investing, savings, career and real estate. BillGuard identifies fraud and “grey” charges, which cost consumers over $25B annually, by analyzing crowdsourcing transaction data from its millions-strong user base. Since Target’s (TGT) massive breach last December, more than 100 million card holders have had their data stolen. BillGuard, which offers an app that allows consumers to monitor for fraudulent activity, expects more data breaches at retailers this season. “This is like the last hurrah for hackers to go after retailers who are using magnetic-strip credit cards,” Samid told CBS MoneyWatch. “There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and data breaches. If you are a holiday shopper, go into holiday shopping season assuming your card will be compromised in a credit breach and act accordingly.” BillGuard raised $3,896,064 from OurCrowd investors in August 2014. Read more on CBS...

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Trenches to Traction: How Israel’s elite intelligence unit powers the Startup Nation

Trenches to Traction: How Israel’s elite intelligence unit powers the Startup Nation

Nov 19, 2014 | ,

OurCrowd launched a new webinar series called ‘Teach-In Tuesdays’. In this series, we’ll explore investing in early-stage Israeli companies, identify and explain influential tech trends, stay up-to-date with the crowdfunding industry, and examine actionable insights from our own experience running OurCrowd’s investment platform. Yesterday, we held a webinar as part of the OurCrowd Teach-In Tuesdays series on the Israeli military intelligence unit that drives the Startup Nation’s high-tech industry. This elite technology unit’s alumni who enter into the civilian market have earned a reputation for their unique entrepreneurial skills and for creating outstanding, successful, and innovative startups. Topics covered in the webinar: How Unit 8200 helped transform the basis of Israel’s economy and drives the startup ecosystem The skills acquired from serving in Unit 8200 and how alumni apply them for the entrepreneurial world Success stories of Unit 8200 alumni Sage advice from experienced Unit 8200 alumni-turned-entrepreneurs Featured expert: Gadi Mazor, CTO and General Partner at OurCrowd, and Unit 8200 alum.     ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: To stay updated on future events and the best news from the Startup Nation, sign up for our newsletter, email us, and follow us on social media. To contact Zack Miller, follow him on Linkedin / Twitter To...

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OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved on BBC World Service’s “Business Daily”

OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved on BBC World Service’s “Business Daily”

Nov 18, 2014 | , ,

On his recent visit to the UK, OurCrowd CEO Jonathan Medved was interviewed by radio presenter Ed Butler on BBC World Service’s “Business Daily.” In the interview, Jon discusses Israel’s booming technology sector, OurCrowd’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, and our innovative, cutting-edge portfolio companies. One country that’s often thought to be good at picking winners is Israel. It has the world’s highest per capita investment in homegrown research and development. It also has one of the most successful cutting-edge tech sectors. We examine how they do it, with the government’s Chief Scientist and John Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, the world’s biggest equity crowdfunding platform. Listen to the full interview on BBC Radio here. [Jon’s begins at 08:21 until...

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Updates from Startup Nation: the who, the where, the exits [OurCrowd Newsletter]

Updates from Startup Nation: the who, the where, the exits [OurCrowd Newsletter]

Nov 17, 2014 |

What makes the Startup Nation tick? One might argue strongly it’s the people – and often, those people happen to be alumni of elite IDF units. Read on about that, the latest in Israeli exits, ‘pop-up’ therapists’ offices in New York City, and more. Don’t forget to subscribe if you’d like to get these updates directly to your inbox! Microsoft buys Israeli cybersec startup Aoroto for $200M Microsoft confirmed that it has acquired Aorato, an Israel-based maker of security solutions co-founded by veterans of the Israeli defense forces, which only exited from stealth earlier this year. Aorato’s focus is on enterprise services in the cloud and in hybrid on-premise and cloud environments, using machine learning to detect suspicious patterns. Read up on the exit. Bubbling with innovation: Israeli therapy bubbles pop up in NY Israeli startup Talkspace erected large transparent bubbles last week on New York’s Fifth Avenue to offer free online psychological treatment to pedestrians. Passersby can enter a fake living room inside an inflated dome and chat online with a psychologist for free. The project’s aim is to raise awareness...

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