Two new technology incubator franchisees have been chosen by the Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy. In the third round of the competitive technology incubator franchisee selection process, the Philips and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) joint initiative was chosen to operate the incubator in the tender, and Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) was chosen to lead a food-technology incubator in the Ashkelon area.
The Philips-Teva incubator, Inspire Healthcare Innovations, Ltd., will focus on investing in projects in the fields of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, with an emphasis on incorporating digital platforms in both these areas.
The Office of the Chief Scientist said that the decision was based, among other things, on the fact that technologies in this field have a high level of risk, and, therefore, need more support. The added value that Philips and Teva bring to the incubator’s companies was also taken into account. The Office of the Chief Scientist said: “The combination of two entities like Teva and Philips, which come from different disciplines in the medical field, can bring more added value to the incubator’s companies.”
The Strauss incubator, Food-Tech Hub LP, will focus on investments in all food-related technologies, answering the needs of the entire food-industry “food-chain,” including: agriculture, raw materials, production processes, packaging, and more. Here, also, the technologies are high risk, and can benefit from the technological and business support of a large, experienced corporation in the field. This field does not receive sufficient support form technology incubators today.
In the Golan region tender, no one was chosen, apparently due to the absence of suitable candidates. Over the next six months, an additional bidding round is expected for this region.
These franchisees join nine others, who were chosen in the first two rounds of the selection process.
At the annual incubator program event, which took place yesterday, the outstanding incubators and companies were named. Trendlines Medical in Misgav was chosen as the outstanding tech incubator for 2013. Tredlines Group, which operates the incubator, is preparing for a Toronto Stock Exchange IPO. The Chief Scientist’s Office said that the Misgav incubator was chosen due to the quality of its ventures, the close support they received and continue to receive from the group and the incubator staff, and the success of the veteran companies in raising funds from private investors and establishing strategic partnerships.
Three companies were named as outstanding incubator companies: Advanced MemTech, a Trendlines Agtech graduate that is developing membranes with improved performance for water treatment; MitrAssist, a Trendlines Medical graduate that is developing a mitral valve implant to treat heart patients; and Yotpo, an Explore incubator graduate that is developing a social reviews platform for e-commerce sites.
This event was dominated by Trendlines, which won three of the four titles awarded.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 11, 2014
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