BIRD - Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial R&D Foundation to invest $8 million in 9 new projects: The approved projects, with an overall budget of $23 million, involve innovations in the areas of Agrotech, Biotech, Electronics, Foodtech, Medical Devices, and Quantum Technology

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Jul 26, 2023, 07:00 ET

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- During its meeting on June 28, 2023, held in Washington D.C., 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 investment in all projects to $23 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 $1.5 million, the Foundation assists by working with companies to identify potential strategic partners and facilitate introductions.

The submitted projects 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 over 1000 projects which the BIRD Foundation has approved for funding during its 46-year history. To date, BIRD's total investment in joint projects is over $390 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion.

The projects approved are:

Agado Live (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Adventist HealthCare (Rockville, MD) to develop an end-to-end remote rehabilitation platform for neurologic diseases.
Agromentum (dba as Fieldin) (Yokneam Illit, Israel) and Manulife Investment Management Agriculture Services Inc. (Turlock, CA) to develop a hardware and software platform that turns every tractor into an autonomous tractor for operating in orchards.
AlvaLinks (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Cobalt Digital (Champaign, IL) to develop a video network intelligence and observability platform for broadcasting and media companies.
ContainerEyes (Tel Aviv, Israel) and NTELX (Tysons, VA) to develop a real time tracking and risk analysis service to increase food safety and reduce food loss when it is being shipped.
GeneYX (Herzliya, Israel) and Ocean Genomics (Pittsburgh, PA) to develop a multi-omic software method, combining DNA and RNA, that improves the detection of genomic variants to improve the diagnosis of diseases and the identification of drug targets.
NeuroTrigger (Tel Aviv, Israel), and Rand Eye Institute (Deerfield Beach, FL) to develop a clinically validated eyelid pacemaker that restores blinking to individuals with facial paralysis.
Oshi (Rehovot, Israel) and The Better Meat Co. (West Sacramento, California) to develop allergen-free mycelium-based whole-cut salmon analogs.
Quantum Machines (Tel Aviv, Israel) and QuEra Computing Inc. (Boston, MA) to develop a Photonic Control Unit and Photonic Integrated Circuit, which will be incorporated into quantum computing devices.
Treetoscope (Mikve Israel, Israel) and The Toro Company (Minneapolis, MN) to develop next-generation cost-effective and scalable precision irrigation management based on direct plant sensing technology.

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 received many exciting joint R&D proposals this competition cycle in technology areas such as quantum computing, agtech, food science, medical devices, and health IT. The projects selected for funding by the BIRD Foundation Board of Governors feature strong partnerships that enable the participating companies to further develop their technologies and commercialize the resulting products through collaboration. We are confident that the selected projects will have a great impact! We wish the awardees great success with their projects."

Dr. Amiram Appelbaum, Chief Scientist of Innovation at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, and co-Chair of BIRD's Board of Governors said: "The selected companies and projects represent a diverse range of sectors. From Agri-tech to food-tech, life sciences, logistics, video processing and quantum computing, these projects showcase the immense potential for innovation and collaboration across multiple industries. Moreover, they are strategically aligned with technological domains, i.e.: climatech and quantum, that are of strategic importance to both countries in meeting the challenges humanity faces both today and in the future. We are all looking forward to the impact they will make in their respective fields."

Mr. Jaron Lotan, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, said: "As the new Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, it was important for me to keep the fund's investments at the forefront of technological development. This cycle, we received a record number of outstanding submissions, and our BIRD team provided exceptional assistance to the companies. I am proud of the diverse and high-quality companies collaborating to develop creative solutions for future technologies, and I wish them much success in their efforts to bring new and innovative products to market."

The deadline for submission of Executive Summaries for the next BIRD cycle is September 12, 2023. Approval of projects will take place in December 2023.

About the BIRD Foundation

The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation encourages and facilitates 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 from 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.

For more information, please contact, in Israel: Ms. Limor Nakar-Vincent, Deputy Executive Director of Business Development and BIRD Energy, Tel: +972-3-698-8310, [email protected]. In the U.S., contact: Ms. Andrea Yonah, Director, Business Development, East Coast/Midwest, [email protected], Ms. Shiri Freund-Koren, Director, Business Development, South, [email protected] or Ms. Anat Bujanover, Director, Business Development, West Coast, [email protected].