OurCrowd, a crowdfunding-VC hybrid reinvents entrepreneur funding in the Startup Nation.

This past October I took an intense trip to Israel where I met with leaders in the sizzling tech scene. Learning about technology in Israel was an incredible experience! Among those I met was Jon Medved, a bearlike, Berkeley grad from Santa Monica who moved to Israel at the onset of his career as a serial entrepreneur. Since then Jon has gone on to invest in over 100 start-up companies.

To find a complete set information on an individual, one source is never enough. Now there’s the Summer browser extension; it ‘sums’ up what you’re looking for, right from your sidebar.

Ever find yourself wondering about the people you read of in articles around the Web? By the time you’ve found the answers to all your questions, the browser is a mess of open tabs. Who is this person, what is their history, job title, social network posts? To find a complete set information on an individual, one source is never enough. What’s more, most online readers have short attention spans, which means their questions go largely unanswered for the sake of time.

The Rounds Video Chat App, standalone for iPhone and Android, is finally here! Previously only available on Facebook, you can now download Rounds –for FREE!

Back in June we wrote about Rounds, formerly a Facebook-only phenomenon that had raised raised a total of $5.5 million in funding from industry leading investors, including Verizon Ventures, Rhodium, DFJ’s Tim Draper, and other private investors to become a Rounds standalone app. The capital was going to turn Rounds into a a standalone app; but no ETA had been announced. Today the company quietly launched the Rounds video chat app as a standalone app available on iPhone and Android –I couldn’t be any more excited!

iOnRoad, an augmented driving app, uses your smartphone’s native technologies to alert you of possible collisions on the road.

One of the most important things to driving a vehicle safely is to understand the traffic itself. If a car is slowing down and you are right behind it, you will have to apply brakes before you collide with it. Similarly, you have to watch out for unwanted lane shifting, since it can result in accidents in heavy traffic.

Although these are basic things about driving, they are still the most important ones. If you can keep safe distance from other traffic and avoid frequent lane changes, you will be safe. However, if you don’t pay attention to the road, you may not have enough time to apply brakes or steer away to avoid a collision. But you won’t have to stay focused if you’ve an app that warns you when you are risking a collision. iOnRoad, an app from an Israel-based company (that I met with on a recent trip to I went on to learn about Technology in Israel), is an award-winning augmented driving app that does just that.

Ringya, an address book app, lets you collect and organize all your address lists into your smartphone by capturing paper and digital lists using your phone’s camera.

Wouldn’t it be great to get all those class lists, team rosters, club and committee lists, and office directories that are saved in your email attachments, or hanging on your fridge or bulletin board, into an address list on your phone, with zero effort?

The IDC Elevator’s Startup Camp provides an easy way for startups to rise the ranks to success; providing initial funding, training, grooming and more.

Startups suffer from a high failure risk. Unfortunately, this very threat of failure often proves to be the reason why many don’t pursue entrepreneurial dreams and instead, stick to mere 9-5 jobs.

If you’re tired of the rut and want to experience the entrepreneurial side of the life, the IDC Elevator is an opportunity worth exploring.

Cloud tech reaches new heights with Newvem, a cloud computing company that provides insights and analytics into your AWS cloud.

Be it a consumer or a business, cloud computing can provide an array of innovative technology solutions. For instance, a cloud tech solution can help a large company organize its data and software programs in a way that all employees can access it, whether accessing it from a home city or from the farthest corner of the world. Thanks to a centrally located server, all users can access the same data and programs, eliminating the need for pockets of employees to access local systems.

Technology in Israel: I spent a week in Israel meeting with leaders in tech. The result is a thoughtful view of a tiny country that few ever get to see.

If you’re wondering why I haven’t blogged in the last week or so, it’s because I was traveling (with a very tight schedule). Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of taking part in a delegation trip to Israel to meet with the country’s leaders in technology (startups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, incubators and more). The invitation was extended by the Israeli Consulate of NY and Israel’s Foreign Trade Ministry. The attendees, in addition to myself, were a handful of fellow U.S. bloggers. The trip’s objective was to immerse the delegation into technology in Israel, a tech and startup scene that’s been dubbed the ‘Startup Nation,’ which is also the title of a best-selling book on the very subject.