Guidelines & Forms

Deadlines for submission of the Executive Summaries and the Proposals for BIRD Projects are published on our website 3-4 months prior to these dates. Submission of all the documents is done exclusively by uploading them to BIRD’s upload site (https://upload.birdf.com). Following the deadline, the upload site is closed for further submissions.
An applicant must meet and consult with BIRD prior to submission of any application.

The Executive Summary is a concise document on which we base a “GO-NO GO” recommendation. Therefore, it is highly recommended to speak with a member of the BIRD staff before submitting an Executive Summary. An initial discussion may be held with our staff in Israel or in the U.S.

Please see this document

We need as much information as you can give. A company profile should include the following; people (founders, investors), funding raised, the innovation, status of development, patent situation, product road map, commercialization plans and activities, and website.

Other important information required: Does a partnership currently exist or is one being sought, information about the partner (similar information required about both companies), project idea, road map for development and commercialization, status of negotiations with partner and readiness to participate in a BIRD project.

Submission of a “mock-up” Executive Summary of a BIRD project may be very helpful (template for the Executive Summary can be downloaded from the BIRD website).

BIRD can use its network and contacts within the Israeli and the US markets to help companies identify potential partners for their R&D project.
Information provided by a company, including a list of potential companies and a value proposition can help us to accelerate the process and improve the results.

BIRD manages three vertical programs- BIRD Energy, BIRD HLS and BIRD Cyber.
In most aspects, the process to submit to these programs is the same as the one for the General Program, with the
following exceptions:
In all three vertical programs, one of the applicants may be a University or Research institute as long
as the other is a corporation.
The maximum grant amount for BIRD Energy and BIRD Cyber is $1.5M as in the General Program. For
BIRD HLS the maximum grant amount is $1M.

No – we will not allow a proposal to be submitted before participating companies have submitted their full set of final reports on previous project.

A project cannot receive both BIRD funding and a grant from the IIA (Israel innovation Authority)
Applying to BIRD and the IIA at the same time is not recommended.

A company can apply with two different partners at the Executive Summary stage.
At the Proposal stage only one proposal per company will be accepted.

Decisions are made twice a year at BIRD’s Board of Governors meetings, in June and December.

The Executive Committee of BIRD Energy/BIRD HLS/BIRD Cyber meets to deliberate the approval of projects once a year

There are no “in between” Board meetings.

BIRD provides conditional grants of up to $1.5 million via direct cost sharing of up to 50 percent of project costs.

Ownership of the companies can be private or public.
The project partners should not be related companies.

The Foundation will consider criteria related to the innovation of the joint outcome, the synergy between the companies, their combined capacity to bring the outcome to market, and the market potential.

Each proposal is reviewed and evaluated by experts in Israel and in the USA.
The IIA provides BIRD with professional evaluation services in Israel. This is done by experts from the IIA office that will review a proposal and meet with the Israeli partnering company.

In the USA, these services are provided by experts from the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).

No.

BIRD may support any non-defense related industrial R&D activitythat is of mutual benefit to Israel and the United States.

Homeland Security (HLS) activities like border defense, air traffic security, and first responder activities are eligible for BIRD funding.

Companies that have received a Grant can submit again once they have completed the project and submitted final reports. But, it is important to highlight that, in addition to the standard project criteria, the Foundation may consider factors like the company’s track record, sales status, and commitment to repayment obligations to the Foundation.

No – at any point of time BIRD will consider only one Proposal from a company across all its programs. We will allow submission of multiple Executive Summaries as long as eventually only one Proposal is submitted.

Once a project is approved by BIRD’s Board of Governors and the BIRD agreement (CPFA) is signed, BIRD will transfer the first payment to the companies.

Subsequent payments are due every 6 months subject to the submission and approval of the periodical reports as required in the CPFA.

All funding provided by BIRD to a project is subject to repayments. For exact details please refer to Section “B”. (Project Financing) of the CPFA.

The “Milestone  Model” is an alternative BIRD contract applicable to Biotech, Pharma, or Agriculture projects. The main difference between the Milestone Contract and the regular BIRD Contract relates to the repayment mechanism. A Milestone project may include the funding of clinical trials.

“BIRD Energy” is a program established by the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructures and by the U.S. Department of Energy to fund joint Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects. Calls for proposals and deadlines are posted on our website.

BIRD may fund projects in either program.

The decision as to which program you should apply depends on the nature/content of the project.
All applicants should meet and consult with BIRD before submission of any application.

BIRD will accept such involvement; however, BIRD does not request that a proposal be prepared by persons providing such professional services.
BIRD does not recommend any specific advisor or service.
An advisor may be present along with the company at meetings with BIRD, but cannot come instead of the company and cannot represent the company at BIRD.

Please review the detailed material found on our website www.birdf.com and/or contact BIRD: chava@birdf.com