The BIRD Foundation
The PICC is the exclusive regional representative of the BIRD Foundation for Pennyslvania, Delaware, and South New Jersey. The BIRD Foundation awards grants of up to $1.5 million per project to projects developed jointly between American and Israeli collaborators.
The PICC has helped numerous companies evaluate and apply to BIRD, resulting in 20 approved grants valued at almost $20 million since 2015 to regional companies, at least one successful spin out from academic research, and significant follow-on investment in projects.
The PICC does not charge for this service, and although membership in the PICC is always encouraged, it is not required in order to receive our full support in matching collaborators and application support.
We are happy to discuss this non-dilutive bilateral funding source with both members and non-members from our region. You can contact us to discuss whether BIRD is right for your company.
​The next BIRD deadlines are:
Executive Summary deadline: May 14, 2026, 5pm EST
Full proposals are due by July 9, 2026, 5pm EST
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Executive Summary deadline: July 10, 2026, 5PM EST
Full proposals are due by September 4, 2026, 5PM EST
Executive Summary deadline: June 30, 2026, 5PM EST
Full Proposal deadline: September 15, 2026, 5PM EST
Examples of Successful Philadelphia Area BIRD Grant Applications
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ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute (Newark, Delaware) partnered with NovellusDx (Jerusalem), an Israeli biotechnology company that is now Fore Biotherapeutics, to advance personalized cancer care. They advanced gene-editing and diagnostic tools that can rapidly mimic the exact mutations found in a patient’s cancer cells using CRISPR technology. These engineered DNA samples help researchers and clinicians understand which mutations drive tumor growth. This collaboration was awarded $900,000 by the BIRD Foundation in 2016.​
Kidas (Philadelphia) and Overwolf (Ramat Gan) partnered to develop advanced protection for children in online gaming environments. The project focused on creating technology that monitors and analyzes in-game voice and text communications to detect toxic behavior such as harassment, bullying, grooming, and other harmful interactions, and to alert parents in real time. This collaboration was awarded $1.5 million by the BIRD Foundation in 2022.
