DOCSLIB.ORG

Our Crowd Presentation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Our Crowd Presentation Equity Crowdfunding Changing the world of innovation finance AshleyDan Krongold Bennett– –GeneralManaging Partner Director OctoberFOSS session,2015 January 2015 1. Global VC over Equity Crowdfunding Equity Crowdfunding Changing2. Who we arethe and world our approach of innovation to investment finance 3. OurCrowd’s Portfolio Snapshot 4. The Opportunity 5.DanOurCrowd Bennett Team– Managing Director FOSS session, January 2015 Market Disruption: Crowdsourcing in Finance • Massolution: Crowdfunding portals raise $5.1 billion in 2013 – nearly double the amount raised in 2011. • Over $16 billion in 2014 raised!!! • The World Bank estimate places global crowdfunding at $95B by 2025 Consumer Lending Rewards-based Donations Venture Capital Source: Massolution Crowdfunding Industry Overview 2013 Source: Deloitte TMT Predictions 2013 “Let's get together: crowdfunding portals bring in the bucks” Source: World Bank “Crowdfunding’s Potential for the Developing World” 3 Reward-based crowdfunding: Where is the Reward? The recent acquisition of Oculus raises questions Pays $2B for company and Original crowd funders get nothing Andreesen, Spark, Matrix Partners back Oculus Rift (virtual reality headset) with $75M Series B, then Facebook acquires the company for $2B December 2013 … March 2014 After raising $2.4M from Kickstarter, Oculus Rift gets the attention of major investors Now investors are Naturally, this plays into asking why do I the rise of equity only get a tshirt? crowdfunding platforms 4 Our Story of Consumer Physics (SCiO) – multiple CF uses Miniaturized spectrometer, allowing for the first hand-held molecular sensor. Applications: measuring nutritional information in foods, allergens, authenticating precious metals and leathers, etc. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/903107259/scio- your-sixth-sense-a-pocket-molecular-sensor-fo 5 The Story of Consumer Physics (SCiO) Co-investors: Khosla Ventures Crowdfunded seed round on Co-founder, Sun Microsystems OurCrowd - $375k raised | 2013 GP, Kleiner Perkins Dov Moran M-Systems, acquired by SanDisk for ~$1.5B Menahem Kaplan Global CTO, Alcatel-Lucent $5B optical business The Story of Consumer Physics (SCiO) Product launch - $2.8M in preorders Crowdfunded seed round - $375k raised | 2013 Launched consumer product on Kickstarter in 2014 Product launch on Kickstarter at $200 price point saw over $1.2M in pre-orders within a week. Opened follow-on via OurCrowd – raised $3.3M within two weeks Rave reviews in media: VentureBeat, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes, BBC, Fox, Gizmag, TechCrunch Equity1. Global VC Crowdfunding/ ECF Platform – over half investments in Israel, why? Changing2. Who we arethe and world our approach of innovation to investment finance 3. OurCrowd’s Portfolio Snapshot 4. The opportunity Dan Bennett – Managing Director 5.FOSSOurCrowd session, JanuaryTeam 2015 The largest ECF platform in the world! $220M+ 120+ 10,000+ invested countries 33 80+ members Up-rounds Companies 0 Failures in portfolio Co-investors OurCrowd - Who are we? . Global leader in equity crowdfunding . Almost $220M raised for platform and portfolio . Raised $175M for over 70 companies . 30+ companies with over $1m raised, ten over $3m, seven at or greater than $4m, two at $8m and one over $10m 10 A hybrid of venture capital and crowdfunding 3000+ companies Researching and OurCrowd invests Open the deals per year selecting only the best its own money to the crowd “Crowdfunding for real investors” (TheStreet.com) . Currently Selecting 1-2% of the deals pitched (circa 350 a month) . We always Co-invest with crowd (up to 10% of round) . Sophisticated and selected investors only . We mentor our companies and take board seats We offer the professionalism of VC and flexibility of Angel investing Venture Capital Angel OurCrowd Access to Deal flow Top deal flow Limited Top deal flow Due diligence Professional Limited Professional Legal Dealt with Need to deal with Dealt with Rights Protected Common shares Protected Commitment Large No No Fees Heavy No Lower than VC Discretion/Choice No Yes Yes 13 Selection of OurCrowd companies Key Investment Criteria 1. Great team Smart and/or serial 4. Traction entrepreneurs Round A: Early product, users, Traction Great Team customers & revenues 2. Market: Address a huge market Addressable Sponsorship Large opportunities Market 5. Sponsorship: Board, mentor, advise, smart investors Simple Value Value Proposition 3. A simple value proposition. Easily understood by us AND by “our crowd”. 