Over 9,000 people participated in Israel’s largest investor event

Jerusalem – February 15, 2023  On a panel entitled “What’s Next for the Middle East: Insights from Leaders of a Regional Power” held at the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit, senior business leaders from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) discussed the growing commercial and investment opportunities following the Abraham Accords.

Speaking during his keynote address, Acting Director General of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) Eng. Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi said, “Abu Dhabi believes in the power of partnership to drive innovation and support sustainable investment opportunities. Following the success of companies like OurCrowd in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi’s ability to move quickly and support growth is drawing interest from across Israel’s startup ecosystem. ADIO looks forward to continuing the conversations started during the OurCrowd Summit and working with more innovative Israeli companies to explore Abu Dhabi’s limitless investment possibilities.”

Salmaan Jaffery, Chief Business Development Officer of the Dubai International Financial Center said, “Being part of the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit was an incredible experience. DIFC is already home to start-ups from Israel who are accessing new opportunities across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia through the region’s leading global financial centre and FinTech Hub. Last year DIFC based start-ups attracted USD $615M investments, and whilst we have made investments from the Dubai Future District Fund, much of the money came from VCs and the private sector, reflecting the confidence the market has in them and the platform they are growing from. The interest we are experiencing from Israeli startups is tremendous and I am also confident that some of our c.700 startups, growth stage and unicorn companies will want to expand here too.”

OurCrowd Arabia Chairman Dr. Sabah al-Binali who hosted the panel said, “This is the first time that the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit hosts major delegations from the UAE and the Gulf region and we are very pleased to have such strong representation in attendance. This is testament to the growing commercial ties between the countries and I look forward to developing this further as we build out OurCrowd’s business in the UAE and across the Middle East.”

At the Summit, members of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Hub71, Abu Dhabi Residents Office (ADRO) and more than eight other entities hosted The Abu Dhabi Pavilion showcasing business and investment opportunities in the emirate. A sizable number of investors, entrepreneurs and other business leaders from the UAE and other MENA countries were also in attendance, including DIFC, which is home to more than 60 percent of all FinTech firms operating in the GCC.

Over 9,000 people from over 81 countries around the world participated in this year’s OurCrowd Global Investor Summit which marked OurCrowd’s 10th anniversary. OurCrowd has over $2.1B in commitments, deployed capital into 380 portfolio companies and 42 funds around the world. In November, OurCrowd significantly expanded its Abu Dhabi operations with a new venture capital (VC) office and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tech hub supported by ADIO.