As the world unites to fight Covid-19, Israeli start-ups are mobilising with many pivoting into healthcare.
“In their nature, start-ups need to be flexible and adapt quickly to changes in order to meet opportunities when they occur,” explains Efrat Duvdevani, CEO of the Peres Center for Peace & Innovation in Jaffa.
“This fact, combined with the Israeli spirt of ‘leaving no one behind’ caused many startups in Israel to shift their focus and find new ways to leverage their technological capabilities.”
In March, The Israel Innovation Authority awarded grants totalling 22M NIS (around £5m) to 35 start-ups. One of the recipients, Beer Sheva based start-up RoboTiCan, has re-purposed its existing robot to develop the ‘NurseeBot’ for use in Covid wards. The four-wheeled robot can hold smartphones for safe patient/doctor interaction and carry up to 50kg of equipment inside a contaminated area.
In normal times, Holon based start-up AnyVision uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition for security cameras and entry systems, as well as to scan faces at military checkpoints. The company has lent its expertise to security within hospitals, installing 600 cameras in the Sheba medical centre in Tel Aviv, which will raise an alarm if a person enters a Coronavirus unit without wearing a mask. The cameras can also highlight exactly who needs to quarantine after coming into close contact with infected patients.
Tyto Care, a Netanya based start-up, has deployed its remote examination device, TytoHome, to every hospital in Israel and many internationally. The console measures body temperature and carries out diagnostic tests on the lungs, ears, nose and throat, all under the guidance of a tele-connected doctor. Inovytec, a company specialising in the production of emergency medical systems, partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries to adapt a missile assembly line to produce ventilators.
And it’s not just inside hospitals that tech companies are making a difference. Anti-bacterial fabric start-up Sonovia has developed face masks that claim to be 100% antibacterial and antiviral, even after multiple washes. “The mask’s fabric is embedded with nano-particles of zinc oxide and these release ions on the surface that can destroy virus membranes completely,” says Sonovia Co-founder Shay Hershcovich. Sonovia’s masks have been approved for distribution and sale in the US and there’s talk of a Nasdaq listing for this Ramat Gan based company.
While testing remains vital, Israeli start-ups are inventing supplementary ways to check your own health. Nanoscent is developing a sensor-based system for the early detection of Covid-19 through analysis of exhaled air.
Smelltracker, developed by the Weizman Institute for Science and the Edith Wolfson Medical Centre, uses an algorithm to chart smell perception using five everyday household items. Users log personal responses to items online and the system analyses results to predict if you’re suffering from an early symptom of Covid-19.
Vocalis Health is doing the same with voice samples and even your own waste could soon be under the spotlight. Pollution tracking start-up Kando plans to use algorithm-enabled sampling to analyse human faeces in sewage systems for signs of coronavirus, enabling experts to pinpoint affected streets, thus avoiding total lockdowns.
And as the global race to find a vaccine continues, northern Israel’s high-profile start-up MigVax is at the forefront of developments, having secured $12m of investment via OurCrowd to help fund clinical trials of its new Covid-19 vaccine, which it is hoped might solve the crisis once and for all.
