The Technology Incubator Committee headed by the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the establishment of 12 new start-up companies in the Technology Incubators, with a total grant of approximately NIS 22 million. The new ventures are in the fields of life sciences, software and communications, homeland security, and cleantech.
Among the projects: a topical delayed release formulation for the treatment of headaches; A robotic system for the rehabilitation of motor skills after a stroke; Catheterized parallel aortic valve; Miniaturized sensor for border security; management and optimization of the sale of advertising space on the Internet; A solution for remote management of smart phones and the software installed on them
The Chief Scientist at the Office of the TMT, Dr. Eli Ofer: "The technology incubator program at the Office of the Chief Scientist has been proving itself for many years as one of the most important engines in the economy for the creation of new start-up companies, which are at the forefront of innovation and technology in Israel. The importance of the financial assistance that can be established is especially great in these days of economic slowdown, in view of the decrease in private sector investments in the innovation industries in Israel"
Director of the Technology Incubator Program, Yossi Smuller: "The Technology Incubator Directorate organized a conference of incubator companies in the cleantech field where 14 incubator companies in the field (most of them from the field of water technologies) presented their innovative developments to an audience of about 200 entrepreneurs, people from the industry, investors, partners and potential customers. The next conference is planned to be in the field of biotechnology and pharma and is planned for the month of March"
The Technology Incubator Committee, chaired by the Chief Scientist, Dr. Eli Ofer, approved in its last meetings support for twelve new ventures: 3 in the field of life sciences, 6 in the fields of software and communications, 1 in the field of internal security and 2 in the field of cleantech.
Below are the projects approved for development in greenhouses:
Biotechnology / Pharma
1. Topical delayed release formulation for the treatment of headaches
o Hamma Ma'in, Dimona.
The company "Paindure" will develop a medicinal product that belongs to the improved generic category (Value Added Generic). The proposed product is a delayed release formulation, based on a biodegradable polymer that releases an anesthetic agent in a targeted and prolonged manner. The product will be injected into a location near a nerve center - which is a significant relay station in the process of migraine formation - a center located deep in the palate. This action is expected to cause a long-term blockade of this nerve center in order to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks and decrease their intensity.
Medical equipment
2. A robotic system for the rehabilitation of motor skills after a stroke
o Hamma A.T.I., Ashkelon.
Stroke and brain damage are a growing problem in the western world, when the age of the patients is decreasing and their number is increasing. As a result, the world of restoration generates between 200-400 billion dollars a year.
The company "Bio-Extreme" will develop a robotic system for the accelerated rehabilitation of the motor skills of patients after stroke, trauma and other brain injuries, using innovative technology.
The company has an initial prototype that passed feasibility in initial clinical trials and showed a significant reduction in rehabilitation time.
3. Parallel aortic valve inserted by catheter
o Hamma Mashgav, Gush Segev.
ParaValve will open a valve implanted by catheterization in the calcified natural valve leaflets. The product is intended for people who do not meet the criteria for surgery, due to the risks of the procedure and the difficulty in inserting the existing products, who today make up about 50% of patients suffering from severe calcification of the aortic valve. The company recognizes the possibility of treating those patients with its valve in a safe, simple and effective way, which will increase blood flow by about 40-70%.
software and communication
4. Data security in SaaS services
o JVP Studio incubator, Jerusalem.
Navajo systems will develop a data encryption system for software systems, provided as a service over the Internet. The system will make it possible to take advantage of the benefits of receiving an external service, without taking the risk of leaking business information. One of the prominent trends in the world of computing is the transition to Software as a Service (SaaS) - use of software services on the Internet and payment according to actual use. Today, many organizations are interested in using these services, but are reluctant due to the fact that this use reveals internal information to the service provider on the one hand, and hostile factors outside the organization on the other. The proposed system solves the security problem.
5. Management and optimization of the sale of advertising space on the Internet
o JVP Studio incubator, Jerusalem.
The "Ignited" company (IgnitAD) will develop a system that will optimize the sale of advertising space on websites, with the aim of increasing advertising revenue for the website owners. The system will include a set of algorithms that will allow the websites to offer their merchandise optimally to many advertising bodies, automatically and transparently. The need for the system stems from the fact that many websites serve content that contains advertising spaces, and since the income of most content websites is based mainly on the sale of these advertising spaces, their goal is to maximize the profits resulting from the sale of the spaces. Along with the increase in the supply of spaces for advertising, different models for the sale of the space are developing. While in the past, a website that wanted to sell advertising space had to contact advertisers directly, today a website can contact one of several central parties, offer the advertising space for sale and take a pro-active approach in the way the space is offered. This fact constitutes a business opportunity with great potential for the company.
6. A solution for remote management of smart phones and the software installed on them
o Iris Ventures Incubator, Sde-Boker.
