Stanford research places the Technion among the world’s top universities outside the US for producing research master’s graduates who go on to found billion dollar companies

LONDON, 13 August 2026: Behind every unicorn is an idea and behind some of the world’s most successful technology companies is a Technion graduate.

New research led by Stanford University Professor Ilya Strebulaev, an expert in venture capital and innovation, has placed the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, among the top 10 universities outside the United States for producing research master’s graduates who have gone on to found deep tech unicorns, privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion.

The study identified 347 research master’s graduates from 206 universities outside the US who went on to found 270 unicorn companies. The Technion produced seven of those unicorn founders, placing it among an elite group of universities worldwide.

It is the latest evidence of an entrepreneurial culture that has helped ideas born at the Technion grow into companies worth billions of dollars and technologies used by millions of people around the world.

For more than a century, the Technion has educated scientists, engineers, doctors, researchers and entrepreneurs who have gone on to shape Israel’s economy and make an impact far beyond its borders.

Research published by the Technion, based on data from the Samuel Neaman Institute, found that between 2015 and 2022, Technion graduates founded or managed 1,021 startup companies, approximately one quarter of all startups established in Israel during that period.

The Technion also educates approximately one third of the engineers graduating from Israeli universities and around half of Israel’s PhDs in science and engineering.

Perhaps the most spectacular recent example is Wiz. The cybersecurity company was cofounded and is led by Technion alumnus Assaf Rappaport, who completed his master’s degree in computer science at the Technion.

Founded in 2020, Wiz experienced extraordinary growth, becoming one of the world’s most valuable cybersecurity companies. In 2025, Google announced an agreement to acquire Wiz for approximately $32 billion, the largest acquisition in Google’s history and the biggest exit in Israeli technology history. Before founding Wiz, Rappaport was also a cofounder of cybersecurity company Adallom, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2015.

Another Technion entrepreneurial success story is Armis, the cybersecurity company cofounded by Technion alumnus Nadir Izrael. Armis grew into a multibillion dollar global company protecting organisations and their connected assets. Izrael has spoken about how his time at the Technion helped prepare him for entrepreneurship, not only through his studies but through the relationships he formed there. It was at the Technion that he met the person who would eventually become his cofounder.

Other examples span the technology landscape. Silverfort, the identity security unicorn, was cofounded by Technion graduate Yaron Kassner. Technion alumna Merav Bahat cofounded and led cybersecurity company Dazz, which was acquired by Wiz in 2024 in a deal reported to be worth approximately $450 million.

These companies form part of a much larger ecosystem of businesses created and led by Technion graduates, spanning cybersecurity, software, medical technology, mobility, infrastructure, engineering and many other fields.

For Alan Aziz, CEO of Technion UK, the figures are significant not simply because of the valuations involved, but because of what they reveal about the people and ideas behind them.

Alan Aziz said: “People talk about unicorns because of the extraordinary numbers attached to them, a billion dollar valuation or a multibillion dollar acquisition. But for me, the most exciting part of this story comes long before any of that. It begins with a student, an idea and the belief that something can be done differently. The Technion gives brilliant people the knowledge and the environment to question what is possible and then the confidence to go out and build it. When you see companies such as Wiz and Armis growing from ideas into businesses operating on a global scale, you begin to understand the extraordinary impact a university can have. These companies create jobs and economic value, but more importantly they create technologies that solve real problems. The seven unicorn founders identified by this research are seven remarkable success stories. But they also represent something much bigger: generations of Technion graduates who have taken what they learned and used it to change the world.”

The Stanford research is particularly significant because it focuses on deep tech unicorns, companies whose success is built around substantial scientific or engineering innovation. That connection between fundamental knowledge and real world application has been at the heart of the Technion since its creation.

The university’s graduates have helped build Israel’s reputation as the Startup Nation, while creating companies and technologies whose influence extends far beyond Israel.

Across the Technion today, students and researchers are working on challenges spanning medicine, energy, water, cybersecurity, sustainable technology, transportation, computing and engineering.

