US-Israel fund seeks to finance R&D projects in renewable energy, natural gas
BIRD Foundation is calling for joint US-Israel proposals from companies and/or universities to commercialize developments
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
The Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, which promotes collaboration between US and Israeli companies in various technological fields to boost joint product development, is calling for project proposals that focus on renewable energy, efficiency and natural gas technologies.
To be eligible for funding by the foundation, BIRD said in a statement on Monday, project proposals must include R&D cooperation between an Israeli and a US company, or between a company and a university or research institution, in which one party is in the US and one is in Israel.
“The proposal should have significant commercial potential and the project outcome should lead to commercialization,” the call for proposals said.
The new program, run by BIRD Energy, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Israeli Ministry of Energy jointly with the Israel Innovation Authority, the statement said.
During its over 40 years of history, the BIRD Foundation has approved some 982 projects, as of January 2019, with total investment in joint projects reaching almost $350 million and helping to generate direct and indirect sales of more than $10 billion, according to the foundation.
The Times of Israel Community.