Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial R&D (BIRD) Foundation to invest $8.2 million for 9 new projects between U.S. and Israeli technology startup companies

Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation is investing $8.2 million in funding for nine new projects between U.S. and Israeli companies. The foundation announced the funding approval during its meeting on June 18, 2019, held in Washington D.C. In addition to the grants from BIRD, the projects will access private sector funding, boosting the total value of all projects to approximately $20 million. The approved projects involve innovations in the areas of Agrotechnology, Cleantech, Healthcare IT, Life Science, Media, Communication and others.

Founded in 1997, the Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation was established by the United States and Israel governments to promote mutually beneficial industrial research and development. The BIRD Foundation promotes collaborations between U.S. and Israeli companies in various technological fields for the purpose of joint product development. In addition to providing conditional grants of up to $1 million for approved 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 U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Israel Innovation Authority.

The nine projects approved by the Board of Governors are in addition to the 982 projects which the BIRD Foundation has approved for funding during its 42-year history. To date, BIRD’s total investment in joint projects is nearly $350 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion.

The approved projects include:

• 3PLW (Netanya, Israel) and Corumat (Albany, CA) to develop Food Waste Derived High Performance Compostable Packaging.
• Igentify (Haifa, Israel) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA) to develop Genomic Data Interpretation & Reporting Software Platform for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based Expanded Preconception Carrier Screening Test.
• Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) (Lod, Israel) and Headwall Photonics (Bolton, MA) to develop Precision Agriculture Decision Support System for Large Scale Areas Utilizing Wide Area Hyper-Spectral Imager and Fixed Wing Mobile UAV.
• MyndYou (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Cosan Group LLC (Cherry Hill, NJ) to develop  an Innovative Clinical Network for Optimized, In-home Care with AI-based Patient Engagement.
• Netafim Irrigation (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Onvector LLC (Somerville, MA) to develop a Filter Based on Pulse Electric Fields for Advanced Disinfection of Irrigation Water.
• NovelSat (Ra’anana, Israel) and iGolgi (Rocky Hill, NJ) to develop Fusion- End to End, Joint Encoding-Modulation Techniques to Improve Satellite Broadcast Efficiency for Carrying Multi-Channel Audio-Video Programs Carried over Satellite.
• hamaym Social Business (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Karyopharm Therapeutics (Newton, MA) to develop a Drug Development Operations and Execution Debrief Checklists Platform.
• Snappers (Or Yehuda, Israel) and Turner Studios (Atlanta, GA) to develop The Affiliate Crowdsourced Video Platform.
• WizeCare (formerly Video Therapy) (Or Yehuda, Israel) and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation(Cleveland, OH) to develop Tele-Rehabilitation, Monitoring and Detection Platform for Parkinson Disease Patients.

“The U.S.-Israel BIRD Foundation continues to invest in projects that represent not only a range of innovative technologies but also is inclusive of companies of all sizes, from both the U.S. and Israel, which are developing solutions with potential impact to the global economy. We will continue to enhance the Foundation’s ability to support joint U.S.-Israel innovation,” said Dr. Phillip Singerman, Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and co-Chairman of BIRD’s Board of Governors.

Commenting on the funding, Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, said: “The diversity of companies and technologies that is reflected in the selected projects is inspiring and a demonstration of the breadth and depth of U.S.-Israel collaboration in innovation.”

The deadline for submission of Executive Summaries for the next BIRD cycle is September 5, 2019. Approval of projects will take place in December 2019.