Israeli, Thai Firms Team Up On $50M Israel-Focused VC Fund

Israeli online investment platform OurCrowd has teamed up with top Thai innovation developer RISE to create a fund for early-stage startups in Israel. 

The $50 million ROCX (Rise OurCrowd Exponential) Fund is the first Israel-focused VC fund for a Thai institution. It will focus on early-stage startups working in multiple fields, including cybersecurity; artificial intelligence; health, food and climate tech; and semiconductors.

The fund will be managed by experienced VC experts, the companies said, and plans to begin investing by the end of next year. 

Over a period of two to three years, it will invest tens of millions of dollars in 20 to 30 companies that show a promising track record and the capacity to develop marketable solutions. The funds will help these companies grow and develop ties with leading Southeast Asian corporations. 

“The partnership between the ROCX Fund, RISE and OurCrowd will create an unprecedented bridge between Thailand, greater Southeast Asia, and emerging Israeli technologies,” said OurCrowd founder and CEO Jon Medved. 

“The new joint capacity unleashed by the ROCX Fund has the exponential potential to leverage the innovation from Startup Nation for the benefit of Thailand and the regional ecosystem to generate a double bottom line of GDP growth and social impact across Southeast Asia,” he said. 

“RISE is dedicated to fostering the growth of corporate innovation and global startups by facilitating powerful collaborations with leading corporations across Southeast Asia, creating mutually beneficial partnerships that drive growth and market expansion,” said RISE co-founder and CEO Dr. Kid Parchariyanon. 

“This new fund in partnership with OurCrowd will invest in the most cutting-edge deep technologies both Israel and Asia have to offer and put them to work in creating maximum impact and changing lives, from life sciences to agriculture, from artificial intelligence to cybersecurity and beyond.”