BIRD Foundation to invest $8 million in 9 new projects

During its meeting on December 13, 2021, held via video conference, the Board of Governors of the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation approved $8 million in funding for nine new projects between U.S. and Israeli companies. In addition to the grants from BIRD, the projects will access private sector funding, boosting the total value of all projects to $22 million.

The BIRD Foundation promotes collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies in various technological sectors for joint product development.  In addition to providing conditional grants of up to $1 million (up to $1.5m for exceptional projects), the Foundation assists by working with companies to identify potential strategic partners and facilitate introductions.

Projects submitted to the BIRD Foundation are reviewed by evaluators appointed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Israel Innovation Authority.

The nine projects approved by the Board of Governors are in addition to the more than 1000 projects that the BIRD Foundation has approved for funding during its 44-year history. To date, BIRD’s total investment in joint projects is over $370 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion.

The projects approved include:

  • Civan Lasers (Jerusalem, Israel) and AMET, Inc. (Rexburg, ID) to develop an Advanced Laser Welding System based on Dynamic Beam Laser.
  • TempraMed Israel (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Concept Group Corporation (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) to develop thermal insulation to shield the EpiPen Auto-Injector from exposure to high temperatures that can degrade the drug performance.
  • Cordio Medical (Or Yehuda, Israel) and International Healthcare (Norwalk, CT) to develop and validate the HearO® system that remotely monitors Congestive Heart Failure patients.
  • Mego Afek (Kibbutz Afek, Israel) and Edamame Health (Napa, CA) to develop a Lymphedema remote patient monitoring system.
  • Kav-Medida (Herzliya, Israel) and Skycatch (San Francisco, CA) to develop a high precision indoor scanning and analytics system to monitor progress in real time throughout all phases of construction.
  • Sixgill (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Basis Technology Corporation (Somerville, MA) to develop AI-based technologies, based on natural language processing, to identify emerging and imminent cyber threats.
  • Agridrones (Kfar Saba, Israel) and ISCA Technologies (Riverside, CA) to develop an intelligent drone-fitted precision dispersion system for natural pesticides and pollination enhancement products.
  • HIL Applied Medical Proton International (Jerusalem, Israel) and Proton International (Alpharetta, GA) to develop ultra-compact, affordable proton laser based beam therapy.
  • SirT6 (Ness Ziona, Israel) and Regulus Therapeutics (San Diego, CA) to develop an innovative treatment for geriatric frailty based on increasing SIRT6 protein levels.

Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation [pictured above], said: “The selected projects include breakthrough innovations that will benefit from both the U.S.-Israel partnerships and the risk-sharing funding mechanism provided by the BIRD Foundation. The awards can be a significant factor for companies seeking to raise funding, especially in an environment in which investments are often focused on less risky sectors.”

The deadline for submission of Executive Summaries for the next BIRD cycle is March 1, 2022. Approval of projects will take place in June 2022.