OurCrowd’s huge $25M round shows investors are hot on equity crowdfunding

Update 9:18 a.m.: An earlier version of this piece stated that Investec Bank Australia participated in OurCrowd’s $25 million funding round. It was former Investec Bank Australia CEO Geoff Levy, not the institution, that did. 

OurCrowd has quickly become a major force in equity crowdfunding.

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Although it’s a relatively new player on the crowdfunding scene — it officially launched in February 2013 — the Israel-based crowdfunding platform has already helped 36 portfolio companies raise a collective $43 million. Most of that money comes from its crowd of 4,000 accredited investors, although OurCrowd also takes a stake in those companies itself.

Now the startup wants to ramp up that growth in Israel and abroad: OurCrowd today announced it has raised $25 million in new funding from former Investec Bank Australia CEO Geoff Levy and other individual investors.

OurCrowd proudly noted that this funding round is the biggest for an equity crowdfunding platform to date, which rings true — I have never seen an equity crowdfunding platform grab this much cash in one go.

“We are delighted to have closed this major funding milestone for OurCrowd,” said CEO Jon Medved in a statement.

OurCrowd competes with equity crowdfunding platforms like CircleUp and Crowdfunder, although it has a higher barrier to entry than most: Investors must contribute a minimum of $10,000 per deal. Additionally, OurCrowd has a partnership with GE Ventures, which can co-invest with OurCrowd in its crowdfunded startups.

Equity crowdfunding differs from donation- or reward-based crowdfunding (like on Kickstarter or Indiegogo) because backers receive an actual equity stake in the companies they fund.