Israel’s OrCam reportedly seeks New York IPO at $3 billion valuation
Calcalist says maker of devices to assist the blind hopes to raise $300 million in share sale in 2021; firm is also seeking to privately raise some $200 million ahead of IPO
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Israel’s OrCam Technologies, a developer of devices to assist the blind and visually impaired, is seeking to hold an initial public offering of shares in New York in 2021, to raise $300 million at a valuation of $3 billion, financial website Calcalist reported on Monday without saying where it got the information.
Before the share offering, the firm plans to raise funds from private investors for a total of $150-$200 million, at a valuation of $1.5 billion to $2 billion, the report said.
There was no immediate comment by a spokesman for the firm about the Calcalist report.
OrCam was founded in 2010 by Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, the same entrepreneurs who set up Mobileye, a maker of self-driving and assisted driving technologies that was sold to Intel in 2017 for $15.3 billion after it listed shares on the Nasdaq in 2014 at a valuation of $5.3 billion.
OrCam’s MyEye device is a finger-sized device that attaches to any pair of eyeglasses. Using artificial intelligence software, the device is able to read printed and digital text out loud, but discreetly, from any surface in real time. The device also recognizes people’s faces, and identifies consumer products, colors and currency.
The firm has raised some $129 million to date from investors including Intel Capital and Israeli institutional investors Clal Insurance and Meitav Dash, an investment management company, according to the database of Start-Up Nation Central.
In September the firm enrolled soccer legend Lionel Messi to be the face of the company, and its MyEye device was chosen as a 2019 TIME Best Invention.
