BIRD - Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial R&D Foundation to Invest $6 Million in 5 New Projects

The approved projects, with an overall budget of $15 million, involve innovations in Electronics, Healthcare, Medical Devices, and Quantum Computing

TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- During its meeting on December 16, 2024, held in Tel Aviv, the Board of Governors of the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation approved $6 million in funding for five new projects between U.S. and Israeli companies. In addition to the grants from BIRD, the projects will leverage private-sector funding, boosting the total investment in all projects to $15 million.

The BIRD Foundation facilitates 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 BIRD staff and evaluators appointed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Israel Innovation Authority.

The five projects approved by the Board of Governors add to the over 1100 projects the BIRD Foundation has approved for funding during its 47-year history. To date, BIRD's total investment in joint projects has surpassed $396 million, helping to generate direct and indirect sales of over $10 billion.

The projects approved are:

• Medasense (Ramat Gan, Israel) and Blink Device Company (Seattle, WA) to develop  an advanced anesthesia monitoring system that tracks pain, muscle relaxation, and level of consciousness, helping doctors make accurate decisions during surgery.
• Qedma (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Amazon Web Services (Seattle, WA) to develop HPC-enhanced quantum error mitigation designed to execute larger quantum circuits and drive progress in practical quantum computing applications.
• RespirAI Medical (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Right at Home (Omaha, NE) to develop an AI-powered home monitoring platform for managing multiple chronic health conditions and early detection of flare-ups.
• SpotItEarly (Kibbutz Hamaapil, Israel) and Penn Medicine (Philadelphia, PA) to develop, test, and validate an early cancer detection technology for multiple types of cancer that combines AI technology with dogs' highly sensitive sense of smell.
• TriEye (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Lumotive (Redmond, WA) to combine Lumotive's beamforming technology based on LCMtm Chip (Light Control Metasurface) with TriEye's CMOS-based SWIR imaging technology to build a compact, high-performance sensor for autonomous vehicles and other applications.

Dr. Alon Stopel, Chief Scientist of Innovation at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, and co-chair of BIRD's Board of Governors said: "The Board of Governors of the BIRD Foundation convened in Israel and reviewed numerous proposals for R&D projects submitted by entrepreneurs from Israel and the U.S. who have teamed up to accelerate development and drive commercialization in the global market. The five selected projects have the potential to enhance quality of life in key areas such as healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and quantum computing. We congratulate the awarded companies and encourage other tech companies to submit their projects to benefit from collaborations via the BIRD Foundation and the thriving U.S.-Israeli ecosystem."

Mr. Mike Moner, Director, Advanced Manufacturing Office at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and co-chair of BIRD's Board of Governors said: "I am pleased to serve on the BIRD Foundation's Board and to have the opportunity to attend this meeting. What makes the Foundation so successful is the emphasis on meaningful partnerships between U.S. and Israeli companies that value collaboration. The proposals selected for this competition cycle reflect that value ? facilitating impactful partnerships and important R&D efforts in quantum computing, medical devices and patient care, and autonomous driving sensor technologies. I commend and congratulate the recipients."

Mr. Jaron Lotan, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, said: "We were thrilled to host the BIRD Foundation's Board of Governors meeting once again in Tel Aviv. During this cycle, the Board faced the challenge of selecting projects from an outstanding array of submissions reflecting partnerships between excellent companies. We are proud of those highly innovative initiatives chosen, spanning diverse fields such as medical diagnostics, medical devices, advanced electronics, and quantum computing."

The deadline for submission of Executive Summaries for the next BIRD cycle is May 8, 2025.  Approval of projects will take place in September 2025.

About the BIRD Foundation

The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation encourages and facilitates cooperation between U.S. and Israeli companies across a wide range of technology sectors, offering funding to selected projects.

The Foundation supports projects without taking any equity or intellectual property rights from the participating companies or the projects themselves. BIRD funding is repaid through royalties from sales of commercialized products that were developed with support from BIRD. The Foundation provides funding of up to 50% of a project's budget, covering activities from R&D to the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares the risk and does not require repayment if the project does not reach the sales stage.

For more information, please contact: 
Limor Nakar-Vincent, Deputy Executive Director of Business Development and BIRD Energy
+972-36988315
[email protected]

SOURCE The BIRD Foundation