London, UK – 5 August 2026 – Technion UK congratulates BioCatch and its founders following Visa’s announcement that it will acquire the Israeli fraud prevention company in a $2.4 billion transaction. The acquisition is another landmark moment for Israel’s innovation ecosystem and a proud achievement for the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, whose alumni were among BioCatch’s founders.

BioCatch has become a global leader in behavioural biometric intelligence, helping financial institutions detect fraud by analysing how users interact with their devices and banking applications. Today, its technology protects more than 760 million users and serves over 350 financial institutions worldwide, helping stop financial crime before money is lost.

The acquisition further highlights Israel’s position as the Start-Up Nation. Despite a population of fewer than 10 million people, Israel is home to more than 7,000 active startups, giving it one of the highest concentrations of startups per capita in the world. Technion graduates have played a pivotal role in building this ecosystem, founding and leading many of Israel’s most successful technology companies across cybersecurity, fintech, AI, healthcare and semiconductors.

Alan Aziz, CEO of Technion UK, said:“Visa’s acquisition of BioCatch is another outstanding example of how Technion alumni are transforming breakthrough research and entrepreneurial vision into technologies with global impact. We are immensely proud that Technion graduates helped found a company that is protecting hundreds of millions of people from financial fraud. Their success reflects the Technion’s enduring commitment to innovation and reinforces Israel’s position as the Start-Up Nation, where world-changing ideas become world-leading companies.”

Technion has long been recognised as one of the world’s leading science and technology universities, producing generations of entrepreneurs, engineers and innovators whose discoveries and companies continue to shape industries around the globe. The BioCatch acquisition is the latest example of Technion alumni translating cutting-edge research into solutions that improve the security and resilience of the global financial system.

New global ranking places the Technion 25th worldwide, fourth in Europe, and first in Israel in AI Production Capacity. It also places Technion eighth globally for AI entrepreneurship among its graduates

The Technion has been ranked No. 1 in Israel, fourth in Europe, and 25th worldwide in a new index measuring universities’ ability to develop talent, research, and entrepreneurship in artificial intelligence. The report also ranks the Technion eighth in the world for the number of university graduates who go on to found AI companies.

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan said, “Despite the dramatic disparity in resources between the Technion and leading American universities and other top institutions worldwide, the Technion has secured a place among the world’s leading universities and at the top of the Israeli rankings. Technion researchers were among the pioneers of machine learning, helping lay the foundations for leadership in AI as a whole. This leadership is reflected not only in our research but also in the central role AI now plays across Technion degree programs and in the strong connections we have built with industry in Israel and around the world. AI tools are now essential in the workplace, and we ensure that our students acquire these skills alongside a strong foundation in mathematics, science, and engineering.”

Prof. Sivan added, “AI is the defining field of our time, and the Technion is at the forefront globally. Our position in this new ranking is consistent with other international indicators, including the CSRankings, which placed the Technion first in Europe for the number of AI publications presented at leading international conferences. These achievements are the result of a long-term, carefully planned strategy made possible by the outstanding people who make up the Technion family: our faculty members and lecturers, leadership and staff, students, administrative teams, distinguished alumni, and, of course, our friends around the world.”

In addition to its impressive overall ranking, the Technion outperformed many elite universities, including Harvard University, in two key subcategories: the number of faculty members and alumni working in the AI industry, and alumni AI entrepreneurship. In the area of entrepreneurship (educating students who go on to found AI companies), the report notes that, when adjusted for institutional size, the Technion’s alumni entrepreneurship performance is comparable to that of Stanford University, which ranked first overall. The Technion also achieved a stronger overall performance than several elite universities, including Duke, Northwestern, and the University of Pennsylvania, despite operating with a far smaller budget.

The AI Production Capacity index, compiled by the U.S.-based public relations firm W5, ranks the world’s top 50 universities based on their impact on the AI research and industry, including the number of alumni and faculty employed by leading AI companies; entrepreneurship and human capital, such as startup founders, unicorn creation, and venture funding; research volume and quality; computing infrastructure; the depth of AI education; and mentions in generative AI systems.

