TEL
AVIV, Israel, Jan. 10,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.
Ms. Mojdeh Bahar, Associate Director for Innovation and
Industry Services at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), and co-Chair of BIRD's Board of Governors
said: "The BIRD Foundation promotes cooperation between U.S.
and Israeli companies who possess strong technical capabilities and
market insights. We are excited about the potential impact of this
cycle's selected proposals on industries of strategic importance to
both Israel and the United States. With technologies ranging
from cybersecurity to smart medical devices and innovative
therapeutics, from improvements to industrial manufacturing and
fabrication applications to cost-savings in agriculture, the
proposals outline plans for the development of unique products
solving complex problems. I join my colleagues in congratulating
this cycle's awardees. "
Dr. Amiram Appelbaum, Chief Scientist at the Ministry of
Economy and Industry, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority,
and co-Chair of BIRD's Board of Governors said: "Our
long-standing collaboration with the BIRD Foundation has yielded
outstanding technological innovations following successful
collaborations between Israeli and American companies. We are
proud that, once again, the BIRD Board of Governors has selected
projects reflecting a variety of sectors such as agriculture,
medicine, cybersecurity, and construction technology. We are
hopeful that projects supported by BIRD, if successful, will
improve the health and quality of life for citizens of both
countries and beyond. We wish the awarded companies much success
and look forward to seeing them achieve successful
outcomes."
Dr. Eitan Yudilevich,
Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, 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.
About the BIRD Foundation
The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research
and Development) Foundation works to encourage and
facilitate cooperation between U.S. and Israeli companies in a wide
range of technology sectors and offers funding to selected
projects.
The Foundation supports projects without receiving any
equity or intellectual property rights in the participating
companies or the projects, themselves. BIRD funding is repaid as
royalties from sales of products that were commercialized as a
result of BIRD support. The Foundation provides funding of up to
50% of a project's budget, beginning with R&D and ending with
the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares
the risk and does not require repayment if the project fails to
reach the sales stage.
Contact information:
Limor Nakar-Vincent
Deputy Executive Director of Business Development & BIRD
Energy
BIRD Foundation
limorn@birdf.com
Tel.: +972-3- 6988-315
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SOURCE The BIRD Foundation