Ran Oz
About Ran Oz
Ran Oz is based in Israel. His LinkedIn profile describes him as a serial entrepreneur, investor, advisor and board member who has founded six companies. He lists three IPOs, two acquisitions and two Tech Emmy Awards. Crunchbase lists degrees from the Technion (B.Sc. EE), Tel Aviv University (M.Sc. EE) and the University of Phoenix (MBA).
Public profiles list these co-founded companies: Optibase (1989, NASDAQ IPO), VCON (1992, IPO in Europe), Peach Networks (1997, sold to Microsoft), BigBand Networks (1999, NASDAQ IPO in 2007) and Wochit (2012). The deal values and sales figures in those profiles are self-reported, so check them with him directly. Earlier, he worked as a project officer in real-time imagery interpretation systems at Israeli Military Intelligence.
He founded EquityX, listed on Crunchbase as Founder and Executive Chairman. Tracxn describes it as a Tel Aviv marketplace where startups pay for expert services with equity. Crunchbase now marks it as closed. He is also General Partner and Co-Founder at Oz Labs (listed from 2011). Since 2019 or 2020 he has been Co-Founder and CTO of CommonGround-AI.
His public investing record is small. Crunchbase counts 1 investment, 0 lead investments and 0 exits. PitchBook classes him as an individual angel investor with one recorded investment: CarLock, an automotive company, dated 9 November 2016. PitchBook also records a CarLock exit in May 2024, which Crunchbase does not show. No check sizes or deal terms are public.
Crunchbase lists six board and advisor roles. These include Strategic Advisor at AiLert, Advisor at Wemark and Advisor at SAM Seamless Network. PitchBook adds that he was previously a board member at AiLert and an advisor and investor at Serendip Media.
No AI investments by Ran Oz are publicly documented. His AI work is operational. He co-founded CommonGround-AI with Amir Bassan-Eskenazi, and the company's site says it works on AI, computer vision and real-time video compression. Third-party profiles say the company builds realistic 3D avatars from smartphone face scans for virtual meetings. His listed interests are computer vision, machine learning and real-time 3D avatars.
He has not published a thesis, preferred stage or check size. His one recorded investment was in a revenue-generating company, and his advisory roles suggest he works with early-stage startups in Israel. With EquityX he built a model where startups pay for services with equity. That is background, not a stated preference. Founders with computer vision, video or real-time media products have the most obvious overlap with his experience.
- CarLock: automotive company, invested November 2016 per PitchBook; PitchBook lists an exit in May 2024.
- AiLert: Crunchbase lists him as Strategic Advisor (advisory role, not a recorded investment).
- Wemark and SAM Seamless Network: Crunchbase lists him as advisor.
Investing activity
Ran Oz has made 1 investment according to Crunchbase across 1 portfolio company, and has founded 6 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Ran Oz
Is Ran Oz an angel investor?
PitchBook lists him as an individual angel investor. Crunchbase shows 1 investment and 1 portfolio company. His public record is mainly founding and advising.
What companies has Ran Oz founded?
Public profiles list Optibase, VCON, Peach Networks, BigBand Networks, Wochit and CommonGround-AI as co-founded companies. Crunchbase also lists EquityX and Oz Labs.
What is Ran Oz's check size?
It is not public. No source gives a check size or a stated stage preference.
Does Ran Oz invest in AI startups?
No AI investments are publicly documented. He is Co-Founder and CTO of CommonGround-AI, an AI avatar company, so he has hands-on experience in AI and computer vision.
What is Ran Oz's most recent public investment?
PitchBook lists CarLock, dated November 2016, as his only recorded investment.
Where is Ran Oz based?
He is based in Israel. LinkedIn shows the Tel Aviv District, and CommonGround-AI works from Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley.
How can founders reach Ran Oz?
Founders on Lounge can see Ran Oz's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Ran Oz to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.