OurCrowd shifts strategy toward later-stage bets and faster exits as Cali Chill takes over as CEO
The investment platform is moving about 80% of its future investments toward more mature companies as it seeks to shorten investment cycles and monetize its existing portfolio.
Global investment platform OurCrowd is introducing a major shift in its investment strategy, moving most of its resources away from early-stage and broadly diversified investments toward more focused bets on companies at advanced stages of development and with lower risk profiles, as it seeks to generate faster liquidity and returns for investors. In parallel with the strategy shift, the company announced that Cali Chill has been appointed permanent CEO, after serving as acting CEO and COO since mid-2025.
The new strategy is based on investing in a smaller number of companies with higher valuations and at more advanced growth stages. In an interview, Chill said the company is now seeking to enter investments worth hundreds of millions or several billion dollars at stages when the risk is relatively limited. About 80% of OurCrowd's investments going forward will be in companies at advanced stages, with the aim of reaching an exit and generating liquidity within two to three years, rather than the much longer investment cycles that have characterized some of its earlier bets, such as BioCatch.
Chill emphasized that OurCrowd is looking for larger and more significant investments in fewer companies, and is less focused on being a major player across the breadth of the Israeli startup market, as it was in the past.
A central part of implementing the new model is OurCrowd's investments in 40 leading venture capital funds, including Lightspeed and NEA. These relationships give OurCrowd access to quarterly information on thousands of companies, as well as opportunities for follow-on investments, secondary transactions and investments in companies at more advanced stages.
The approach has also provided access to some of the world's most closely watched private companies. OurCrowd invested in SpaceX through one of its funds at valuations significantly below its current level, with the company and the funds in which it invested deploying about $30 million across different stages of its growth.
Another example is the March 2026 investment in Cerebras, a developer of AI chips and infrastructure that competes with Nvidia in computing. OurCrowd invested in the company through one of its funds at around $100 per share on the eve of its IPO. Cerebras subsequently went public at $180 a share, and its stock has since risen to around $220. OurCrowd investors are expected to record a significant return when the applicable lock-up period expires in September.
At the same time, OurCrowd made three follow-on investments in portfolio company ZutaCore, a developer of liquid-cooling technology for data centers, with the expectation that it could be acquired in the coming years at a significant valuation.
Chill's appointment as permanent CEO caps a year in which OurCrowd's management has focused on operational stabilization, a smaller number of higher-conviction transactions and an assessment and monetization plan for the existing portfolio. The company has also been rebuilding its investment and asset-management workflows to adapt to the growing use of artificial intelligence in investing.
The strategy shift comes shortly after OurCrowd announced one of its largest potential exits to date: the reported $2.4 billion acquisition of portfolio company BioCatch by Visa. OurCrowd invested in BioCatch at an early stage and followed on through its growth. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the end of Visa's fiscal second quarter of 2027.
Chill assumed the role of acting CEO in mid-2025, after founder Jon Medved stepped back from day-to-day management for medical reasons. He has now been appointed by the board to officially lead the company, while Medved remains a shareholder but is no longer involved in its day-to-day operations. Alongside Chill's appointment, Ben Plotkin was appointed chairman of the board.
Chill has spent seven years at OurCrowd, joining as general counsel before becoming chief legal officer. He later served as head of funds and CLO, overseeing the firm's in-house and third-party investment funds, and was subsequently appointed chief investment officer and chairman of the investment committee, with direct oversight of the firm's deal flow.
Before joining OurCrowd, Chill served as general counsel of Nasdaq-listed Answers Corporation and AFCV Holdings, a private-equity-backed technology investor. He holds a joint LLB/MBA from Bar-Ilan University and is licensed to practice law in Israel and New York.
Founded in 2013 as a platform giving accredited private investors and family offices access to venture capital investments alongside global institutions and sovereign wealth funds, OurCrowd currently has nearly 8,000 active investors. Since its inception, the company has raised more than $2.6 billion in commitments across more than 500 portfolio companies and dozens of funds, generating 73 exits to date, including the reported $2.4 billion acquisition of BioCatch by Visa.
