Equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has furthered its global expansion by opening an office in Spain this week. The company’s founder and CEO Jon Medved has identified Spain and the Iberian region as one of OurCrowd’s “priority markets,” considering Madrid is in the “heart of Europe” and a “gateway into South America.”
The Jerusalem-based company has established a new office in Madrid’s financial district. With this expansion, OurCrowd now has offices in six countries– Israel, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Singapore; and has plans in place for an office expansion to a seventh– the U.K.
David Hatchwell, a leader of the Jewish community in Spain, will be the Chairman of OurCrowd Iberia— the company’s new Madrid office. “OurCrowd presents the Spanish market with a significant opportunity to taste what is happening in one of the most advanced markets in the world of tech: Israel, as well as offer other global startup investment opportunities,” Hatchwell said. “OurCrowd Spain will operate with strong local partners active in building significant companies, and as we consolidate, we will invest in Spanish tech companies seeking to bring additional leaders from the local ecosystem onto the OurCrowd platform.”
As a part of the recent expansion, OurCrowd has formed a strategic partnership with Cardumen Capital, a Spanish/Israel venture fund focused on “Deep Technologies.” The aim of the partnership is to offer Spanish investors “the opportunity to focus on investing in Israeli companies, building ties between Israeli and Spanish technologies.”
Cardumen’s cofounder and managing general partner, Gonzalo Martinez de Azagra said, “Together with OurCrowd, we are building a global community with an experienced team led by leading venture capitalists.” He added, “Our bilateral fund will invest in pure high tech companies, as we did at Samsung Ventures, and give access to institutional and corporate investors to these unique opportunities.”
OurCrowd’s Shai Ben-Tovim, Chief Product Officer, and Oshrat Kfir, VP of Engineering showcase at FinovateSpring 2016
Founded in 2013, the OurCrowd platform has more than 20,000 members from 112 countries. In aggregate, investors have funded more than $450 million into 120 portfolio companies and funds. At FinovateSpring 2016, the company’s Shai Ben-Tovim, Chief Product Officer, and Oshrat Kfir, VP of Engineering, debuted the OurCrowd mobile app. In June, the company partnered with National Bank of Australia (NAB) to provide NAB clients with direct access to OurCrowd startup investments. Last December, we named the company in our roundup of top direct-to-consumer wealth tech plays.