Entrepreneurs with groundbreaking ideas sometimes lack the experience and institutional knowledge necessary to take innovation from ideation to impact and build a successful company. To solve this problem and assist with company growth and the further development of game-changing ideas, technology incubators have become an essential part of the technology life cycle. Over the course of its first 75 years as a country, Israel has established itself as a start-up nation and a central innovation hub, especially for technology incubators in the MedTech and life science space.
Technology incubators leverage institutional know-how and deep industry connections to provide the critical mentorship young companies need in order to bolster growth, establish business practices, and advance both business development and fundraising efforts. The more successful incubators work very closely with major industry-specific players and global financial institutions to assess the market needs while searching for best-in-class opportunities and initiating groundbreaking companies. Ultimately, technology incubators are first-rate vehicles for early-stage investments.
Boosting MedTech innovation
Founded in 2002 by Peregrine Ventures’ co-founders Eyal and Boaz Lifschitz, Peregrine’s Incentive Incubator is one of Israel’s most successful technology incubators and a leader in the global life science market. The incubator recently welcomed industry leaders and research institutes as investors and collaborators in its award-winning Incentive Technology Incubator. The partners that joined the technology incubator include global pharmaceutical leader Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), medical devices and diagnostics company BD (Becton Dickinson and Company), international high tech company Elbit Systems, and esteemed institutional leaders from Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Together, this powerhouse of life science giants will help identify the next set of life science companies that will change healthcare across the globe.
The incubator’s unique model has yielded extraordinary results to date. Notably, of the 60 companies that were established in Peregrine’s incubator, 34 of them remain active companies with an aggregated value hitting the USD 5 billion mark. Peregrine and the incubator have achieved an impressive number of exits, including Valtech Cardio, which was sold to Edwards Lifesciences for $690 million; CartiHeal, which was acquired by Bioventus for $500 million; Cardiovalve, which was successfully sold to Venus; and Eximo Medical, which was sold to AngioDynamics.
Palpable entrepreneurial spirit
Propelled by the Israel Innovation Authority, innovation continues to be an important part of Israel’s future. In fact, Peregrine’s incubator has worked very closely with the Authority and has been a consecutive tender winner of its Incubators Program. This partnership has helped nurture innovation and accelerate young MedTech companies’ growth on a global scale. Specifically, this partnership has allowed both Peregrine and its partners to invest in some of the higher risk, higher reward opportunities that often become the technologies that change the healthcare world on a global scale.
And there is still room for advancement. The life sciences, and more specifically MedTech ability, is centrally located in Israel, and hopefully the nation will continue to accelerate its leadership in this field. However, it is important for the country to become a home for investors as much as it has become a central location for technology start-ups’ research and development efforts.
As a young nation, Israel’s entrepreneurial spirit is palpable – an energy that has been harnessed by the companies that call this country home. The more investors and strategic players that see the potential to benefit from Israel’s plethora of opportunities, the stronger its ecosystem will be.
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Partnered with the Israel Innovation Authority
