The founder of OurCrowd, one of the world’s leading venture capital investment platforms, Jon Medved, is stepping down as CEO to assume the role of chair, with Cali Chill taking over as its acting CEO, the firm announced on Tuesday.
This leadership transition comes amid OurCrowd’s handling of over $2.6 billion in assets, positioning itself for what executives described as its next global expansion phase. Medved will focus on strategic initiatives, including international growth and strengthening the firm’s portfolio offerings.
Chill, a seven-year veteran of OurCrowd who most recently served as chief investment officer and chair of its investment committee, will oversee day-to-day operations across the firm’s global investment activities and platform services.
Chill's leadership history
“It is a privilege to take on the role of acting CEO and chief operating officer at this pivotal moment for OurCrowd,” Chill told The Jerusalem Post. “Having led operations for several departments of our firm since 2019, I know the strength of our platform, our team, and our global community,” he said.
Under Chill’s investment leadership, OurCrowd has backed major technology-based companies, including Anthropic, Databricks, Scale AI, Safe Superintelligence, Kodiak Robotics, Quantum Machines, Groq, and SpaceX, as well as prominent funds such as NEA, Draper Associates, and Lightspeed.
The platform has become a force in democratizing access to venture capital, offering accredited investors entry points starting at $10,000 for company investments and $50,000 for venture funds – opportunities traditionally reserved for institutional players and wealthy insiders.
“Democratization, or ‘retailization’ (allowing smaller organizations and individuals to participate in investment deals typically reserved for conglomerates) is now a reality,” Chill said.
“This is not a passing trend. This is really happening – right here, right now. And OurCrowd, more than a decade in the making, is here at the right place and the right time to seize this opportunity by the horns and cash in,” he continued.
Chill brings an unusual background to the CEO role. He arrived in Israel from Newton, Massachusetts, when he was one year old. He has since built a career spanning from work at large law firms in Manhattan to helping grow Answers.com, based in St. Louis, into the $900 million company it is today.
“I started my career in law 25 years ago and have always been doing deals, be they investments in start-ups, M&A [mergers and acquisitions], or commercial partnerships, which is probably why I fit so perfectly into the OurCrowd world,” Chill said.
OurCrowd's future
Looking ahead, Chill outlined plans to reposition OurCrowd as a more focused Tier 1 venture capital platform while addressing a key concern in today’s market: Liquidity.
“In a world where IPOs [initial public offerings] are much slower and harder to obtain, finding ways to get our investors liquidity earlier has to become a feature of ours,” he said, indicating the firm will focus on secondary transactions to provide earlier exits.
Medved, who founded OurCrowd in 2013 and recently announced he has ALS, said that continuity regardless of the leadership change was most important.
“Cali has been an integral part of OurCrowd’s leadership team for nearly seven years,” Medved said. “His proven leadership and deep knowledge of our business make him exceptionally well qualified to assume the acting CEO role and ensure continuity as we enter our next exciting growth phase.”
Notably, every year since 2013, PitchBook has consistently ranked OurCrowd as Israel’s most active venture investor. The platform now serves over 240,000 registered members from 195 countries.
The firm has invested capital into more than 500 portfolio companies and 68 funds across five continents, recording 73 exits.
Notable exits include public listings of Kodiak Robotics, Beyond Meat, Lemonade, and Innoviz. Its high-profile acquisitions involve Canon’s BriefCam, Microsoft’s CyberX, and Kenna Security by Cisco.
“Venture capital has historically concentrated power among a tight-knit privileged group of investors,” Chill told the Post.
“Less of the benefit flows to the average investor, since these opportunities all go down behind closed doors and high fences, in all-too private markets. OurCrowd is here to change this dynamic. The time for that is now,” Chill said.