The "Gryphonet" company will develop a software product installed on the cell phone device that provides monitoring capabilities, pro-active treatment and reporting of malfunctions. The product will allow cellular operators to significantly reduce the amount of software failures and the costs of support for failures.
7. Development of an information security solution for Google's smart mobile phones based on the Android operating system
o Iris Ventures Incubator, Sde-Boker.
The company "Droid Security" (Droid Security) will develop antivirus software, an information security system based on internet, satellite and cellular technologies. The system will be implemented as a multi-layered model that includes an end layer on the smartphone device, a web server layer used to provide computing, virtualization and security services over the Internet, and a central management system layer used to control the fleet of end devices. The antivirus software is based on the new operating system "Android OS", an open source Linux-based operating system developed by Google for smart phones. The software integrates in an integral-infrastructural manner as part of the core of the Linux operating system.
8. A management, control and control platform for audio content in distributed systems
o Hamma De Time, Tel-Aviv.
The BonTune company will develop a voice advertising platform on cell phones, which allows advertisers to effectively reach millions of users around the world. Buntion will provide a complete solution, from the creation of the audio advertising media to its distribution. The technology developed in the company allows advertisers to direct advertising to a target audience while accurately segmenting using analysis tools and building user profiles in real time, and performing analyzes and monitoring the progress of campaigns in real time. The system will enable contextual voice advertising, the results of which are creating high brand awareness and maximizing the return on investment.
9. An associative semantic engine for automatic understanding and cataloging of digital text
o Xania Greenhouse, Kiryat Gat.
The "Vexigo" company will develop a semantic expert system with automatic capabilities for reading and analyzing digital text, which matches existing semantic structures to a given text. The company's technology is applicable in various markets, such as the online advertising market (adjustment of advertisements to specific content that will significantly improve the relevance of advertisements), search engines, automatic censorship systems, trend detection and more.
Internal Security
10. A miniaturized sensor for border security
o Hamma Moft in Yehuda, Kiryat Arba.
The "Mantisa" company will develop a miniaturized sensor with innovative and ground-breaking technology for security and perimeter protection applications. Mantissa's unique technology enables detection and classification of ground threats, while maintaining an extremely low level of false alarms at ranges of hundreds of meters. The product integrates and complements perimeter protection systems which are currently based on different types of cameras and unlike the existing solutions, the developed sensor provides a solution in all lighting and weather conditions, and all this at a lower cost.
Cleantech
11. Device for continuous monitoring of water toxicity
o Kinneret greenhouse, plant.
"Canarious" company will develop a system for continuous monitoring of toxic chemical substances in water. The system will be installed at various points and junctions along the water supply system, and will alert the water companies about the danger of toxicity in the system immediately. The field of water security is a developing field, which receives serious attention from the water companies in the world in light of intentional and unintentional threats, which may harm public health significantly. The Canarios company's system is based on a panel of bacteria that have undergone a genetic engineering process, and as a result, they glow as a result of exposure to pollution. The emitted light is captured by advanced optical detectors, the signals are processed, and through an algorithm it is possible to determine whether there is a risk of toxicity in the water.
12. Solar device to improve the performance of mobile components
o Hamma Moft in Yehuda, Kiryat Arba.
The "Sol-Chip" company will develop an innovative device, in which solar cells (photovoltaics) are embedded in a structured way in the production process of integrated circuits. The device will allow adjustment of the solar energy to the electrical parameters of the specific component, without the need for voltage converters. Miniaturization at these high levels will allow the component to be easily integrated into small and portable systems in the market of devices with low power consumption, such as: sensors, bio-sensors, smart cards, communication devices and cell phones, satellite navigation devices and tiny music players. This unique product fits into the market trend of using clean energies and reducing the use of batteries which are harmful waste.
The Director of the Technology Incubator Program, Yossi Smoller, noted that the Technology Incubator Directorate organized a cleantech incubator company conference in which 14 incubator companies in the field (most of them from the field of water technologies) presented their innovative developments to an audience of about 200 entrepreneurs, people from the industry, investors, partners and potential customers . Smoller explains that every few months the director organizes a conference in a specific technological field and invites an audience related to this field to come and be exposed to what is being done in the greenhouses. Smoller adds that the next conference is planned to be in the field of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals and is scheduled for March.
The Chief Scientist, Dr. Eli Ofer, points out that the technology incubator program in the Chief Scientist's Office has been proving itself for many years as one of the most important engines in the economy for the creation of new start-up companies, which are at the forefront of innovation and technology in Israel. The importance of the financial assistance that can be established is especially great in these days of economic slowdown, in view of the decrease in private sector investments in the innovation industries in Israel. The central role of the chief scientist in encouraging these industries stands out even more then, and is reflected in the large supply of tools and up-to-date support programs, such as the incubator program on its various tracks, which is available to the public of entrepreneurs, industrialists and investors in Israel.
