OurCrowd, a SoftBank Group Corp-backed Israeli venture capital firm that provides a crowd-funding platform for investors, said it transferred “almost all” of its money out of Silicon Valley Bank before the lender failed — and more than 85% of the portfolio companies it has been in contact with have “minimal to no exposure.”
(Bloomberg) — OurCrowd, a SoftBank Group Corp-backed Israeli venture capital firm that provides a crowd-funding platform for investors, said it transferred “almost all” of its money out of Silicon Valley Bank before the lender failed — and more than 85% of the portfolio companies it has been in contact with have “minimal to no exposure.”
The Jerusalem-based firm, founded by tech investor Jon Medved, has been canvassing its portfolio companies and external fund partners to assess their exposure to the bank, the company’s chief executive officer, Medved, said in an email to clients on Sunday. A spokesperson for the company didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent after business hours.
Governments and investors alike are trying to assess the full extent of the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. The bank had branches in virtually every major startup hub around the world, including Israel. OurCrowd says it’s the most active venture investor in Israel. It lists investments in more than 380 companies in the country and overseas. In 2021, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 took a $25 million convertible equity stake in the firm.
While the majority of OurCrowd’s portfolio companies that have reported back have either limited or no exposure, Medved said, “It is important to note that OurCrowd does not have information rights for a number of our portfolio companies, and as a result, it might be challenging to determine the extent of exposure to such firms in the near term.”
For its part, OurCrowd had transferred “almost all of our funds” from SVB to other institutions by the end of Thursday, Medved said. The remaining funds were being held in fully insured accounts “with low balances” when the bank failed Friday, he said.
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