A new report by the Israel Innovation Authority shows a surge in investments, the establishment of national research infrastructures, regulatory progress, and rapid expansion of the Israeli ecosystem in the field of bioconvergence.
Israel is rapidly expanding its investment in the field of bioconvergence and establishing itself as a prominent player in the international arena, according to a new report by the Innovation Authority. According to the data, in the past three years, approximately NIS 900 million has been invested in the field by the government and the private market, advanced research infrastructures have been established, new research associations have been launched, and the local community of companies has grown to 186 active companies. This is an increase of tens of percent during the period of the national plan and almost doubling compared to 2019, when there were approximately 90 companies in the field in Israel.
Bioconvergence is a multidisciplinary field that combines biology, engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and materials science to develop new products and processes based on biological systems. This combination enables, for example, the development of personalized medicines and treatments, cultured food production, the development of renewable materials, the improvement of industrial processes, and the creation of new energy sources. It is essentially the meeting point between life sciences and deep technologies, designed to transform biological discoveries into applied solutions on an industrial scale.
At the center of the move is the National Bioconvergence Plan, within the framework of which the state has chosen for the first time to lead a future technological field in a multi-year and centralized manner, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Innovation Authority. This combination of biology, engineering and computing creates a unique infrastructure in Israel for developing solutions in the fields of health, food, agriculture, energy, renewable materials and industry.
The CEO of the Innovation Authority, Dror Bean, said that the report reflects Israel's entry into a decade in which biology, engineering, and computing will become the basis of entire industries. According to him, the connection between broad knowledge systems and a single national program creates a rare opportunity, which is already being expressed in the establishment of companies, the construction of infrastructure, the expansion of research capabilities, and the promotion of new regulatory models. Bean added that bioconvergence has the potential to become a new growth engine for Israeli high-tech.
A multidisciplinary community connecting researchers, engineers, companies and academia
Dr. Shai Meltzer, director of the National Bioconvergence Program, said that one of the key achievements of recent years is the creation of a multidisciplinary community that connects researchers, engineers, companies, and academia. According to him, the new infrastructures make it possible in Israel to deal with scientific questions that previously required complex international collaborations, and regulatory developments help startups reach the market faster.
According to the report, the National Bioconvergence R&D Infrastructure Plan, which operates within the framework of the Telem Forum, presented cumulative investments of NIS 276 million in research and development infrastructure in the years 2023-2025. At the same time, the Innovation Authority invested approximately NIS 350 million directly in startups developing products based on bioconvergence. As of 2025, the Authority has mapped 186 companies active in Israel in the fields of health, food, agriculture, industry, and energy.
In the field of infrastructure, progress is notable in establishing two new national projects. The Bio-Devices Center of IAI and Kermos is in the construction stages and will be budgeted for up to NIS 113 million, of which NIS 75 million will come from the Innovation Authority. Alongside it, the Multi-Omics Center was established at the Technion, in partnership with Ben-Gurion University and the University of Haifa, and is supported by the IAEA to the tune of NIS 15 million. The center provides, for the first time in Israel, integrative capabilities in the fields of genomics, proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, and microbiome. In addition, the IAEA purchased valuable research equipment for academia to the tune of NIS 47 million.
Multidisciplinary research has also expanded significantly. Seven consortiums are currently operating in the field, with an investment of approximately NIS 179 million over three years from the Innovation and Industry Authority. Among the consortiums mentioned in the report: CRISPRIL for artificial intelligence-based gene editing, IGBTC for biochips that developed high-resolution optical, chemical, and electrochemical sensors, the consortium for cultured meat that demonstrated the ability to grow cells at high rates and develop cheaper growth factors, LIQUIDBX for liquid biopsy of cancer and Alzheimer's, OrganoSpheres for the development of organospheres, and the Zachash consortium in the field of circular agriculture, which developed feeding models and full genetic sequencing of the black soldier fly.
In addition, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology funded 99 applied studies in the field, totaling approximately 50 million shekels. MAFAT and the Innovation Authority also operate a challenge program with a total budget of 25 million shekels, alongside support for defense R&D groups, totaling 10 million shekels.
One of the most prominent aspects of the program is the attempt to remove regulatory barriers. According to the report, the National Food Service worked in collaboration with the Innovation Authority as part of a pilot that allowed for the first approval of cultured dairy products from Imagindairy and Remilk, as well as cultured beef from Aleph Farms. At the same time, a disruptive venture track with a budget of NIS 20.9 million is operating for three companies facing a complex regulatory challenge: Precise Bio, which is developing printed corneas, SpotItEarly, which is developing a system for diagnosing cancer using dog responses, and Edity Therapeutics, which is developing a system of engineered cells for transporting therapeutic cargo.
The human capital sector is also receiving investment. The Innovation Authority has funded 11 training programs totaling NIS 11.7 million, including training for life science workers in the cultured meat industry, training for 3D tissue printing, integration of engineers in hospitals, training in medical regulation and computational biology, as well as a program to train CEOs for deep-tech companies with an emphasis on bioconvergence. MAFAT has operated four cycles of the BIO program to train candidates for computational biology, while the IAEA operates a doctoral and postdoctoral scholarship program totaling approximately NIS 12 million.
The report shows that bioconvergence has ceased to be an experimental or niche field, and is gradually becoming one of the most prominent growth engines of Israeli high-tech. The combination of long-term government planning, infrastructure investments, support for companies, tailored regulation, and workforce training creates a new basis for Israel for global competition in knowledge-intensive fields, where the connection between biology, engineering, and artificial intelligence is expected to deepen in the coming years.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
One response
Too little, too late, and the little that was done was invested in shiny but economically irrelevant areas (Alef Farms and Remilk).
Stop patting yourself on the back, re-establish venture capital funds that invest only in life sciences, and in fields that have the potential to bring economic achievements, such as bio-agtech.