OurCrowd, Motorola Solutions and Reliance Industries Launch Incubator to Give Jerusalem Startups a Global Competitive Edge

An OurCrowd news release
 

• Unique Global Strategic Partnership includes participation by Yissum, the commercialization arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Incubator will focus on emerging startups using ‘frontier technologies’ including: big data; analytics; artificial intelligence (AI); fintech; storage; internet of things (IoT); and computer vision.

Jerusalem – June 8, 2017 – OurCrowd, a global leader in equity crowdfunding, today announced a partnership with Motorola Solutions, Reliance Industries and Yissum, to operate an innovation technology incubator to support growth of early stage startups in Jerusalem.

With a long track record of startup investment in Jerusalem, and as a key player in the Israeli tech ecosystem, OurCrowd is a natural fit to lead the incubator team. The incubator will focus on frontier technologies such as big data, analytics, AI, fintech, storage, IoT and computer vision. The incubator will be based in OurCrowd’s Jerusalem headquarters, located in the JVP Media Quarter campus, founded by MK Erel Margalit. OurCrowd will lead the incubator consortium together with partners Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), Reliance Industries (NSE: Reliance) and Yissum Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. OurCrowd will be replacing Jerusalem Venture Partners, who previously led the incubator. The incubator will begin operations and accept applications in the second half of 2017.

In less than five years, OurCrowd has invested over $440M into 120 companies and eight funds. After vetting more than 6,000 companies and celebrating 13 exits, OurCrowd continues to lead the global equity crowdfunding sector for accredited investors, and make it one of the most active Venture Capitalists in the vibrant Israeli startup scene.

Jon Medved, OurCrowd’s CEO said, “We are proud to be strengthening the Jerusalem tech-ecosystem together with strong partners such as Motorola Solutions, Reliance Industries and Yissum. This represents a unique team with a global reach, incredible scale, and with deep technological, commercial and academic roots. We expect to invest in close to 50 companies over the next 10 years and further grow the formidable cadre of Jerusalem startups.”

The incubator will be part of the world famous Israeli incubator program administered by Israel’s National Innovation Authority (formerly the office of the Chief Scientist.)

Eduardo Conrado, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Innovation Office, Motorola Solutions said, “In today’s technology environment, strong partnerships and strategic investments help accelerate innovation. The Jerusalem incubator is one element of our Israel innovation hub, which is focused on developing advanced solutions in artificial intelligence, cyber security and other fields. We are proud to be part of this important project and look forward to working with OurCrowd, Reliance and Yissum on the future of public safety technology.”

“Reliance Industries is excited to further its long-term commitment to Israel by partnering with Israel Innovation Authority jointly with OurCrowd, Motorola and Hebrew University for the Jerusalem Incubator,” said the spokesperson from Reliance Industries Limited. “We are confident of Israeli start-ups offering unique value proposition by delivering next-gen digital services. We believe the incredible technological innovation from Israel will gain immensely by addressing the huge Indian market riding on the nationwide 4G LTE digital infrastructure setup in India by Jio. This will be a significant win-win for both India and Israel.”


Notes to Editors

About OurCrowd: OurCrowd is the leading global equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings companies to its accredited membership of global investors. OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and takes board seats. The OurCrowd community of almost 20,000 investors from over 112 countries has invested over $440M into 120 portfolio companies and funds. OurCrowd already has thirteen exits to date, two IPO’s and eleven acquisitions.  To join OurCrowd as an accredited investor visit http://www.ourcrowd.com  and click “Join.”
 
About Motorola Solutions:
Motorola Solutions Solutions (NYSE: MSI) creates innovative, mission-critical communication solutions and services that help public safety and commercial customers build safer cities and thriving communities. For ongoing news, visit www.MotorolaSolutions.com/newsroom  news feed.
 
About Reliance Industries:
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is India’s largest private sector company, with a consolidated turnover of INR 330,180 crore ($ 50.9 billion) and net profit of INR 29,901 crore ($ 4.6 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2017. RIL is the first private sector company from India to feature in Fortune’s Global 500 list of ‘World’s Largest Corporations’ – currently ranking 215th in terms of revenues, and 126th in terms of profits. RIL stands 106th in the 'Forbes Global 2000' rankings for 2017 - the topmost among Indian companies. RIL ranked 10^th in LinkedIn’s ‘Top Companies Where India Wants to Work Now’ (2017). RIL ranks 238th in the Financial Times’ FT Global 500 list (2015) of world’s largest companies. RIL's activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and 4G digital services.

About Yissum
Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd. was founded in 1964 to protect and commercialize Hebrew University’s intellectual property. Products based on Hebrew University technologies that have been commercialized by Yissum currently generate $2 Billion in annual sales. Ranked among the top technology transfer companies in the world, Yissum has registered over 9,325 patents covering 2,600 inventions; has licensed out 880 technologies and has spun out 110 companies including Mobileye, BriefCam, CollPlant and Qlight Nanotech. Yissum’s business partners span the globe and include companies such as Syngenta, Monsanto, Roche, Novartis, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Intel, Teva and many more. For further information please visit www.yissum.co.il.

For Press Materials: http://blog.ourcrowd.com/incubator/

Press contact:   OurCrowd: Leah Stern, Dir. Of Communications / Europe: +44 747 0196826 / US: +1 703 626 4310 / Israel: +972 54 3414861 /E: leah@ourcrowd.com

Motorola Solutions Israel: Maor Aharoni / Israel: +972 54 7723032 / E: maor.aharoni@motolasolutions.com