Summary:

Program Description

The Israel Innovation Authority, through the Human Capital for High-Tech Fund, is launching a call for proposals to identify and place experienced senior executives and directors (“Top Talent”) from abroad in Israeli biopharma companies.

The program aims to strengthen the companies’ management, fundraising, drug development and growth capabilities, and includes the following components:

• Sourcing and identifying Top Talent abroad: Focusing on countries with a significant concentration of biopharma Top Talent, such as the United States, through access to relevant professional databases and targeted headhunting.
• Preparation: Focused preparation for the Israeli high-tech market, including soft skills, Israeli workplace culture, and personal mentoring for each candidate.
• Screening and placement: Identifying relevant Israeli biopharma companies, mapping their Top Talent needs, matching candidates with companies, conducting accelerated remote interviews, and facilitating employment or engagement agreements.

Placements may include executive and board positions in Israeli biopharma companies, including C-suite and VP roles, on a full-time or part-time basis. The positions may be on-site, hybrid, or remote, depending on the company’s needs and the nature of the role.

The program may also include:

• A mechanism for building a pool of candidates with relevant biopharma Top Talent experience for future matching with Israeli biopharma companies.
• An effectiveness measurement mechanism, including measurable annual targets for the number of placements, position types, and scope of employment, as well as follow-up after 12 and/or 24 months.

Designated Audience:

• Recruitment and placement agencies,
• Nonprofit organizations,
• Companies with relevant experience in biopharma recruitment and professional networks in Israel and abroad.

Program participants

• Top Talent with extensive and relevant professional experience in biopharma, including advanced drug development, preclinical and clinical development, regulatory affairs, business development, fundraising, and commercialization. This experience may have been gained at biopharma companies, research institutes, or other relevant organizations worldwide.
• Israeli biopharma companies seeking Top Talent with relevant professional experience.

Financing:

• For a program with a requested budget of up to NIS 1,000,000, a grant of 50%, 60%, or 70% of the approved budget may be awarded, according to the Committee’s decision.
• For a program with a requested budget exceeding NIS 1,000,000, a grant of 30%, 40%, or 50% of the approved budget may be awarded, according to the Research Committee’s decision. In exceptional cases, where the Research Committee determines that the program demonstrates a particularly high level of innovation and uniqueness, it may approve an exceptional grant of 60% or 70% of the approved budget.
• The Research Committee may approve an additional 10 percentage points to the grant rates specified above if it determines that the recipient has met predefined, measurable, and assessable targets arising from the approved program. The additional rate and the list of targets will be specified by the Committee in the approval letter.

Criteria

The Research Committee will consider applications that meet the eligibility criteria and evaluate their quality according to the criteria set out in the Hebrew version of the Incentive Program, while giving specific consideration to the relevant target audience and its particular challenges.

Eligibility Criteria:

The application and the applicant must meet all the following eligibility criteria, to the satisfaction of the Research Committee. These criteria must be met both at the time of submission and throughout the entire implementation period of the approved program. Failure to meet any of the following criteria may result in the rejection of the application or cancellation of the approved program:

1. The applicant is a corporation duly incorporated and registered in Israel and operates in accordance with the laws of the State of Israel.
2. If the applicant is a nonprofit organization or a public-benefit company, it must hold a valid Certificate of Proper Management issued by the Registrar of Associations. If less than two years have passed since the organization began operating, it must hold a certificate confirming the submission of the required documents.
3. The application is intended to address one or more challenges related to the development of skilled human capital for Israel’s knowledge-intensive industry, as defined in the Benefit Track.
4. The proposed program involves identifying and/or placing international Top Talent in the biopharma sector, as specified in this call for proposals.
5. No financial support has been received from another government entity or from the Israel Innovation Authority, directly or indirectly, for the implementation of the proposed program, except in accordance with the provisions of the Benefit Track.
6. The applicant does not have restricted bank accounts and is not subject to receivership, a stay of proceedings, liquidation, or similar proceedings.
7. The applicant and its controlling shareholders comply with the requirements of the Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development Regulations regarding minimum-wage approval conditions.

Criteria for Evaluating Applications

• Level of innovation and uniqueness of the proposed program.
• Applicant capabilities, including relevant experience, management capabilities, the ability to establish relevant partnerships, and the applicant’s assessed ability to successfully complete and implement the proposed program within the program period.
• Alignment with the priority areas defined under the program.
• Extent to which the proposed program addresses challenges related to the development of skilled human capital for Israel’s knowledge-intensive industry, with particular emphasis on:
  • High-productivity additionality – the estimated number of individuals who, as a result of the proposed program, will enter, advance within, or be retained in high-wage technological occupations in Israel’s knowledge-intensive industry, including the program’s additional impact compared with the applicant’s previous activities in the relevant field.
  • Potential for scaling and implementation of the program in Israel.
  • Effectiveness and feasibility of the program, including its cost-effectiveness.
• Integration of Target Populations
  • The extent to which human capital from abroad is incorporated into the proposed program.
  • Implementation of all or part of the program in Israel’s peripheral regions, and/or the extent to which the program is designed to integrate residents of peripheral regions.

Application Process

• Full details regarding the application process, the Incentive Program’s conditions, and the required application forms are available on the Human Capital for High-Tech Fund page on the Israel Innovation Authority website.
• Applications must be submitted by October 13, 2026, at 12:00 PM (Israel Time). Applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered.
• The Israel Innovation Authority will accept only complete and valid applications submitted with all forms required under the conditions and procedures of the Incentive Program, available on the Hebrew website only. Applicants are advised to submit their applications several days before the deadline to ensure that the submission has been completed successfully.
• In the event of any contradiction or inconsistency between the submitted forms, the information in the budget file will prevail.
• For general inquiries or technical questions regarding the online submission process, please contact the Customer Service Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at +972-3-7157900, Sunday–Thursday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM (Israel time).
• For questions regarding the eligibility of your company or project for this track, please contact [email protected]