6. We seek “deals” and are value-sensitive. 15 Diversification across stage Seed round Series A-B Rounds Series C-D Rounds Idea phase R&D, early sales POC, sales & revenue Diversification across sectors Other Optics/Semis Medtech Health 5% 2% 15% Mobile Social Media 11% 8% Software Internet 8% 12% Cleantech 5% Consumer E-Commerce 6% Cloud/Storage 7% 3% IT Security / Fintech Communications 9% 5% Gaming 4% 17 18 $10.000 19 Equity1. Global VC Crowdfunding/ ECF Platform – over half investments in Israel, why? Changing2. Who we arethe and world our approach of innovation to investment finance 3. OurCrowd’s Portfolio Snapshot 4. The opportunity Dan Bennett – Managing Director 5.FOSSOurCrowd session, JanuaryTeam 2015 Exoskeleton device Advanced robotics allowing paraplegics to stand, walk & climb stairs. Best performing IPO on NASDAQ 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xd27c-pz4Y New Zealand Feeding the world NZ / Israeli water tech impact Mobile app that enables farmers to control water use. Israel recycles 75% of its water, #1 in the world. By CropX– the world’s most comparison, #2, Spain, recycles just 11% of its water. affordable water “Israel should be proud of being at the forefront of green innovations” – Angel Gurria, OECD Chair 22 Wireless Electricity • CEO Meredith Perry: Forbes’s ‘30 Under 30: Energy’ list and Fast Company’s ‘100 Most Creative People in Business’ • Energy from a wall outlet and uses ultrasound to project a focused beam of invisible energy • 25+ patents, $7-10 billion market, CO-INVESTORS: e.g. hotels, airlines and malls 23 Global Kinetics – Medical Care • Technology for movement disorder (e.g. Parkinsons) • Accelerometer / algorithms optimise delivery of medication • Used in 130+ clinics with relevant regulatory approvals (CE, FDA etc) OurCrowd has closed Australia’s largest ever equity crowdfunding round for $1.5 million” 19.05.15 Fighting the most deadly killer: malaria Israel’s interdisciplinary strengths Sight Diagnostics represents the convergence of two key Israeli strengths: life sciences/biology and machine vision/advanced algorithms Malaria has killed millions in the past decade SightDX’s computer vision technology reduces the time to diagnose from several hours to minutes 25 Biometric security for the army now for civilians Identifying fraud through mouse/keyboard/touchscreen input monitoring which has 450 identifications that you are the user 26 Keeping the public safe Case study: Boston Marathon Bombing Problem: Law enforcement had thousands of hours of footage from throughout the city. Solution: BriefCam’s software allows review of hours of footage in short scenes displaying all “actions” on top of each other. .Video synopsis software to turn hours of footage into a short clip .Advanced video analysis algorithms allow searching by color, direction of motion, size or speed of objects, and more The ability to review a day of footage in a minute! Hi-tech air treatment enVerid delivers a patented air treatment system using submarines / space stations tech Saves energy (up to 40% in existing US and Israeli buildings). enVerid was recently awarded a $2.4m grant from the US Dept of Energy to accelerate market adoption. Putting your surgeon in the cockpit Surgical Rehearsal Platform: highly differentiated Israeli military tech Applying the science of flight simulation to advanced CT/MRI imaging tech The only FDA-approved player in its market Surgical Theater’s core technologies are powered by the military technologies pioneered by its founders, Moty Avisar and Reducing surgical errors and costs Alon Geri, with the medical help of Dr. with F-16 simulator technology Warren Selman featured on CNN here 29 Co-investing with leading angel investors Peter Thiel Li Ka-Shing Eric Schmidt PayPal Horizon Ventures Google Gigi Levy Ajay Shah 888 Benny Landa Silverlake Sumeru Amdocs Indigo Shah Capital Partners 30 Co-investing with leading investor groups Top-tier funds and institutional investors 31 Co-investing with leading investor groups Top-tier funds and institutional investors 32 Equity1. Global VC Crowdfunding/ ECF Platform – over half investments in Israel, why? Changing2. Who we arethe and world our approach of innovation to investment finance 3. OurCrowd’s Portfolio Snapshot 4. The opportunity Dan Bennett – Managing Director 5.FOSSOurCrowd session, JanuaryTeam 2015 You can choose to invest in three ways 1. Cherry pick: accredit online and select individual companies 2. Portfolio Reserve: Create a diversified portfolio. 