{"id":2895,"date":"2022-06-01T14:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/?post_type=report&p=2895"},"modified":"2023-08-15T12:32:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T12:32:34","slug":"appendix-activity-of-the-israel-innovation-authoritys-divisions","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/report\/appendix-activity-of-the-israel-innovation-authoritys-divisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Appendix: Activity of the Israel Innovation Authority\u2019s Divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Startup and Business Development Division supports early-stage entrepreneurs and startups in the ideation stage, and corporations interested in exposure to open innovation via partnership in technology incubators and innovation labs. The Division assists the ideation process \u2013 from development of an initial technology idea to a complete product \u2013 and in advancing the initiative with the aim of reaching advanced stages of capital raising and sales. Furthermore, the Division operates various support programs designed to encourage the market to join forces and advance the area of human capital by developing innovative programs and initiatives. To this end, the Division constitutes a source of government and public knowledge in the spheres of high-tech human capital.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Division’s Incentive Programs:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Startup Programs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ideation (Tnufa) Program:<\/strong> The Ideation (Tnufa) program is intended for fledgling entrepreneurs who are interested in formulating and advancing an innovative technological concept to the initial R&D stage, in preparation for Proof of Concept (POC) and\/or construction of an initial prototype. The program’s goal is to assist in the project’s technological POC and commercial applicability, thereby enabling it to raise private funding and\/or recruit a business partner for further development. The program provides a maximum grant of up to 85% of the approved budget, with a maximum grant of NIS 100,000 for the initial 12 months period and a further NIS 100,000 for a second period (or up to double for innovative solutions in the field of Bio- Convergence).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seed Program:<\/strong> The program is intended for startups in the seed stage that are developing technologies in fields with complex regulation and an extended timeframe until implementation, or technologies that are part of an evolving market. The support will be awarded to companies that have not raised more than NIS 5 million (before making their submission to the program) and that have already signed a memorandum of understanding with a venture capital investor experienced in high-risk investments who is interested in making an initial seed investment in the company. Find more details below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technological Incubators Programs:<\/strong> The program aims to support investment in technology companies in their early stages by creating a support system that will expedite their development of innovative technology ideas in their initial stages into advanced startup companies that are suitable for continued investment. The program also aims to encourage technology entrepreneurship and commercialization of groundbreaking technologies from research institutions to industry in complex and high-risk fields and to strengthen Israel’s technology innovation environment in the field of seed investment. The program is also intended to assist high-tech companies in unique and complex technological fields to formulate and test products, with technological POC, conducting pilot tests etc. The technological incubators, that provide support and assistance to early-stage initiatives, are located in and operated by local and international commercial companies and by venture capital investors with the ability to provide quality added value and support startups and fledgling entrepreneurs. The comprehensive support offered by the incubator includes technological and business guidance, connections to strategic partners, additional investors, and potential clients, a physical site and infrastructures, administrative services, legal advice, and financial services. No financial investment is required by the entrepreneur as part of the program \u2013 85% of the budget is funded by the Authority (up to a maximum sum of NIS 3.5 million for up to two years, according to the type of project and geographical location of the incubator) and 15% is funded by the incubator operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurial Incubators in the Periphery Program:<\/strong> This program is aimed at promoting the development and strengthening of innovation systems, technological entrepreneurship, and employment in Israel’s geographical periphery via collaboration between specially designated incubators and higher education institutions, students, entrepreneurs, and startup companies. This collaboration is achieved via research activity, development, and commercialization of incubator companies that are based on local initiatives. As part of the program, a local project operating within the incubator will be entitled to a grant of 85% of the approved budget from the Innovation Authority, up to a maximum budget of NIS 1 million, and a grant of 60% from the Innovation Authority, up to a maximum budget of NIS 1 million for a second year of activity. No financial investment is required by the entrepreneur as part of the program \u2013 supplementary funding is provided by the incubator that can also assist with follow-on funding. The comprehensive support offered by the incubator includes technological and business guidance, connections to strategic partners, additional investors, and potential clients, a physical site and infrastructures, administrative services, legal advice, and financial services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technological Innovation Labs: <\/strong>This program is intended for entrepreneurs in the preliminary