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Law360 (June 2, 2020, 6:14 PM EDT) -- Crowdfunded venture capital investment platform OurCrowd said Tuesday that it's aiming to raise $100 million for a Pandemic Innovation Fund that will target startups focused on navigating the COVID-19 crisis and future pandemics.
Israel-based OurCrowd said the Pandemic Innovation Fund will finance about 15 to 20 companies in total, including those working on treatments, vaccinations and cures for COVID-19 as well as businesses that are addressing the economic and social effects of the pandemic.
"There is now an urgent need for innovation to help us overcome many of the problems resulting from the crisis," the company said in a blog post released alongside the announcement. "It's time for tech to move fast and fix things."
OurCrowd is an investment platform for accredited investors to finance startup companies. It provides venture capital financing to portfolio companies and opens investments to its members, according to its website.
The pandemic fund will be open to certain accredited private investors as well as institutional investors, the blog post said.
Potential targets for the pandemic fund will include companies working with vaccines and testing; digital medicine; remote networking; online logistics; and cybersecurity solutions for small businesses, OurCrowd said.
Some of OurCrowd's current portfolio companies may receive follow-on investments from the fund, the blog post said. The post highlighted, among others, MigVax, which is working to develop an oral vaccine for COVID-19; SaNOtize, which is testing a drug for COVID-19 prevention and treatment; Kryon, a company focused on automated processing of coronavirus test results; and Intuition Robotics, which is fashioning a "digital companion" for elderly people.
The company noted the possible effects of the pandemic on the global economy, saying some nascent technologies will expand and other new industries could emerge.
"This new struggle against an invisible threat will result in the creation of new areas of business activity," OurCrowd said. "The new shape of the world economy is already beginning to emerge," the post said.
An OurCrowd representative told Law360 that the company expects considerable investor interest in the fund.
"We expect a great deal of interest as the theme is on everybody's mind and the opportunity is very appealing based on the global focus on the pandemic and the 'new normal,'" the representative said.
Other OurCrowd portfolio companies have included high-speed transportation startup Hyperloop One and industrial drone company Airobotics. OurCrowd is also part of an investor consortium formed in May 2019 to finance advancements in food and agriculture technology in Israel.
OurCrowd is far from the only investor seeking out opportunity amid the pandemic. Heavyweight investors such as KKR & Co. and Apollo Global Management have both secured billions for funds created around the market disruption stemming from the coronavirus, while Brookfield Asset Management Inc. revealed plans in May for a $5 billion program focused on providing capital to retailers struggling with the economic turmoil.
OurCrowd is represented by in-house counsel in forming the fund and fundraising.
--Additional reporting by Benjamin Horney and Matthew Perlman. Editing by Daniel King.
Update: This story has been updated with comment from OurCrowd and counsel information.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
