Insider Brief
- Israel’s Innovation Authority and the Ministry of Defense’s DDR&D have launched a new initiative worth up to NIS 150 million — about $51.4 million USD — to establish advanced integrated photonics infrastructure aimed at accelerating the development and commercialization of photonic chips in Israel.
- The selected facility will provide end-to-end R&D services — including design, simulation, prototyping, testing, packaging and support for scaling to manufacturing — for companies, startups and academic researchers.
- The program seeks to address a critical gap between Israel’s strong research capabilities and limited later-stage development infrastructure, with the goal of strengthening national competitiveness in strategically important semiconductor and defense technologies.
PRESS RELEASE — The Israel Innovation Authority, in collaboration with the Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D/MAFAT) at the Ministry of Defense, has launched a new call for proposals to establish or provide an advanced research and development infrastructure in the field of integrated photonics. The initiative includes an investment of up to NIS 150 million and is designed to accelerate the development of next-generation photonic chips in Israel while expanding access to advanced R&D infrastructure for industry and academia.
The selected infrastructure will enable companies, researchers, and research institutions to carry out the full development process, from design and simulation through prototype development, characterization, testing, packaging, and support for transition to volume manufacturing in Israel and abroad. The initiative is expected to strengthen Israel’s position in one of the fastest-growing and most strategic segments of the global semiconductor industry.
Dror Bin, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, said: “Integrated photonics is expected to become one of the core technologies of the semiconductor industry in the coming years. Israel possesses significant advantages in research, development, and human capital, but maintaining leadership also requires advanced infrastructure that can transform knowledge into products and growing companies. The new infrastructure will help shorten the path from development to product, reduce technological barriers, and accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough technologies.”
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Dr. Daniel Gold, Head of DDR&D (MAFAT) at the Ministry of Defense, said: “Integrated photonics opens new possibilities for developing advanced, high-performance systems across a wide range of applications. This collaboration is designed to strengthen Israel’s technological capabilities in the field, expand the existing knowledge base and infrastructure, and establish a national capability that will serve the needs of research, industry, and defense for years to come.”
The call for proposals is intended for industrial corporations or groups of companies and includes scientific, technological, managerial, and business considerations. Applicants will be required, among other things, to present a technology plan, a business plan, a collaboration framework, a sustainable operating model, and a plan for making the infrastructure accessible to a variety of users in both industry and academia.
The selected infrastructure will be required to meet high industrial standards, including rapid turnaround times, regular run frequencies, service availability, and support for the integration of various materials and devices. The establishment period may not exceed 18 months, and within 12 months of approval, the infrastructure will be required to begin providing some partial R&D services even before full completion.
The initiative will be implemented through the Israel Innovation Authority’s R&D infrastructure fund. The selected infrastructure will provide a comprehensive suite of services, including design, simulation, prototype development, characterization, testing, packaging, and support for transition to volume manufacturing in Israel or abroad. The infrastructure will receive an establishment, deployment, and accessibility grant covering 55% or 66% of the approved budget for a period of three years. At the end of this period, the infrastructure will operate as a for-profit R&D services company.
The initiative is intended to address one of the central main challenges facing Israel’s deep-tech industry: the gap between advanced research and design capabilities and limited access to manufacturing, integration, testing, and validation infrastructure in the later stages of development. The underlying assumption is that an accessible national infrastructure in this field will enable startups, growth-stage companies, industrial corporations, and research institutions to shorten development cycles, reduce technological risks, and accelerate the transition from proof of concept to commercially viable products.
Integrated photonics is a technology that enables the integration of various optical components, including lasers, waveguides, modulators, and detectors, onto a single chip. This integration enables the development of fast, compact, energy-efficient, and reliable systems with broad application potential in advanced communications, data centers, sensing, information processing, defense systems, and manufacturing equipment for the semiconductor industry.
This initiative represents an important step in strengthening Israel’s innovation infrastructure and reinforcing its competitive advantage in knowledge-intensive and infrastructure-intensive fields. In this context, open and accessible R&D infrastructures for industry and academia serve as a critical tool for accelerating innovation, reducing entry barriers to entry, and expanding local knowledge and capabilities.
