More birds to the sky

Food packaging that is highly compostable and made from food waste and a platform for monitoring and detecting Parkinson’s disease are among nine projects that have been granted funding by a key industrial research & development foundation. 

The joint Israel-US foundation, known as Bird, as approved £6.5 million for the projects, a move that opens the door to private equity financing that could bring the total investment closer to £16 million.

After each project is approved by the Israel Innovation Authority and the US National Institute of Standard and Technology, Bird funds up to $1 million (£800,000) per project.

Nearly a thousand projects have been funded over the last 42 years. The foundation receives no equity and does not require repayment if a project fails.

A step into cyber

Israel recently signed on to the World Bank’s Digital Development Partnership (DPP), which assists developing countries with building up their cyber capabilities.

The move means Israeli expertise in this field will be placed alongside countries like Japan and the United Kingdom and the GSM Association, which represents more than 750 wireless carriers across the world.

The DPP works in countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America to improve cybersecurity, universal internet access, and digital government.

Israel will provide £800,000 in funds as well as technical assistance, paving the way for the global promotion of Israel’s world-class cyber industry.

Stop an oil spill remotely

Energy firms like BP have been use technological solutions — such as the use of augmented reality in refineries, rigs and plants — to mitigate risks following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

One such solution comes from Fieldbit, an Israeli software company that uses glasses and smartphones to connect field service personnel in remote locations with experts anywhere in the world.

The technology allows experts to see real-time information on the rig and provide instructions and guidance through digital images superimposed on what the technical personnel is looking at in real life.

The technology has been used for remote training, as well as to reduce errors and even prevent oil spills.

Bezeq on the move

The telecoms giant Bezeq is negotiating to sell its central office located in Rishon Lezion.

The lot, which currently has an 8,000 m2 office building and a parking lot, is valued at approximately £25 million.

The parking lot currently constitutes two-thirds of the property, but the building plan permits a 14 story office building to be built on top.

Bezeq will vacate the building by the end of next year ahead of its move  to a new building in Holon, built by the Azrieli group.

A social media network for cancer

Israeli startup Belong.Life has completed a £11.2 million funding round led by New York listed IQVIA, a life science research company.

Founded in 2015, Belong.Life has developed a mobile app feeding into world’s largest social media platform for cancer patients, caregivers and professionals.

It helps patients and their support teams manage their treatment and improves their quality of life by connecting them with other patients.

The funds will also go to developing Belong.Life’s new “Patient Engagement Platform”, which is designed to offer hyper-personalised patient engagement tools to increase education, coordination and efficiency.

IzBiz is compiled every fortnight for the JC by Jeremy Seeff, partner at ERM, a cross-border law firm based in Tel Aviv for corporate, finance and real estate matters