OurCrowd invests $60 million in expanded Abu Dhabi operations
Israeli venture firm, OurCrowd, will expand its Abu Dhabi operations with a new venture capital (VC) office and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tech hub enabled by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO). The two new initiatives will see OurCrowd expand its team based at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to 60 over the next four years, as part of a USD 60 million investment by the company in the emirate.
OurCrowd Arabia, which opened in the UAE capital in 2021, is also establishing a new VC investment centre in Abu Dhabi to manage deals for its existing platform and cater to emerging markets.
Eng. Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi, Acting Director General of ADIO, said: “OurCrowd is a great example of a company that has benefitted from Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem to achieve accelerated growth. In just a year, OurCrowd has moved from an initial licence to an established market player, with its new investment centre and tech hub bringing additional VC and tech focus to Abu Dhabi and expanding the availability of solutions and technology to companies.”
OurCrowd and ADIO are collaborating to launch Integrated Data Intelligence (IDI) to commercialise AI for businesses. Based at ADGM’s Hub71, IDI will develop AI solutions that enable businesses to easily adopt and leverage the advanced technology. The launch of IDI reinforces Abu Dhabi’s commitment to support the expansion of innovative businesses that contribute to the emirate’s knowledge economy.
IDI is a commercial AI company that is developing AI solutions for business, including project-based and AI-as-a-service offerings. It will act as a technical hub of excellence using advanced data automation, AI and Machine Learning (ML) models to reduce costs and improve outcomes for data intensive tasks.
Jon Medved, Founder and CEO of OurCrowd, said: “Following a global search for the most suitable location for IDI and OurCrowd’s new investment center, Abu Dhabi was by far the most fitting destination. The World Economic Forum ranks the UAE first in the world in best e-infrastructure and macroeconomic stability, and the third most-trusted government. These factors, with numerous other advantages including global talent and market access, underscore why Abu Dhabi is now home to OurCrowd Arabia and OurCrowd’s new AI spinoff, and why we will continue to invest in the innovation infrastructure and talent in the country.”
ADIO established an office in Tel Aviv in 2021 to support innovative Israeli companies looking to establish and expand their operations in the UAE capital. ADIO has awarded OurCrowd a package of financial and non-financial incentives to accelerate its growth in Abu Dhabi.