3. Corporate Partnership You always invest alongside OurCrowd investing its OWN capital Equity1. Global VC Crowdfunding/ ECF Platform – over half investments in Israel, why? Changing2. Who we arethe and world our approach of innovation to investment finance 3. OurCrowd’s Portfolio Snapshot 4. The opportunity Dan Bennett – Managing Director 5.FOSSOurCrowd session, JanuaryTeam 2015 OurCrowd’s Leadership Team Jon Medved Co-Founder & CEO Pini Lozowick General Partner . Washington Post: "one of Israel’s leading high tech . General Partner at Alta Berkeley
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Crowdfunding in Asia
    Crowdfunding in Asia May 2018 Introducing the first free directory of crowdfunding platforms across Asia. The data is based on the AlliedCrowds Capital Finder, a database of over 7,000 alternative finance capital providers across emerging markets. Our data has been used by organizations like FSD Asia, UNDP, World Green Economy Organization, GIZ, World Bank, and others in order to provide unique, actionable insights into the world of emerging market alternative finance. This is the latest of our regular reports on alternative finance in emerging markets; you can find all previous reports here. Crowdfunding rose in prominence in the post-financial crisis years (starting in 2012), and for good reason: a global credit crunch limited the amount of funding available to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Since then, crowdfunding has grown rapidly around the world. Crowdfunding is especially consequential in countries where SMEs find it difficult to raise capital to start or grow their businesses. This is the case in many Asian countries; according to the SME Finance Forum, there is a $2.3 trillion MSME credit gap in East Asia and the Pacific. Crowdfunding can help to fill this gap by offering individuals and small businesses an alternative source of capital. This can come in the form of donation-based as well as lending-based (peer-to-peer or peer-to-business) crowdfunding. In order to help entrepreneurs and small business owners to find the crowdfunding platform that’s right for them, we are releasing the first publicly available list of all crowdfunding platforms across Asia. The report is split into two key sections: the first one is an overview of crowdfunding platforms, and how active they are across the largest markets on the continent.
    [Show full text]
  • CEP Discussion Paper No 1498 September 2017 Equity
    ISSN 2042-2695 CEP Discussion Paper No 1498 September 2017 Equity Crowdfunding and Early Stage Entrepreneurial Finance: Damaging or Disruptive? Saul Estrin Daniel Gozman Susanna Khavul Abstract Equity crowdfunding (ECF) offers founders of new ventures an online social media marketplace where they can access a large number of investors who, in exchange for an ownership stake, provide finance for business opportunities that they find attractive. In this paper, we first quantify the evolution of the ECF market in the UK, the world leader, as well as the benign regulatory environment. ECF already represents more than 15% of British early stage entrepreneurial finance. We then use qualitative methods to explore three research questions. First, do these large financial flows via ECF platforms supplement or merely divert more traditional forms of funding for entrepreneurs? Second, do investors understand and appropriately evaluate the risks that they are bearing by investing in this new asset class? Finally, does ECF finance bring with it the spillovers, e.g. advice and guidance critical to entrepreneurial success, associated with other sources of funding such as Venture Capital? Our study is based on extensive interviews with investors, entrepreneurs (including some who chose not to use ECF in favour of traditional funding sources) and regulators. We conclude that ECF provides real additionality to the sources of entrepreneurial finance while not bringing major new risks for investors. This suggests other jurisdictions might consider implementing the British “principles based” regulatory framework. Keywords: equity crowdfunding, early stage entrepreneurial finance, financial regulation, investor choices JEL: G3; G21; L26; M21 This paper was produced as part of the Centre’s Growth Programme.
