Herald Business | PETER MOREIRA | Oct 31, 2016

Jonathan Medved flew into Halifax on Sunday afternoon, and by Sunday night he was talking about the companies he’d like to invest in.

Medved, the founder of the Israeli-based equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd, was in Halifax to address Startup Grind Halifax, which brings speakers into the city. And he told the 60 attendees at his talk that he’d already met two companies — one a data analytics company, the other an agricultural technology venture — that he is interested in backing.

He went on to say that the conditions in Canada in general and Atlantic Canada in particular are such that there are likely to be more investments.

He said the technology is incredibly advanced in this country, but there is a lack of capital to get new technological products to market.

“We will do deals here,” he said in a discussion with Startup Grind Halifax Founder Oleg Yefymov. “We will probably build a Canadian fund because the quality of the companies (in Canada) is so far ahead of the capital that’s being formed here that the opportunity is really attractive.”

Medved, an American who has invested in more than 100 Israeli startups, had the goal of establishing a platform that allows investors to invest in startups on the same terms as major venture capital funds. So he launched OurCrowd, which lets accredited investors (roughly, those with more than $1 million in investable assets) to get in on these deals. The fund now has 15,000 investors who have invested in more than 100 companies (including two in Canada) and had 10 exits.

The Washington Post called him “one of Israel’s leading high-tech venture capitalists.”

See:  Israeli crowdfunding co OurCrowd raises $72m

In 2008, the New York Times Supplement Israel at 60 called Medved one of the 10 most influential Americans who have has an impact on Israel.

So it was heartening that he repeatedly said that he was so impressed with the companies he’d witnessed in his few hours in Halifax.

He said the next generation of successful startups will be be dominated by deep technology — not mobile or social, but big data, robotics, artificial intelligence and the like. It will be comprised of complicated systems that have complex and far-reaching industrial applications.

“I think you guys (in Atlantic Canada) are well placed because when you think of all the big data stuff and the oceans stuff that you have here — that is the hard stuff to produce,” said Medved.

He mentioned that he had been told of as many as 10 companies that sounded interesting and he hoped to learn about more.

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The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with both social and investment crowdfunding stakeholders across the country. NCFA Canada provides education, research, leadership, support and networking opportunities to over 1300+ members and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry in Canada. Learn more at ncfacanada.org.