Equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has launched its Cognitiv fund, which will invest $100 million into early-stage artifical intelligence, robotics and digital manufacturing firms worldwide. It is the company’s 12th fund since it was founded in Jerusalem, Israel in 2013.
Cognitiv will allow investors to inject cash into 20 companies including EquityX, which allows firms to pay part-time employees with cash and equity, genetic tester KolGene and food refrigeration firm FreshKeep.
“AI powered transformation is poised to disrupt and automate every sector in business – from healthcare and financial services to agriculture and manufacturing – and could create the largest transfer of wealth in recorded history,” said Cognitiv general partner, Avi Reichental, a former president and CEO of 3D Systems.
Cognitiv comes on the tail of OurCrowd’s successful OurCrowd First, which raised around $12m in May 2016. The company has carved out a niche in high-tech startups that include portfolio firms like smart logistics brand Freightos and Intuition Robotics, whose elderly care robot ElliQ launched in beta this week.
“This growth from $12 million under management to a proposed new $100 million fund is reflective of the rapid and dramatic growth of the fund management business within the OurCrowd platform and underscores our expanding global reach and the power and vibrancy of our unique ecosystem,” said OurCrowd co-founder and CEO Jon Medved.