    [Show full text]
  • Read > the SPAC Explained
    MAY Perspectives 2021 The SPAC Explained The SPAC once again rose to prominence in 2020 and momentum has continued to build this year. By mid-March 2021, the number of SPACs raised had already eclipsed the total raised in 2020. The term SPACs has taken over the lexicon of those on Wall Street. SPACs, special-purpose acquisition companies, are shell companies set up to raise money to acquire another, existing company. They are essentially pools of capital that are listed on an exchange. The goal is to find a private Derek Schmidt, CFA, company to buy, effectively taking the acquired company public much quicker CAIA than via the traditional IPO process. SPAC vehicles have been around for decades Director of Private Equity but have recently risen in popularity as experienced investors and management teams have chosen this route to decrease the risks associated with a traditional initial public offering (IPO). HOW SPACS WORK A SPAC is a newly-formed company that uses a combination of IPO proceeds and additional financing to fund the acquisition of an Initial Business Combination (IBC). Sponsors who put money at risk in a SPAC receive founder shares and Joe McGuane, CFA Senior Research Analyst, warrants for their investment. The SPAC can also identify an investor or a group Alternatives of investors to provide additional capital in exchange for a private investment in public equity (PIPE) if needed. The proceeds raised for the IPO are placed in a trust account and invested in U.S. Treasury Bills while the SPAC’s management team seeks to complete an acquisition.
    [Show full text]
  • Venture Capital Limited Partnership Agreements: Understanding Compensation Arrangements Kate Litvak†
    File: 07 Litvak Final Created on: 4/2/2009 2:10:00 PM Last Printed: 4/2/2009 2:13:00 PM Venture Capital Limited Partnership Agreements: Understanding Compensation Arrangements Kate Litvak† This Article uses a hand-collected dataset of venture capital partnership agreements to study venture capitalist (VC) compensation. Several new findings emerge. First, VC compen- sation consists of three elements, not two (management fee and carried interest), as common- ly believed. The third element is the value-of-distribution rules that specify when during the fund’s life VCs receive distributions. These rules often generate an interest-free loan to VCs from limited partners. A shift from the most popular distribution rule to the second-most popular rule can affect VC compensation as much as or more than common variations in management fee (from 2 percent to 2.5 percent of committed capital) or carried interest (from 20 percent to 25 percent of fund profit). Second, VC compensation is often more com- plex and manipulable than it could have been. However, more complex management-fee provisions predict lower total compensation; thus, complexity is not used to camouflage high pay. Third, common proxies for VC quality predict higher levels of the more transparent forms of VC compensation (carried interest and management fee) but do not predict the levels of opaque compensation (interest-free loan, as determined by distribution rules). Fourth, long-term VC performance predicts fund size (which in turn predicts VC pay, con- trolling for fund size), but recent performance does not predict changes in fund size. Finally, VC compensation is less performance-based than commonly believed: for vintage years between 1986 and 1997 (most recent years for fully liquidated funds), about half of total VC compensation comes from the nonrisky management fee.
