OurCrowd Launches $50M Medtech Fund
Fund to focus on disruptive medical technologies and therapeutics with the potential to transform global healthcare delivery and patient outcomes
Jerusalem – March 7, 2019 – OurCrowd, a leading global investment platform and Israel’s most active venture investor, announced today the launch of the OurCrowd Medtech Fund. The $50m fund will focus exclusively on investing in disruptive medical technologies and therapeutics with the potential to transform global healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. This is OurCrowd’s first fund dedicated to the rapidly developing medtech market valued globally at $433.7B in 2018 and projected to be worth nearly $594.5 billion by 2024.
The OurCrowd Medtech Fund will focus on medical devices, therapeutics, medical robotics and new developments in the medical industry. Current notable OurCrowd medtech investments to date include:
- AlphaTau Medical: new radio therapy for solid cancer tumors
- UPnRIDE : electric wheelchair that enables stable standing and mobility for handicapped individuals
- Insightec: MR-guided focused ultrasound for non-invasive surgery
- MeMed: preventing misuse of antibiotics
- Zebra Medical Vision: Medical imaging insights platform with algorithm-based assistance for radiologists
- Sight Diagnostics: Point of care blood diagnostics utilizing computer vision
- Memic: Robotic arm that extends & improves upon surgeon’s natural movements
- Syqe Medical – World’s first selective-dose pharmaceutical grade medicinal plants inhaler
The fund will be led by managing partners Dr. Morris Laster and Dr. Morry Blumenfeld and will be managed by a team of clinical experts with decades of experience in medical technologies and startup growth.
Dr. Blumenfeld is a prominent authority on the development and commercialization of healthcare technology. Most notably, he was among the managers responsible for the development of GE’s computed tomography (“CT”) and magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) product line. He currently serves as a member of various medical technology boards, including Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board at OurCrowd.
Dr. Laster is a healthcare executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and was responsible for six IPO’s on NASDAQ, AIM and TASE. He has extensive expertise in the identification, management and financing of advanced biomedical drugs and technologies. He currently represents OurCrowd as a board member or active chairman for several healthcare portfolio companies.
“The creation of the OurCrowd Medtech Fund is a natural extension of the prolific investments we’ve been making in the medtech sector over the past few years,” noted Jon Medved, Founder and CEO or OurCrowd. “This move will give investors even more accessibility to promising Israeli startups upending the way we live and saving lives.”
Since 2013, the OC Medtech team has identified, scaled and financed more than $78 million in over 20 disruptive medical technologies. With its new fund, OurCrowd will continue to be a market leader in medical technology investment while also offering the opportunity to fund companies that are even earlier stage with hugely disruptive technologies. The OurCrowd Medtech Fund is uniquely positioned to tap into both Israeli and global innovation to help provide medical solutions in markets where there are clear, unmet clinical needs.
Dr. Morry Blumenfeld, OurCrowd Medtech Fund Managing Partner, said, “Trends in worldwide population demographics are driving rapid growth in the healthcare sector, resulting in a substantial need for medical innovation. As the ‘Start-Up Nation,’ Israel offers the perfect backdrop to source and develop early stage medical technology companies with global impact potential.”
Dr. Morris Laster, OurCrowd Medtech Fund Managing Partner, said, “With rising healthcare costs and an increased focus on outcomes and value, now is the time to introduce disruptive technologies to the marketplace that question the status quo and advance healthcare delivery. The only way to innovate in today’s healthcare environment is to support the companies that are bold enough to truly change the way healthcare is delivered.”
This announcement was made today at the 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem, the largest technology showcase in Israel with over 170 startups and 17,000 registered attendees.
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Notes to Editors
About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is a global investment platform, bringing venture capital opportunities to accredited investors worldwide. A leader in equity crowdfunding, OurCrowd is managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and is led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved. OurCrowd vets and selects companies, invests its own capital, and invites its accredited membership of investors and institutional partners to invest alongside in these opportunities. OurCrowd provides support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and creates growth opportunities through its network of strategic multinational partnerships. The OurCrowd community consists of almost 30,000 accredited investors from over 150 countries. OurCrowd has raised $1 billion and invested in 170 portfolio companies and funds. To join OurCrowd as an accredited investor visit www.ourcrowd.com and click “Join.”
About the 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit: The OurCrowd Global Investor Summit, Where the startup world gathers. The 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit, taking place March 7 in Jerusalem, Israel, is one of the premier events in the tech industry, and the largest business event in Israel’s history, with 17,000 expected to register to attend. The Summit provides an interactive, front-row seat to the formerly closed world of startup venture capital, with exclusive exposure to cutting-edge technologies, the entrepreneurs behind them, and the corporate leaders deploying them. Top investors, venture capitalists, corporate partners, entrepreneurs and journalists come from around the world both for Summit day as well as a week of events that include tours of the Israeli ecosystem, corporate meetups, and cultural and historical excursions. Thousands more will participate through livestreaming. Learn more at summit.ourcrowd.com.
For Press Materials: https://blog.ourcrowd.net/medtechfund/
Press contact: Leah Stern, OurCrowd Dir. Of Communications / UK: +44 747-0196826 / E: leah@ourcrowd.com / Aaron Kliner at aaron@headline.media (IL: +972 54-8143742
