Every generation produces a small number of builders — people who don’t just succeed within a system, but reshape the system itself. In Israel’s founding era, David Ben-Gurion helped turn a dream into a state. In our time, Jon Medved has helped turn Israel’s ingenuity into a global engine for innovation — one rooted not only in profit, but in human value.
Medved, the Founder and CEO of OurCrowd, is widely known as one of Israel’s most influential investors. Recently diagnosed with ALS, he is famous for the OurCrowd summit which brought together hundreds of innovative start-up companies and thousands of investors. Less often acknowledged is the deeper truth: he helped reinvent how Israel builds companies, funds ideas, and aligns capitalism with purpose. He is also a mensch.
“My Greatest Accomplishment Is My Family”
When I asked Jon Medved what he considers his greatest accomplishment, he didn’t hesitate.
“My greatest accomplishment is my family,” he said.
“I can credit it to my wife, Jane, who gave me an ultimatum when we were just thinking about getting married and said, ‘Either do it or lose me.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m doing it.’ That was a very good decision.”
Today, Jon and Jane are parents to four children and grandparents to 15 — “and even more on the way, God willing.”
“That’s my best KPI,” he added.
Family, values, and responsibility are not side notes in Medved’s story. They are the foundation.
Building Israel — and Being Built by It
“One of my other great accomplishments was choosing to live in Israel,” Medved told me.
“There’s an old pioneer song: Anu banu artza livnot u’lehibanot bah — we’ve come to the land to build it and be built by it. That’s really been the story of my life.”
Medved arrived in Israel not as an engineer or technologist — he never formally studied science or technology — but as a student activist who believed in people and systems that unlock potential.
“Israel is a place where miracles come true,” he reflected.
“I built a tech career without ever taking a college course in science or technology.”
Today Medved knows more science, technology and innovation inside and out. Over the years, he has helped bring many billions of dollars into Israel’s economy and has been a partner in companies that have created more than 10,000 jobs.
Democratizing Capitalism — for Investors and Founders
When Medved founded OurCrowd in 2013, the innovation wasn’t just opening venture capital to individual investors. That was only half the transformation.
Equally important was what OurCrowd did for founders.
For the first time, many early-stage companies gained access to a systematic, credible, and repeatable pathway to capital. OurCrowd helped founders professionalize fundraising, prepare for rigorous diligence, and connect to long-term global investors — not through elite gatekeepers, but through a transparent platform built on merit.
“The idea behind OurCrowd was a necessary idea,” Medved said.
“We built the platform, met regulatory requirements, created trust, and reached critical mass. That can’t be taken away.”
This dual democratization — empowering both investors and entrepreneurs — helped accelerate Israel’s evolution into the Startup Nation not just in name, but in reality.
Capital With Impact Multipliers
Medved is explicit that profit alone was never the point.
“It’s not just about making money,” he said.
“It’s about building jobs, building Israel, building the world, healing the world — and building people.”
Medved’s philosophy explains why so many OurCrowd-backed companies generate impact multipliers — commercial success paired with societal benefit.
Jennifer & Victor Mizrahi with Jonathan Medved at the King David Hotel. Photo courtesy of JLM.
For full disclosure, my husband Victor Mizrahi and I met Medved more than two decades ago. Inspired by his work, vision and team, we have invested in some of OurCrowd’s climate impact companies, including Flash Forest, Carrar and Quidnet. We also worked with him when the Jerusalem Press Club brought climate journalists to Israel to see solutions, as well as on a solutions-focused webinar. His team includes top experts such as Liat Sverdlov who are passionate about both purpose and profits.
Some of OurCrowd’s other deeply impactful companies include:
• ZutaCore, whose waterless, two-phase cooling technology dramatically reduces the massive energy footprint of data centers
“Taking PUE [power usage efficiency] from 1.5 to 1.1 isn’t a game changer,” Medved said. “It’s a new game.”
• Remilk, producing real milk protein through fermentation rather than cows, reducing emissions, water use, and cost while eliminating lactose intolerance
• BlueGreen Water Technologies, which cleans polluted water while mitigating methane emissions
• Surgical Theater, enabling surgeons to rehearse complex procedures in immersive 3D, improving outcomes and saving lives
• Alpha Tau, delivering targeted cancer therapies that destroy tumors while sparing healthy tissue
• InsightecFocused ultrasound technologies, treating Parkinson’s and essential tremor and allowing patients to walk out -improved after minutes of therapy
• mPrest and other Cybersecurity and defense companies, which Medved says help keep Israel — and the world — safe
Together, these companies reflect a distinctly Israeli model of capitalism: ambitious, innovative, and grounded in responsibility.
“What Are You JEWING?”
At one point, Medved reframed a familiar question in a way only he could.
Not “What are you doing?”
But: “What are you JEWING?”
It’s a philosophy of action — where Jewish identity is expressed through responsibility, creativity, and service.
“I don’t tolerate jerks,” Medved said plainly.
“I want to work with good people who share values.”
That ethos shapes OurCrowd’s culture, which is unapologetically human and family-centered.
“We hire people who are four or five months pregnant because we want that person,” he explained.
“If we get ten good years from someone and they take several maternity leaves — great. That’s life.”
The Future of Israel: Making Room for the Next Generation
When I asked Medved about Israel’s future, his answer mirrored the way he is approaching succession at OurCrowd.
“People of my generation need to step aside and make room,” he said.
“The younger generation has proven itself — under fire, in the war — in a remarkable way.”
He spoke with deep confidence about leaders in their 30s and 40s.
“They are ready for prime time,” Medved said.
“We don’t disappear. We support, advise, and help. But there has to be a generational shift — in business, politics, and institutions.”
It is the same principle guiding his own transition: together build something strong enough to thrive without you.
Prepared for Continued Success Beyond the Founder
Medved is clear-eyed about what comes next.
I am very proud of the OurCrowd management team that is leading the company since I stepped aside as CEO. They are continuing to build the company and will take it to new levels of achievement he said.
“Strong founders have to know when to step aside.”
Many of the people he mentored now lead funds, startups, and institutions of their own — a quiet but enduring legacy.
“I’m Far From Done”
Despite facing ALS, Medved remains unmistakably forward-looking.
“I’m far from done,” he told me. “I’m staying in the game.”
When I asked how people who care about him can be helpful now, his answer was simple and deeply human.
“Be in touch,” he said. “I love the contact — messages, visits, staying connected. Give me strength, and I’ll do my best to give it back.”
Jon Medved’s story is ultimately not just about capital or technology. It is about believing that systems can be redesigned to unlock human potential — and then doing the hard work to build them.
Im tirzu — ein zo agada.
And in our time, Jon Medved has shown us what that looks like.
Despite wars and numerous challenges, Jonathan Medved has helped make Israel thrive through innovations that solve true human challenges. Photo courtesy of OC.