    [Show full text]
  • Powering the Crowd Into the Future
    POWERING THE CROWD INTO THE FUTURE KEY LEARNINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS Davinia Cogan, Peter Weston POWERING THE CROWD INTO THE FUTURE KEY LEARNINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENERGY ACCESS CROWDFUNDING AND P2P LENDING CONTENTS BIOS 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 INTRODUCTION 6 1 STATE OF THE MARKET 8 2 THE 6 CAMPAIGN ARCHETYPES 12 1. PARTNERSHIP MODELS 15 CASE STUDY: TAHUDE FOUNDATION 16 2. ONE-OFF FUNDRAISERS 17 CASE STUDY: RAFODE 19 CASE STUDY: SOLARIS OFFGRID 20 3. MEGA-CAMPAIGNS 22 4. P2P MICROLENDING 23 CASE STUDY: EMERGING COOKING SOLUTIONS 24 5. ONLINE DEBT-BASED SECURITIES 26 CASE STUDY: SIMUSOLAR 27 CASE STUDY: AZURI TECHNOLOGIES 29 5.EQUITY CROWDFUNDING 31 CASE STUDY: TRINE 32 3 INTERVENTIONS TO CATALYSE FUNDING 34 4 CROWD POWER UPDATE 37 CONCLUSION 39 REFERENCES 41 This material has been funded by UK aid from the UK government; however the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies. Published December 2018 Design: www.dougdawson.co.uk Front cover by C.Schubert BIOS Davinia Cogan Peter Weston Davinia Cogan is the Programme Peter Weston is the Director of Manager of Crowd Power at Energy Advisory Services at Energy 4 Impact. 4 Impact. She runs the UK aid He manages a team of consultants funded programme, which explores that advises off-grid SMEs in Sub the role of incentives to stimulate Saharan Africa and helps them to donation, reward, debt and equity implement new business models crowdfunding in the off-grid energy and technologies. He is an expert sector in Sub- Saharan Africa and in power, renewables and off- South Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • Twitter Valued in Billions As Popularity Climbs 15 December 2010
    Twitter valued in billions as popularity climbs 15 December 2010 veterans Mike McCue and David Rosenblatt to its board of directors as it tightens its focus on turning its popularity into revenue. Twitter co-founder Evan Williams stepped down in October as chief executive, ceding the helm to Google veteran Costolo, who was brought in last year to help the micro-blogging service make money. Costolo, whose Web content distribution company Feedburner was purchased by Google in 2007, has A fresh infusion of investment cash pushed Twitter's been at the forefront of efforts to begin monetizing market value up to 3.7 billion dollars on Wednesday with Twitter since he joined the company last year. the number of people using the microblogging service climbing to 175 million. Twitter, which allows users to fire off messages of 140 characters or less known as "tweets," has enjoyed skyrocketing popularity since it was launched in 2006 by Williams, Jack Dorsey and Biz A fresh infusion of investment cash pushed Stone. Twitter's market value up to 3.7 billion dollars on Wednesday with the number of people using the McCue is chief executive of social magazine iPad microblogging service climbing to 175 million. application maker Flipboard while Rosenblatt's resume includes stints at Microsoft, Google, More than 25 billion "tweets" were fired off during DoubleClick and Netscape. the past 12 months, with Twitter adding 100 million new accounts during that same time frame, the "These additional resources and expertise will be firm's chief executive Dick Costolo said in an online extremely helpful as Twitter continues to grow as a post.
    [Show full text]
  • Trend Analysis the Israeli Unit 8200 an OSINT-Based Study CSS
    CSS CYBER DEFENSE PROJECT Trend Analysis The Israeli Unit 8200 An OSINT-based study Zürich, December 2019 Risk and Resilience Team Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich Trend analysis: The Israeli Unit 8200 – An OSINT-based study Author: Sean Cordey © 2019 Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich Contact: Center for Security Studies Haldeneggsteig 4 ETH Zurich CH-8092 Zurich Switzerland Tel.: +41-44-632 40 25 [email protected] www.css.ethz.ch Analysis prepared by: Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich ETH-CSS project management: Tim Prior, Head of the Risk and Resilience Research Group, Myriam Dunn Cavelty, Deputy Head for Research and Teaching; Andreas Wenger, Director of the CSS Disclaimer: The opinions presented in this study exclusively reflect the authors’ views. Please cite as: Cordey, S. (2019). Trend Analysis: The Israeli Unit 8200 – An OSINT-based study. Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich. 1 Trend analysis: The Israeli Unit 8200 – An OSINT-based study . Table of Contents 1 Introduction 4 2 Historical Background 5 2.1 Pre-independence intelligence units 5 2.2 Post-independence unit: former capabilities, missions, mandate and techniques 5 2.3 The Yom Kippur War and its consequences 6 3 Operational Background 8 3.1 Unit mandate, activities and capabilities 8 3.2 Attributed and alleged operations 8 3.3 International efforts and cooperation 9 4 Organizational and Cultural Background 10 4.1 Organizational structure 10 Structure and sub-units 10 Infrastructure 11 4.2 Selection and training process 12 Attractiveness and motivation 12 Screening process 12 Selection process 13 Training process 13 Service, reserve and alumni 14 4.3 Internal culture 14 5 Discussion and Analysis 16 5.1 Strengths 16 5.2 Weaknesses 17 6 Conclusion and Recommendations 18 7 Glossary 20 8 Abbreviations 20 9 Bibliography 21 2 Trend analysis: The Israeli Unit 8200 – An OSINT-based study selection tests comprise a psychometric test, rigorous Executive Summary interviews, and an education/skills test.
