Israeli startups push crowdfunding as investment in Israel

New funding platforms and high-profile success stories of Israeli technology companies are fueling the growth of small-scale investments by Zionist Jews seeking to help Israeli startups by reaching for their wallets and phone books. Funding platforms like OurCrowd and iAngels — which require relatively low minimum investments and supply easy access to pre-vetted Israeli startups — are making Israeli industry much more accessible to Jews outside Israel.

Sammy Rubin, an insurance entrepreneur from London, invested in Israeli startups through OurCrowd. His portfolio includes NextPeer, a gaming company that has been bought, and FreightOS, a shipping management service. Rubin told Al-Monitor that OurCrowd's investment platform lets him “participate in the Israel story, which has turned in the last few years into a high-tech story.”