BIRAD

What BIRAD does

BIRAD Research & Development Co. Ltd. is the official, exclusive technology transfer company of Bar-Ilan University, headquartered at Bar-Ilan University, Bldg. 102, Ramat Gan, Israel. It operates the full commercialization pipeline on behalf of the university: invention disclosure intake, worldwide patent prosecution, IP protection, marketing to industry and investors, licensing negotiation, sponsored research contracting, and spin-out company formation. Its proprietary AI-Powered Expert Discovery Platform uses OpenAI language models and Pinecone vector search across both academic profiles and commercial application domains to match company R&D needs with the most relevant Bar-Ilan researchers automatically. The platform sits behind a public website (birad.biz), an investor portal listing 246 licensable innovations across 18 technology domains, and a Discovery Declaration Portal (dd.birad.biz) through which researchers submit disclosures.

BIRAD monetizes its pipeline through four streams: (1) licensing royalties and upfront fees from IP license agreements executed worldwide; (2) equity stakes and realized returns from spin-out companies created from university IP; (3) fee-based sponsored research, consulting, and joint development agreements mediated between industry partners and BIU faculty; and (4) access fees from 64 industry-grade service laboratories. Pricing is negotiated case-by-case and not publicly disclosed. Its primary customers are corporates and mid-sized industrial firms seeking R&D expertise and early-stage technology access, VC/CVC/family-office investors looking for vetted deep-tech deal flow, and Bar-Ilan University researchers who rely on BIRAD for IP protection and commercialization support. Indirect beneficiaries include the Israel Innovation Authority and ITTN member institutions involved in co-funded programs.

Operationally, BIRAD runs a 51-100 person organization backed by a board chaired by Bar-Ilan University President Prof. Arie Zaban. Leadership combines Israeli tech-executive operators (CEO Dr. Tsvika Ben Porat, founder of dbMotion sold to AllScripts for $235M) with technical domain managers (PhDs in material chemistry, pharmacology, MEMS/AI) and legal/IP specialists (ex-Teva patent attorney, ex-Mellanox in-house counsel). Disclosed operating metrics include 450+ active patents, 100+ startups launched, 30 active portfolio companies, $1.43B total portfolio value, and three exits each above $300M. The company is wholly owned by Bar-Ilan University; there is no external VC or PE ownership.

Name

BIRAD

Legal name

BIRAD Research and Development Co. Ltd.

Website

https://birad.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

BIRAD is the exclusive technology transfer company of Bar-Ilan University in Israel. It commercializes university research through an AI-powered expert-matching platform, patent licensing, sponsored research agreements, spin-out formation, and 64 service laboratories serving corporates, investors, and researchers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Technology Transfer and University IP Commercialization

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Technology Transfer & Innovation-Driven Research Universities (High Commercialization) (EDAHABAH)

Keywords

• Technology transfer services
• University IP licensing
• Academic research commercialization
• Innovation portfolio management
• Sponsored research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ramat Gan

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Licensing Agreements: BIRAD negotiates and manages license agreements worldwide for technologies developed at Bar-Ilan University, generating royalty revenue from commercialized IP.
2. Spin-out Company Equity: BIRAD creates spin-out companies from university research, retaining equity stakes that generate returns through exits and company growth.
3. Sponsored Research & Consulting: Facilitates sponsored research agreements and consulting engagements between industry partners and BIU researchers, generating fee revenue.
4. Service Labs: 64 service laboratories provide industry-grade facilities and technical services to external companies and researchers on a fee basis.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

BIRAD operates as Bar-Ilan University's technology transfer company, commercializing university-generated intellectual property through licensing, sponsored research agreements, and the formation of spinout companies. It runs an AI-powered Expert Discovery Platform that connects industry partners and investors with relevant university researchers, and manages a portfolio of 246 active innovations.

Product overview

BIRAD (Bar-Ilan University's technology transfer company) operates as a technology transfer platform connecting academic research with industry and investors. The core offering includes an AI-Powered Expert Discovery Platform that automatically matches company R&D needs to BIU researchers using dual-vector search. Services encompass Technology Licensing for 246 available innovations across 18 domains, Spinout Company Formation, Sponsored Research facilitation, and IP protection. The company supports researchers through a Discovery Declaration Portal for invention disclosures and manages the full commercialization pipeline from discovery through market entry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI-Powered Expert Discovery Platform An AI-driven matching platform that connects industry partners and investors with relevant Bar-Ilan University researchers and capabilities, built on OpenAI and Pinecone. Targeted at corporate R&D teams, innovators, and investors.
• Technology Licensing Services Licensing of Bar-Ilan University's patented technologies and intellectual property to commercial partners. Aimed at companies seeking to acquire rights to university-developed IP.
• Spinout Company Formation Support for the creation of new startup companies based on Bar-Ilan University research, including business formation, IP assignment, and initial funding pathways.
• Sponsored Research Services Brokered sponsored research engagements where industry sponsors commission Bar-Ilan University researchers to perform defined research projects.
• Innovations Portfolio (246 active innovations) A catalog of 246 active innovations arising from Bar-Ilan University research, available for licensing, collaboration, or further development by commercial partners.
• Discovery Declaration Portal Online portal through which Bar-Ilan University researchers and inventors disclose inventions to BIRAD for IP review, protection, and commercialization routing.