    [Show full text]
  • Venture Capital Communities 1
    Venture Capital Communities 1 Amit Bubna Indian School of Business Gachibowli, Hyderabad, India 500 032 Sanjiv R. Das Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University, CA 95053 Nagpurnanand Prabhala Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 February 27, 2014 1Comments welcome. We thank Alexandre Baptista, David Feldman, Jiekun Huang, Ozgur Ince, Vladimir Ivanov, Pete Kyle, Josh Lerner, Laura Lindsey, Robert Marquez, Vojislav Maksi- movic, Manju Puri, Krishna Ramaswamy, Rajdeep Singh, Richard Smith, Anjan Thakor, Susan Woodward, Bernard Yeung, and participants at the CAF, FIRS, Midwest Finance Association, World Private Equity and TAPMI conferences, and seminar participants at Blackrock, Florida, George Washington University, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, ISB, Kellogg, Maryland, NUS, the R User Group, Rutgers, UNSW, and Villanova for helpful comments. The authors may be reached at their respective email addresses: amit [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Abstract Venture Capital Communities While it is well-known that syndication is extensively used in venture capital (VC) financing, less is known about the composition of VC syndicates. We present new evidence on this issue. While VC firms have a large pool of syndicate partners to choose from, they tend to draw from smaller groups of partners that we call VC \communities." We implement new techniques to uncover these groups and use them to understand preferences driving syndicate partner selection. We find a complex pattern in which preferences for dissimilar partners to extend influence coexist with preferences for similarity in terms of functional style on dimensions of industry, stage, and geographic specialization.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Crowdfunding in Reducing the Equity Gap in Poland
    RUCH PRAWNICZY, EKONOMICZNY I SOCJOLOGICZNY Rok LXXXI – zeszyt 3 – 2019 MICHAŁ ŁUKOWSKI, PIOTR ZYGMANOWSKI THE ROLE OF CROWDFUNDING IN REDUCING THE EQUITY GAP IN POLAND I. INTRODUCTION Technology changes the way financial intermediaries act. It is notice- able especially in Western European countries, both in the banking sector (for example Revolut or N26) and the capital market sector, where the use of equity crowdfunding platforms (for example Seeders and Crowdcube) by early stage companies for capital raising is becoming increasingly popular. These platforms are connecting entrepreneurs (issuers) and investors, acting as intermediaries in the conclusion of transactions on financial instruments. The importance of equity crowdfunding can be demonstrated by the value of transactions carried out with the use of such platforms, which in 2017 reached GBP333 million in the UK, and EUR211 million in the countries of continen- tal Europe. The growing importance of equity crowdfunding has made it the subject of many studies, such as those carried out by Agrwal, Catalini and Goldfarb,1 or Ashlers, Cumming, Guenther and Schweizer.2 This technological revolution has also reached the Polish capital market with the recent regu- lation from 21 April 2018, which allows public offerings up to EUR1 million to be carried out without a prospectus or memorandum. This enables public offerings organized by equity crowdfunding platforms. Taking the above into consideration, we decided to analyse the development of equity crowdfunding in Poland due to its growing popularity and the changes to Polish law. The main purpose of the article is to characterize equity crowdfunding in Poland and place it among other sources of equity capital.
    [Show full text]
  • The Political and Economic Implications of Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment Decisions
    Chazen Society Fellow Interest Paper The Political and Economic Implications of Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment Decisions JEREMY BROWN MBA ’09 Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have been thrown into the media spotlight recently, with calls for the nationally controlled investment vehicles to accept or adopt some level of regulation to govern their actions and investment decisions. This paper attempts to apply general ideas from the world of asset management to demonstrate a model in which SWFs can generate excess economic returns while minimizing the political risk that is inherent in a nation-state controlling and managing an investment fund. History and Background of SWFs The difficulty in analyzing SWFs in any coherent review begins with the difficulty of determining a simple definition of a SWF. A February 2008 study conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lists eight separate definitions, which are further distinguished by five different objectives. For the purposes of this review, however, the focus is on two definitions that are broader than those in the IMF report. These come from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute and the United States Department of the Treasury. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, an impartial organization established to study fund effects on global economics, defines a sovereign wealth fund as follows: A Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, or other financial instruments funded by foreign exchange assets. SWFs can be structured as a fund or as a reserve investment corporation. Some funds also invest indirectly in domestic state owned enterprises.1 1 Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, “About Sovereign Wealth Funds,” Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Inc., http://www.swfinstitute.org/swf.php.
