Alpharetta-based TEKWave Solutions and its Israeli partner have crafted one of eight projects selected to receive up to $1 million in government grants this year.
The projects were green-lighted this week by the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, which committed $7.3 million in this batch in line with its mission of funding joint innovation.
Including private money attracted by the joint government funding, the projects netted $20.4 million.
TEKWave, which provides monitoring, visitor management and inspection systems for buildings, is working with Herzliya Pituah, Israel-based MS Tech Ltd. to develop a rapid field analysis of chlorates, perchlorates, fentanyl and synthetic opioids using the company’s nanotechnology sensors.
MS Tech provides such sensors to law enforcement, militaries and government agencies to help detect explosives, narcotics and other substances at customs entry points and elsewhere.
Other projects approved in this round include a virtual-reality training platform for disaster volunteers, an oil pipeline disaster prevention tool, a cybersecurity readiness assessment and more. One project involving Somatix Technologies, basedin Atlanta’s sister city of Ra’anana, Israel, aims to develop a health care system catering to the needs of the elderly.
TEKWave’s project is the 11th BIRD has funded since 1981 in Georgia, which leads all other states in the Southeast outside of Florida.
Overall, BIRD has funded 974 projects with $350 million in its 41-year history, according to a Times of Israel article announcing the grants. That has generated an estimated $10 billion in lifetime sales for products developed through BIRD-funded partnerships. Projects are evaluated by technical experts from both countries.
The latest BIRD project in Georgia was last fall, when BIRD Energy, a subset of the fund focused on energy innovation, named Atlanta’s Southern Co. and Petach Tikva, Israel-based mPrest Systems among seven awardees. Their project focused on developing “integrated primary and secondary volt VAR control and conservation voltage reduction for the distributed grid.”
The previous Georgia project was in 2015, when Pratt Paper in Conyers partnered with Israel’s Lightapp to create software that helps paper plants optimize resources.
View all Georgia-based BIRD projects here.
BIRD is encouraging applicants to submit projects for the next funding cycle by March 6. Priority is given to high-tech industrial solutions for pressing global challenges. Approvals will be granted in June.
Learn more about applying here.
See the full list of projects funded in the most recent cycle below:
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