Top private investor to ‘Post’: Smart money should look at Israel
Melanie Sturm said that Israeli technology continues to help the world, powering phones, protecting computers, making farms more sustainable, and more.
“Smart money should look at Israel,” said Melanie Sturm, a top-level private investor who visited the country last week on OurCrowd’s Israel Resilience Tour.
Sturm, a high-net-worth individual and the founder of Engage to Win, who has been investing in Israel since 2016, said that “when sophisticated markets are down, and other factors that usually affect market values are fine – resources, talent, ideas –” it is the best time to invest.
She said that during the economic downturn of 2008, she was advised to increase her investments but was hesitant. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when markets faltered, she took that advice and “it has worked out well – very well.”
Look at Israel's survival
So, Sturm said, now is the time to look at Israel.Sturm invested in OurCrowd’s Israel Resilience Fund, which developed shortly after October 7. The fund provides critical financing to companies impacted by the war. Investors benefit from discounted valuations and a no-fee structure. In December, OurCrowd Founder and CEO Jon Medved offered some of the top investors in the fund a chance to take a resilience tour of the country. Sturm said she looked at the itinerary and agreed to come this month.
Tour participants were in the country from March 11 to 13. They took part in onsite demos of start-up technologies solving critical infrastructure, military and security needs, held in-person discussions with start-up CEOs on their businesses and their resilience, and met with high-profile decision-makers who could provide insight into the situation on the ground.