Scientists at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict a person’s risk of heart failure up to five years before symptoms appear.

The breakthrough, published in the journal npj Digital Medicine, could help doctors identify high-risk patients much earlier, allowing treatment to begin before serious damage is done.

Heart failure affects around 64 million people worldwide and is one of the leading causes of illness and hospital admissions, particularly in older adults.

The AI model analyses data from a routine 24-hour heart monitor (Holter ECG) and can detect tiny warning signs that are invisible to the human eye.

Professor Joachim Behar, who led the research at the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, said: “By identifying people at risk years before heart failure develops, we have an opportunity to intervene earlier, improve patients’ quality of life and potentially save lives.”

The model was developed using around 70,000 routine heart-monitoring tests from Leumit Health Services and was created in collaboration with researchers and clinicians from Rambam Health Care Campus, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other leading Israeli medical institutions.

The researchers hope the technology could eventually become part of routine healthcare, helping prevent heart failure before it starts.

Deciding whether to administer chemotherapy after surgery is one of the most challenging questions in early-stage breast cancer care. While chemotherapy can reduce the risk of recurrence, most patients do not benefit from it and may experience significant short- and long-term side effects. The central challenge is identifying, at the time of diagnosis, which patients are likely to benefit and which are not.

Researchers from the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, together with collaborators from leading medical centres in the United States and Europe, have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that predicts both the risk of breast cancer recurrence and the likelihood that a patient will benefit from chemotherapy. The model analyses routine pathology slides taken at diagnosis, offering a fast, widely accessible alternative to costly genomic tests.

The study was recently published in The Lancet Oncology and presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference. It is the first AI model of its kind to be validated in a large, randomized clinical trial.

Addressing a global clinical need

Each year, approximately 2.3 million people worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer, including about 300,000 in the United States and 5,000 in Israel. Today, genomic tests such as Oncotype DX are commonly used to guide chemotherapy decisions, but these tests are expensive, can take weeks to return results, and are unavailable to many patients globally. Their predictive accuracy is also limited, leading to both unnecessary chemotherapy and missed treatment opportunities.

The Technion-led AI model aims to address these limitations by using information already available in standard pathology samples.

How the model works

The system analyses high-resolution digital images of tumour tissue stained and examined as part of routine pathology. Using deep learning, it evaluates multiple regions of the tumour and its microenvironment, identifying visual patterns associated with cancer behaviour, including cell division, tissue structure, immune response, and features linked to treatment sensitivity or resistance.

“These are complex biological signals that the human eye cannot consistently quantify,” said Dr. Gil Shamai of the Technion’s Geometric Image Processing Laboratory, who led the study. “The model integrates many subtle cues to generate a score that reflects both recurrence risk and expected benefit from chemotherapy.”

Prof. Ron Kimmel, head of the laboratory in the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science, explained the concept: “Instead of testing genes, we look directly at the tissue. Just as eye color can be determined by looking at the eyes rather than analyzing DNA, our system extracts a visual signature from pathology images that informs optimal treatment.”

Clinical use and validation

Clinically, the process is straightforward. After diagnosis, the existing tissue sample is digitally scanned and securely analyzed by the AI system. Within minutes, the model produces a numerical score that supports shared decision-making between oncologist and patient.

While the system’s internal decision-making cannot be fully explained in simple rules, its performance has been rigorously validated. The researchers were granted rare access to tissue samples and clinical data from the TAILORx trial—one of the largest randomised breast cancer studies, involving more than 10,000 patients who were randomly assigned to receive chemotherapy or not.

“Using data from a randomised trial allowed us to test whether the model truly predicts benefit from chemotherapy, not just recurrence risk,” said Dr. Shamai.

According to Prof. Dvir Aran of the Technion’s Faculty of Biology, a co-leader of the study, “This is the first AI model shown to predict treatment benefit in breast cancer directly from pathology samples.”