stages of a project, who need unique infrastructures and expertise to prove the feasibility of a technological idea. The program is also intended for corporations interested in collaborating with Israeli startups. The assistance to entrepreneurs is provided through innovation labs operated by the industry’s leading corporations via an open innovation model. The program enables startups to access unique technological infrastructures, market insights, and unique channels of marketing and expertise to which they currently lack access, with the aim of proving feasibility on the way to transforming a technological idea into a commercial product. The program provides a grant of up to 85% of the approved budget, up to a maximum grant of NIS 1 million for up to a year (and up to NIS 3 million for a period of up to two years in the Digital Health Sub-Program). A grant of up to 50% of the approved budget, up to a maximum sum of NIS 1 million will be awarded for a further period of 1 year (up to NIS 3 million for a period of up to two years in the Digital Health Sub-Program).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advancing Technology Entrepreneurship in Haifa:<\/strong> This program is aimed at reinforcing and strengthening the city of Haifa’s status as a high-tech industry hub in the Israeli ecosystem and to advance technological innovation in the city. The program’s goal is to increase the number of startup companies and technological initiatives in Haifa, with emphasis on its Lower City neighborhood. The program encourages synergy and collaboration between principal city focal points such as City Hall, academia, industry, the business sector, and the non-profit sector, with the aim of bolstering urban infrastructures and the use of the city’s strategic assets, encouraging independence of entrepreneurial parties, and strengthening the Haifa entrepreneurial community while integrating populations such as ethnic minorities, Ultra-Orthodox, women and Israelis of Ethiopian descent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young Entrepreneurship Program:<\/strong> The Authority is working in conjunction with the Ministry of Education to promote an entrepreneurship incentive program that will constitute an efficient tool for encouraging and educating young people in business, scientific, and technological entrepreneurship. The participants in the program will gain practical experience in developing knowledge and products while utilizing Ministry of Education scientific and technological infrastructures such as ‘Eshkol’ (Cluster) and ‘Tapuah’ (Apple) science centers and science museums as part of their initiative to transform a technology idea into a product of economic value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Capital Programs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Coding Bootcamps Program (34):<\/strong> In response to the shortage of skilled high-tech personnel, the Authority has been operating a program since 2018 that supports extra-academic courses (coding bootcamps) aimed at increasing the supply of programmers and data science graduates in Israel. These intensive and practical programs locate candidates with significant potential, provide them with the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge, and train them, in a relatively short period of time, for work in the high-tech industry as programmers and data scientists. The graduates can therefore make a real and immediate contribution to the company. The program’s goal is to increase the number of graduates acquiring relevant practical training who are placed in high-tech development jobs at salaries of over NIS 14,000 (within 15 months of completing the course). The bootcamps were chosen in a competitive procedure for a period of three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Advanced Technology Studies Workshop (HaSadna) Program:<\/strong> The huge demand for experts in advanced technology professions requires innovative models for training experts in this field and for upgrading skilled professionals already employed in the high-tech industry. The Workshop Program focuses on support of a joint advanced training framework for engineers in high-tech companies, led by the industry, in advanced development professions. Proficiency in algorithmics in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become vital and relevant in almost every field of technology. The Innovation Authority’s initiative to assist high-tech companies in training their employees stems from the need for high-quality expert personnel and is aimed at enhancing the important activity taking place in academic institutions and providing training in further AI areas that are required by the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-Tech Specialization Program (42):<\/strong> In response to the challenge of recruiting inexperienced workers in the high-tech industry, this program offers grants to high-tech companies that create employee specialization programs. As part of these programs, new graduates with a university degree or a degree in practical engineering in technology professions (“juniors”) will be accepted and trained for entry-level development roles. The company will receive a grant of NIS 50,000 for every candidate they hire for a minimum of six months with a monthly salary of at least NIS 15,000 and who receives on-the-job training. The juniors’ training model will be adapted to each company’s specific needs and may be based on the company’s internal resources and\/or external organizations and trainers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Capital for High-Tech Fund (44):<\/strong> The Human Capital Fund is a unique program aimed at encouraging the creation of innovative solutions coming from the market, to expand entry routes to hightech employment and to upgrade or improve the existing high-tech human capital in R&D and growth positions (sales, marketing, finances, legal etc.) in the high-tech field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fund offers grants for budget requests according to the following rungs:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n