    [Show full text]
  • HIGHLIGHTS and SUMMARY the Startup World Gathered in Jerusalem During the First Week of March for 600 the 2019 Ourcrowd Global Investor Summit
    18,000+ Registered to attend from 189 countries 1,200 Entrepreneurs HIGHLIGHTS AND SUMMARY The startup world gathered in Jerusalem during the first week of March for 600 the 2019 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit. Over 18,000 people registered to attend from 189 countries. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate Multinational corporate representatives, investors, government officials, and press engaged in a packed representatives week of activities, including tech and press tours, corporate meetups, VC forums, insider access to accelerators, labs, and startups – and of course, some great partying. 470 Venture capitalists The Summit has become one of the largest and most important tech events in the world and the biggest business event in Israel’s history, taking over the iconic International Convention Center in Jerusalem, as well as other venues in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. 210 The programming was incredibly diverse, with some 80 different sessions and over 200 Speakers speakers, providing unprecedented insight into the world of startup venture capital. On Summit Day, March 7, almost every hall was at or over capacity. 215 The 103 exhibitors and 65 sponsors broke records, as did the number of accredited Delegations investors, VCs, and multinational corporations represented. Attendees were plunged from 140 countries into a sensory experience of hands-on interaction with breakthrough technologies, insights from industry leaders, doers, and thinkers, and the shoulder-to-shoulder all-day networking that is unique to the Summit. 1,000+ Summit Week, with a record 24 events, has now become an institution in Israel. Scheduled Highlights were the new OurCrowd Advisory Forums, which harness the extensive networking knowledge and experience held by OurCrowd’s top-tier investors and corporate meetings partners, as well as the OurCrowd Pre-Summit Leaders Forum, an all-business event for the elite of the ecosystem, oversubscribed with 800 attendees.
    [Show full text]
  • Entrepreneurial Finance and Productivity in Different Institutional Contexts: Lessons from Equity Crowdfunding
    CHAPTER 8 Entrepreneurial Finance and Productivity in Different Institutional Contexts: Lessons from Equity Crowdfunding Douglas Cumming and Sofia Johan To finance growth, entrepreneurial firms need external financing. While bank finance is the most common for entrepreneurial firms,34 many firms do not have sufficient collateral and/or stable cash flows to enable them to obtain or maintain debt finance. Equity finance has traditionally been available from angel investors and venture capitalists (VCs). But the pres- ence of angels and VCs does not imply that the market for entrepreneurial finance is complete or without gaps of underserved entrepreneurs with good ideas and scant capital. In most countries around the world over the last decade, the biggest change to the landscape of equity finance for entrepreneurs has been the introduction of equity crowdfunding (Cum- ming and Johan, 2019). There is substantial evidence consistent with the view that equity crowdfunding facilitates productivity growth. Equity crowdfunding deep- ens capital markets for startups, particularly at the most nascent stage of entrepreneurial firm development, thereby lowering costs of entry for startups. As such, equity crowdfunding is an important instrument for introducing and spreading new technology, which improves productivity. Empirical evidence is supportive. For example, large sample evidence is consistent with the view that crowdfunding improves small firm growth (Eldridge, Nisar, and Torchia, 2019; Stevenson, Kuratko, and Eutsler, 2019), enables the development of smart cities (Carè, Trotta, Carè, and Rizzello, 34 See Cosh et al. (2009) for UK evidence, and Robb and Robinson (2014) for US evidence. fraserinstitute.org / 69 70 / Achieving the 4-Day Work Week: Essays on Improving Productivity Growth in Canada 2018), and enables firms to get to the next level in subsequent capital raises (Signoria and Vismara, 2018).35 Given the importance of equity crowdfunding to entrepreneurial finance and productivity, in this chapter we address two interrelated ques- tions.
    [Show full text]