The model was further validated on thousands of patients from hospitals in Israel, the United States, and Australia, including Carmel, Emek, and Sheba Medical Centres, demonstrating consistent performance across different populations, equipment, and health care systems.

Fast, affordable, and globally scalable

Unlike genomic tests, the AI-based assessment requires no additional tissue, laboratory processing, or waiting period. It can be performed in minutes in any pathology lab equipped with a digital scanner and internet access.

“In developing countries, where genomic testing is largely unavailable, this tool could dramatically expand access to personalised cancer care,” said Prof. Aran. “In high-income countries, it could reduce costs, shorten diagnosis time, and improve decision accuracy.”

Looking ahead

The research team is now advancing steps toward clinical implementation in Israel and preparing clinical trials in Brazil and India, where the potential impact is particularly large. The researchers are also working to further improve the model and extend it to additional treatments and cancer types where aggressive therapy decisions are made under uncertainty.

Based on these impressive results and the knowledge accumulated over years of groundbreaking research, the researchers now intend to establish a company that will develop tests making them significantly more accessible, accurate, and faster compared to those currently in use worldwide.

The study was led by Dr. Gil Shamai, Prof. Ron Kimmel, and Prof. Dvir Aran, in collaboration with oncologists and pathologists from institutions including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai Medical Center, the University of Chicago Medical Center, and IPATIMUP Medical Center in Portugal.

The Technion continues to set the standard for innovation and excellence and once again puts Israel on the world stage.

Haifa and London – The Technion, Israel Institute of Technology has earned major international recognition for both academic excellence and entrepreneurial impact, according to newly released global rankings.

The Technion has been ranked first in Israel and Europe in a leading international computer sciences index measuring peer-reviewed conference publications between 2005 and 2025. The institution placed 21st worldwide overall, with particular strength in artificial intelligence and machine learning, including a top-10 global ranking in machine learning.

The index evaluates research output and impact across key computer science disciplines, underscoring The Technion’s leadership in advanced technologies shaping the future of AI, data science, and computational research.

In addition to its academic distinction, The Technion has also been ranked among the top 10 universities worldwide for producing venture-backed founders, according to the latest PitchBook University Rankings. Climbing six places from the previous year, the Technion secured 10th place globally, reflecting the growing influence of its alumni within the global startup ecosystem.

Technion graduates have founded hundreds of companies that have collectively raised billions of dollars in venture capital, reinforcing the university’s reputation as a powerhouse of deep-tech innovation and entrepreneurship.

Alan Aziz CEO of Technion UK commented: “These rankings reflect more than academic achievement, they represent the Technion’s unique ability to turn groundbreaking research into real-world impact. From pioneering advances in AI to nurturing the next generation of global entrepreneurs, The Technion continues to set the standard for innovation and excellence and once again puts Israel on the world stage.”

Together, these achievements highlight the Technion’s ability to combine world-class scientific research with tangible commercial success advancing knowledge while fuelling technological innovation worldwide.

JERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab and Israel’s Technion university said on Tuesday they were beginning to develop Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from feedstocks including green hydrogen and carbon dioxide to enable the aviation sector’s long-term growth.

SAF, made largely from waste or used cooking oil, can cut emissions significantly compared with traditional jet fuel. However, it remains two to five times more expensive than conventional fuel.

Boeing and Technion said following the completion of an initial feasibility phase, development was set to begin and move towards “competitive commercial production.”

Boeing has committed to delivering commercial airplanes capable of flying 100% on SAF by 2030, while the commercial aviation industry seeks to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.

Although airline industry leaders have pointed to a wave of new SAF initiatives they say will spark a boom similar to the rapid rise of electric vehicles and solar energy, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global body that represents 340 airlines, forecast SAF would account for only 0.7% of total jet fuel in 2025, and the 2050 target could be missed.

Boeing said the process to develop SAF on a large scale could still take a few years. SAF can be made from a variety of sources such as cover crops and other non-edible plants, agricultural and forestry waste, non-recyclable municipal waste, industrial plant off-gassing and other feedstocks

Separately, Boeing and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University said they were establishing a cybersecurity research centre for next-generation aviation and aerospace systems.

Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson, currently in Israel, said the company was working to “enhance energy security, support the growth of the civil aviation industry, and create new economic opportunities through sustainable aviation fuel and other technologies.”

Technion President Uri Sivan said it was on a mission to develop technologies for producing clean fuels that would make a “significant contribution to aviation—and no less importantly, to human health and the environment.”

With trauma compounding and resources stretched, could the Israel-Iran conflict accelerate the adoption of digital and AI-driven mental health care in Israel?

As Israel grapples with the psychological strain of compounded conflict, first following the October 7 Hamas attacks, and more recently with the confrontation against Iran in the wake of Operation Rising Lion, mental health resources are being stretched to their limits. Even amid the newly announced ceasefire, which is meant to offer a halt to hostilities for now, the emotional aftermath across the nation is far from resolved.

Systemic challenges like clinician shortages, access disparities, and a lingering stigma around traditional therapy stand in contrast to a growing, urgent national need for support. According to McKinsey, the total burden from mental health conditions in 2025 is estimated at 183 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). At the same time, “emerging therapeutic options such as digital therapies are gaining recognition for their accessibility and effectiveness, particularly in low-resource settings.”

Indeed, global online behavior reflects growing openness to and traction for such digital therapies. As highlighted by Harvard Business Review, therapy has become the leading use case for generative AI in 2025.

In Israel, a multitude of platforms are already operating in this space. These include AI-based services such as Kai.ai, physiological approaches from Calmigo, passive sensing technologies by Behavidence, and the digitally scaled trauma response of NATAL, Israel’s Trauma and Resiliency Centre.

While the current situation unfolds against the uncertainty of a ceasefire and atop over a year and a half of sustained conflict, it raises the question of whether this juncture will mark an inflection point for tech-enabled mental health care in Israel, and whether these tools will gain the trust, investment and institutional support to play a more central role.

Cracks in the system reveal a growing need for alternatives

In recent years, Israel’s mental health system has faced mounting pressure, with the current situation exposing the full extent of its strain. 

“Since October 7, we have seen an increase of 300% in people consuming psychiatric drugs in Israel,” said Adi Wallach, CEO and Co-Founder of Calmigo. “And the estimation right now is that there are 3 million people who are suffering from trauma.”

Organizations like NATAL, founded in 1998, have had to rapidly expand in response to escalating demand. In the earliest hours of October 7, it was the only helpline broadcast on Israeli television. It has also been instrumental in developing new, condensed treatment protocols adopted by both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defence. 

“Before October 7, NATAL had about 100 therapists,” said Ifat Morad, Director of International Relations, Partnerships and Resource Development. “Now we have more than 600 therapists all over Israel.” In tandem, the organization has launched a new app, expanded services via WhatsApp and Zoom, and integrated an AI bot to triage helpline calls. “We had about 400 people getting therapy one on one on a weekly basis. Now we have more than 3,000 on a weekly basis and counting,” she continued.

Mental health crises in Israel are often marked by waves of people turning to NATAL’s services. Speaking to the present national climate, Morad observed: “we are now in what we call rolling trauma. The trauma didn’t just finish. It’s rolling as we speak. We’re in it, all of us.”

Startups step in with tech-driven mental health solutions

While traditional mental health services in Israel have worked to leverage digitisation to expand their reach, several startups are aiming to address the growing mental health crisis with tech-first or hybrid solutions.

Kai.ai, a hybrid mental health platform combining human clinicians with conversation-based AI, has reached over 200,000 people in need. Initially launched in English, the service expanded to Ukrainian and Russian during the Ukraine war, and to Hebrew following October 7. In partnership with the humanitarian organization The Joint, Kai began offering free support to reservists, students, and civilians – a move it has continued amid the Israel-Iran conflict, now providing a full month of subsidized support to anyone impacted. The offer remains in place, notwithstanding the ceasefire.

For CEO Alex Frenkel, the AI component is central to the platform’s mission “because the AI is accessible 24/7.”

