BIRD Foundation

Administers United States and Israel science cooperation funding that supports bilateral research partnerships in energy, health, and security.

BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation funds joint industrial R&D between U.S. and Israeli companies. It provides conditional grants covering up to 50% of project R&D costs, up to $1.5M per project, with repayment due only upon commercial success. BIRD takes no equity.

Established in 1977 by the U.S. and Israeli governments, BIRD has approved investments in close to 1,200 projects generating more than $10 billion in revenues. Projects are evaluated by expert reviewers appointed jointly by the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and NIST (U.S. Department of Commerce). The Board of Governors approves projects twice a year.

BIRD operates four vertical co-funded programs alongside its General Program: BIRD Energy (co-funded with U.S. DOE + Israel Ministry of Energy), BIRD HLS (co-funded with U.S. DHS + Israel Ministry of National Security), BIRD Cyber (co-funded with U.S. DHS S&T + Israel National Cyber Directorate), and the U.S.-Israel Energy Center (co-funded with DOE + Israel MoE + IIA).