Jon Medved wanted to be a politician.
The founder and CEO of global venture investing platform OurCrowd, Medved was raised in San Diego, California, where he served as the Democratic State Central Committee’s youngest member. After his first year at Berkeley, he spent a summer in Israel. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, the campus became rampant with anti-Israel propaganda.
“There were rallies where people shouted ‘Death to Israel.’ Berkeley was ahead of its time,” Medved said with a wide grin. However, “it pissed me off because I had been to Israel, and I loved it here.” Being the “political kid” he was, he began counter-protesting. Eventually, he picked up and made aliyah.
Venture capitalism wasn’t in the younger Medved’s playbook, but he quickly realized the power of high technology. “I decided I wanted to build an international economic sort of juggernaut that had Jerusalem assets that I felt were most apt according to PitchBook [software].”
Today, OurCrowd is Israel’s most active venture investor.
“We make more investments every year than any other group. We do it from Jerusalem, and people are willing to drive here, from around Israel and all over the world, to invest,” he said.
For Medved, business is about Zionism, optimism, and impacting the world simultaneously. “I think there’s a passion about more than money,” Medved insisted. “I connect with the entrepreneurs on the level of wanting to change the world.
“I believe so many of these companies, whether it’s hunger or climate, or you know, just lifting everybody’s economics, education, space – these are all things that are incredibly important, and this has become... the country’s growth engine.”
Medved lives in Baka and asked to meet at Grand Café on Bethlehem Road. It’s his second office – OurCrowd offices are behind the First Station, but Medved does most of his business deals over coffee.
He pointed out several other VC and tech leaders in the establishment. “It’s not Buck’s of Woodside” – a famous spot for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. “But it’s becoming the Jerusalem version.”
He’s watched the neighborhood develop over 40 years; Baka, in particular, has become one of Jerusalem’s more affluent neighborhoods. Jerusalem too has grown remarkably, and he still believes it has the right conditions to nurture a hi-tech hub.
“There was always tech in Jerusalem,” Medved explained – mostly tied to the Hebrew University. “But Jerusalem has always been in the shadow of Tel Aviv. It’s changing.”
Last week, Mayor Moshe Lion told In Jerusalem of his plans to erect millions of square meters of business towers. Medved good-naturedly contemplated how the mayor planned to fill those towers, but said it was right.
“If you want to grow the hi-tech sector, then Jerusalem needs this real estate,” Medved said. But he maintains tech success has more to do with the ecosystem than the buildings housing it.
One reason Medved says Israel’s been so successful: having attracted around 400 R&D centers for major multinational companies – primarily through acquiring smaller start-ups developed by Israeli entrepreneurs.
In Jerusalem, that’s Intel purchasing Mobileye, or Cisco buying out NDS.
Funding resilience
Times are more challenging now. Medved launched the Israel Resilience Fund after Oct. 7 to encourage investment in budding companies that might otherwise flop while they wait until the war’s end.
“[Diaspora] Jews were all busy buying ceramic vests, night vision goggles, and boots – what we call the duffel bag brigade,” Medved said. So he did what he does best: opened the fund and agreed to forgo management fees and money on the upside. This usually is how OurCrowd makes a living, “but now is not the time.”
To date, the fund has raised close to $20 million.
He said companies are struggling – many had to let staff go or are filling in for reservists. But he asserts the Start-Up Nation will survive.
“We should be fine,” Medved said with a nod. “We’re already seeing all the typical signs of recovery.”
He also praised the government’s decision to allocate more budget funds to the Israel Innovation Authority. While government funding is still only around 5% – private investors fund 95% of Israel’s tech ecosystem – he said upping the allocation was a statement, especially given the current security situation.
“But good luck getting employees to work in the office!” he lamented, noting the creativity generated by face-to-face interactions, lost with the post-pandemic preference for hybrid schedules.
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He said artificial intelligence is the No. 1 investment, highlighting a recent decision by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to join the board of directors of the Israeli counter-disinformation company Cyabra, which OurCrowd invests in.
Cyabra specializes in uncovering online threats and safeguarding companies, products, and individuals from malicious actors, disinformation, bot networks, and Generation AI text and images by analyzing billions of online interactions. Cyabra also offers actionable insights to counter issues such as election interference, brand reputation attacks, and impersonations.
The company has experienced 20x revenue growth over the past two years and scored top customers, including Singaporean media conglomerate Mediacorp, also announcing the completion of a $5.7 million Series A extension round of funding led by OurCrowd. The round brought Cyabra’s total funding to $16 million.
The Pompeo announcement coincided with the World Economic Forum’s report release during Davos 2024 this week – presenting the proliferation of false and misleading information, intensified by new tech like AI as the most imminent threat to the global economy.
Medved stressed the importance of fighting strong on social networks. “The war is being fought on TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook,” Medved said. “We should say this is where we can fight and win.”
Also hot? Quantum computers and cybersecurity.
Proud father, investing in youth
Already animated, Medved beamed when discussing daughter Nina, who with husband Yoni make up the duo Yonina Music. Their new original song “Melaketet Kochavim” (Gathering Stars) shares their story from Oct. 7 on, with Nina at home and Yoni in reserves.
Is the whole family musical? Medved, married with four kids, shared that “we like to sing together. But Nina is the only one worth listening to.”
As the conversation turned back to politics, Medved said it was time for the tech community to lead Israel. When the dust settles, he hopes new, young leadership would surface from the 30something techies.
“Where else should we get leaders from?” Medved mused. “I think in this generation it should be the young entrepreneurs.
“Look, we’re investing in people this age, right?
“Why can’t they lead?” ■
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