Quantifiable outcome

• $1.43B total portfolio value across 30 companies with 3 exits over $300M each in 21 years of operation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Israel Manufacturers Association / Cosmetics Manufacturers ForumflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 August 2025Bar-Ilan University and the Forum of Cosmetics Manufacturers at the Israel Manufacturers Association launched the first-of-its-kind collaboration in Israel — a dedicated pathway for the cosmetics industry to access Bar-Ilan research labs and comprehensive commercialization support through BIRAD.
• Technion – Israel Institute of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025BIRAD and Bar-Ilan University collaborated with the Technion to establish Israel's first National Institute for Electrochemical Energy Storage. The institute was inaugurated by Israel's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and is set to play a central role in developing sustainable energy solutions.
• Pluri Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUR, TASE: PLUR)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2024Pluri Inc., a leading biotechnology company that transforms cells into solutions, collaborates with Bar-Ilan University and BIRAD to advance cancer immunotherapy for solid tumors. The Israel Innovation Authority funds this collaboration. The partnership involves BIRAD-managed IP and researcher access to support Pluri's cell-based cancer therapy pipeline.
• CogniFibercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 August 2024An Israeli startup spun out from Bar-Ilan University through BIRAD, developing DeepLight processors that use multi-core optical fibers to process data at the speed of light for AI inference, achieving speeds up to 1,000 times faster than Nvidia GPUs while using only ~1% of the energy.
• ITTN (Israel Tech Transfer Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBIRAD is a member of ITTN, the umbrella organization for Israel's technology transfer companies affiliated with the country's world-renowned universities and academic research institutions. This membership positions BIRAD within the national ecosystem of academic commercialization.
• Israel Innovation AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) is a key partner supporting BIRAD's ecosystem through funding programs, grants, and national innovation initiatives. IIA support enables BIRAD researchers and companies to access national development funding.
• Bar-Ilan UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBIRAD is the exclusive technology transfer company of Bar-Ilan University, responsible for identifying discoveries with real-world potential, securing patent protection, and maximizing commercial value through licensing, industry partnerships, and spinout creation.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cambridge Enterprise: Cambridge Enterprise is the technology transfer office of the University of Cambridge. It is a larger, more established global university TTO with a comparable mandate of licensing, spinouts, and industry partnerships, providing a benchmark for scale.
• MIT Technology Licensing Office: MIT TLO manages patent licensing and industry engagement for MIT research. It is a global benchmark for university technology transfer with a much larger portfolio, comparable in function to BIRAD.
• Oxford University Innovation: Oxford University Innovation handles technology transfer and spinout formation from the University of Oxford. It is a global-scale university TTO comparable to BIRAD's business model but with substantially larger international reach.

Direct peers

• Hebrew University's Technology Transfer Company: The TTO of Hebrew University of Jerusalem handles IP commercialization and spinout formation from one of Israel's top research universities. It is a direct peer in the Israeli university TTO market alongside BIRAD.
• Ramot at Tel Aviv University: Ramot is the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University. It manages patent prosecution, licensing, and spinout formation from TAU research, directly paralleling BIRAD's mandate at Bar-Ilan University.
• T3 - Technion Technology Transfer: T3 is the technology transfer office of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. It competes head-to-head with BIRAD for Israeli deep-tech licensing and spinout opportunities and operates a comparable university TTO model.
• BGN Technologies (Ben-Gurion University): BGN Technologies is the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. It operates the same university-affiliated TTO model as BIRAD, focused on commercialization of BGU research output.
• Yeda Research and Development Company: Yeda is the technology transfer company of the Weizmann Institute of Science, one of Israel's leading research institutions. It is the most direct comparable to BIRAD as a university-affiliated TTO monetizing a deep patent and spinout pipeline in Israel.

Others

• ITTN (Israel Tech Transfer Organization): ITTN is the umbrella organization for Israeli university TTOs, of which BIRAD is a member. It is an ecosystem participant that connects Israeli TTOs with global industry and investors rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Integrex (formerly Carnotex) - Weizmann deep-tech commercialization: An emerging deep-tech commercialization entity associated with Israeli research output. Relevant as a partial-overlap player in Israeli academic IP commercialization alongside BIRAD.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BiradResearch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BIRAD