The Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation approved $8 million in funding for nine new projects between US and Israeli companies.
The BIRD Foundation promotes collaborations between US 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.The nine projects approved by the fund join more than 1,000 projects that the BIRD Foundation has funded 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 new projects include Civan Lasers, a Jerusalem company, that will collaborate with the Indiana-based AMET to develop an advanced laser welding system based on Dynamic Beam Laser and TempraMed from Tel Aviv that will partner with Concept Group Corporation from Florida to develop thermal insulation to shield the EpiPen Auto-Injector from exposure to high temperatures that can degrade the drug performance. Other partnerships include: Cordio Medical (Or Yehuda, Israel) and International Healthcare (Norwalk, CT) to develop and validate the HearO®️ system that remotely monitors Congestive Heart Failure patient; 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; 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.
“The BIRD Foundation promotes cooperation between US and Israeli companies who possess strong technical capabilities and market insights,” said Mojdeh Bahar, Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and co-Chair of BIRD’s Board of Governors. “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.”
Dr. Amiram Appelbaum, Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy and co-Chair of BIRD’s Board of Governors said that the decades-old partnership has yielded outstanding technological innovations between Israeli and American companies.
“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,” he said.