Years ago, when venture capitalist John Medved became interested in supporting various health tech startups, he never imagined that he would one day need them to improve his own quality of life.
Israel's close-knit startup community was dealt a blow in October when one of its best-known VCs, Medved, announced he was retiring with immediate effect. He was forced to resign from the company he founded, OurCloud, after being diagnosed with the debilitating disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
“This happened pretty suddenly,” he told TechCrunch in what was likely his last interview, his voice hoarse, a symptom of ALS.
“I had been feeling a little weird for a while, but they didn't know what was bothering me,” he explained. “I was in the hospital for a few weeks recovering, and then they tested me and said, 'You have ALS.' It's a horrible disease, the worst disease imaginable.”
ALS is a disease in which motor neurons in the brain deteriorate, causing a loss of muscle control and eventually making it difficult to walk, talk, eat, and breathe. There were no typical symptoms because the voice, not the limbs, was attacked first. But he knows the condition will get worse and there is no cure, only therapy.
Medved is considered one of the fathers of Israel's startup ecosystem, sometimes referred to as “Startup Nation” after his best-selling book of the same name from decades ago. He immigrated to Israel from California in his 20s and later founded, sold and helped lead several technology companies before turning to investing.
We founded OurCrowd in 2013. Israel is home to a number of leading domestic venture capital firms, as well as branches of global companies like Bessemer, but OurCrowd essentially invented crowdsourced venture capital, with limited partnerships open to any accredited investor.
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The firm's roster includes LPs from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, and the firm says it has grown a network of 240,000 accredited investor LPs in 195 countries. Many of them are doctors, lawyers, and ordinary people who not only support investment companies but would otherwise be excluded from the wealth creation experienced by VCs.
OurCrowd endorses names like Anthropic, Beyond Meat, and Lemonade.
Medved said OurCrowd is now a “significant player” backing about 500 portfolio companies, with about 74 exits, including the $525 million sale of its infrastructure planning startup Locusview to Itron a few weeks ago.
Despite the conflict between Israel and Gaza impacting its population and putting the nation in the global crosshairs over the Palestinian humanitarian crisis, the country's startup ecosystem remains strong.
As an “emerging nation,” Israel continues to be a major player across the entire technology stack, including not only cybersecurity and defense technology, but also AI, microchips, enterprise software, food technology, and health technology. For example, in November, “$800 million was invested in the Israeli venture ecosystem in one week,” Medved said. There are now nearly 100 unicorns in the country, and he estimates that $15 billion to $16 billion is invested in venture deals in the country annually.
Now, technology from these startups could help him get through life with an incurable disease.
For example, he has an avatar he creates himself that retains his voice, face, and mannerisms. (A realistic digital twin of the photo/video is in the photo and the full video can be viewed here.) OurCrowd AI portfolio company D-ID, maker of agents and avatars, partnered with voice AI startup ElevenLab and other companies through the ALS-focused Scott Morgan Foundation to create an avatar system designed for ALS patients.
He just experienced the technology during a Zoom call with another ALS patient who was using an avatar to communicate.
“So this thing became very personal to me,” Medved said. “It's okay if my voice disappears now.”
But he said it will rely on technology from a variety of startups.
“We've made 60, 70 healthcare investments in great companies that help people. A company called Oncohost uses AI to help choose what kinds of immunotherapies actually work… We have a company that does next-generation sequencing of the genome. We also have a company that does chronic disease management,” he enumerates.
“I say this now as someone who was once healthy.” [who took health for granted] I felt human pain and disease, but when you actually get these nasty diseases, your perspective changes,” Medved said.
All of this means that even though he may relinquish his position in running the company and retire from public life, “I'm not done yet, okay? I want to continue to contribute to both OurCrowd and the ecosystem as a whole. So I don't plan on quitting completely.” [quietly] This good night. ”
And finally he says: “We are just investors, but we are very proud to be a part of this movement.”
A video featuring Medved's “digital twin” shows how realistic his avatar already is.