Israel’s OurCrowd announces $60M investment by Japan’s ORIX

Israeli crowdsourcing platform OurCrowd received a $60 million strategic investment earlier this week. The announcement came following Japanese-based financial services group ORIX Corporation’s decision to make its first investment in Israel via OurCrowd’s offer.

For the sizable investment, ORIX Corporation will receive access to OurCrowd’s startup network with plans to collaborate in creating financial products and investment opportunities for the Japanese and global markets.

Started in 2013, OurCrowd touts a reported $1.5 Billion in committed funds. The company hosts more than 220 portfolio companies and 23 venture funds in over 183 countries.

OurCrowd has seen some great success with a number of exits; IPOs of Beyond Meat and Lemonade, the JUMP Bike by Uber, the acquisition of Briefcam by Canon, the acquisition of Argus by Continental, the acquisition of Crosswise by Oracle, the acquisition of Replay by Intel, and many more.

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.

In a recent press release, CEO of ORIX UK, Kiyoshi Habiro said, “We are excited about investing in OurCrowd, Israel’s most active venture investor and one of the world’s most innovative venture capital platforms. We intend to be active partners with OurCrowd and help them accelerate their already impressive growth, while bringing the best of Israeli tech to Japan’s large industrial and financial sectors.”

Over the past several years, Japan-Israel trade has increased significantly with Japan becoming one of the largest investors in Israeli tech and with over 90 Japanese companies now active in Israel.  ORIX and OurCrowd will work to further increase cooperation between the two countries and enhance opportunities for Israeli startups throughout Asia.

OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved stated, “ORIX is a global leader in diversified business and financial services who will strengthen OurCrowd in many ways. We are enthusiastic about the potential to further transform the venture capital asset class together and provide a strong bridge for our innovative companies to the important Asian markets.”