BIRD Energy Grant

BIRD Energy Grant

Funds U.S. and Israeli companies conducting joint energy technology R&D through bilateral non-dilutive grants up to $1.5M per project.

Eligibility · United States and Israel (bilateral partnership required)

BIRD Energy is a grant program administered by the BIRD Foundation jointly with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Israel Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, and the Israel Innovation Authority. It was established under the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The program funds bilateral joint R&D projects between one U.S. entity and one Israeli entity.

Each project can receive a maximum conditional grant of $1.5M, covering up to 50% of the joint R&D budget. BIRD does not take equity and provides no loans. The grant is conditional: if the project leads to commercial revenues, recipients repay a royalty portion; if it does not, the grant is non-repayable. The 2026 call covers energy reliability and resilience, grid optimization, AI-integrated data centers, digital and AI-enabled energy solutions, advanced manufacturing, industrial affordability and resilience, the water-energy nexus, economically viable energy production, critical minerals and materials, and cybersecurity for energy infrastructure.

Eligibility requires a partnership: one company registered in the U.S. and one company (or university or research institution) registered in Israel, or vice versa. Both partners apply jointly. For-profit companies are the primary applicants — the entire approved projects list since 2009 confirms company-to-company and company-to-university pairings. There is no revenue cap, headcount cap, or TRL restriction published on the program page.

Applications proceed in two stages. First, submit a concise Executive Summary using BIRD's template by July 8, 2026, 5pm EST. BIRD staff review it and give a go/no-go recommendation — a meeting with BIRD staff before submitting is strongly encouraged. If invited, submit a Full Proposal by October 6, 2026, 5pm EST. Decisions are announced in December 2026. All files must be uploaded via BIRD's upload portal (upload.birdf.com). Applications are by invitation only after the Executive Summary review.

Key caveats: a company may not submit a new proposal while it has an ongoing BIRD-funded project with unreported final reports. BIRD follows the same rules and procedures as its General Program — review BIRD's full procedures and submission forms at birdf.com/procedures-submission-forms before submitting. BIRD can also help identify Israeli or U.S. partners for companies that do not yet have one.