Calmigo, meanwhile, takes a physiological approach, offering a handheld device that activates the parasympathetic nervous system to deliver both immediate relief and long-term support. “You can think about the device as a remote control to your nervous system,” explained Wallach, who noted that Calmigo is one of the only non-medicated solutions providing fast-acting relief alongside sustained therapeutic benefits. “It’s as easy to use and as effective as a pill, but does not require a prescriber, and at a fraction of the cost as well.” Following October 7, the company donated 1,300 units to hostage families, soldiers, and traumatised children.

Behavidence was founded to bridge the gap in early diagnostics and intervention. “We detect mental health disorders or dynamics based on how you use your phone,” said Co-Founder Roy Cohen. “Just by passively sensing your patterns of behaviour.”

The passive approach, he explained, is key to long-term user retention. “We chose passive sensing because whenever we ask the user to do something, the chances of them staying with us a week later is gone.”

In the wake of October 7, the company also made its product freely available to support those affected. It is now working with HMOs and the Ministry of Defense to monitor PTSD symptoms in reservists.

For Cohen, the fundamental inefficiency in how care is delivered is a costly blind spot: “Treating early is cheap. But now the systems are designed to treat only when the symptoms are severe.”

Israeli eye surgery robotics company ForSight Robotics has raised $125 million in a Series B round led by Eclipse. The funding will be used to advance development of the company’s ORYOM platform, a robotic system designed to perform cataract surgery and treat other common eye diseases. The system aims to deliver more precise procedures, expand access to quality care, and reduce the physical burden on surgeons. ForSight’s first human clinical trials are expected to begin this year.

Founded in 2020 by Prof. Moshe Shoham, Dr. Daniel Glozman, and Dr. Joseph Nathan, ForSight is currently headquartered in Yokneam Illit and will soon relocate to Caesarea. The company has raised $195 million to date and employs 110 people in Israel.

In addition to Eclipse, the round included investment from a strategic corporate partner, Dr. Fred Moll, who is widely regarded as the “father of surgical robotics,” India’s Adani Group, Reiya Ventures, and other existing backers. The company has already conducted hundreds of successful preclinical procedures in animal trials and will soon begin robotic cataract surgeries in humans.

“We finalized the round while missiles were flying into Israel. Twenty percent of our team is in the reserves, we support them and their families deeply,” Natahn told Calcalist. “We’ve faced COVID, economic crises, and now war. Still, we secured backing from some of Silicon Valley’s largest funds in both our Series A and B. Our uniqueness is stronger than the challenges around us.”

Dr. Nathan emphasized that the round represents a strong vote of confidence from a key industry player “A strategic company in our space invested a substantial amount, but entered only as a financial partner, I’m not tied to them strategically. All funds go to the company and are not contingent on milestones.”

The new capital will help ForSight move through regulatory pathways, launch U.S. operations, and prepare for commercialisation. “I believe we’ll reach the market in the coming years once we secure all FDA approvals,” said Nathan.

“There’s no existing robotic solution in ophthalmology. We are reengineering eye surgery. Instead of a surgeon manually operating tools, they’ll sit at a console and guide robots to perform the procedure with far greater precision and comfort. Surgeons will be able to do more procedures with better ergonomics. Today, 66% of ophthalmic surgeons suffer from spinal injuries due to physical strain, our platform helps solve that.”

From a patient’s perspective, he added, “They know they’re getting the highest quality care.”

The global vision crisis, affecting over one billion people with preventable vision impairment and avoidable blindness, is exacerbated by a limited and declining ophthalmologist workforce. Worldwide, there are only 31.7 ophthalmologists and 14.1 cataract surgeons per million people. By 2035, the number of practicing ophthalmologists is expected to decline by 12%, while demand for eye care is projected to rise by 24%. Simultaneously, more than 600 million people suffer from cataracts, yet only 30 million receive surgical treatment. In the United States alone, just four million cataract surgeries are performed annually, underscoring the significant gap between patient need and available surgical capacity.

The ORYOM platform is designed to deliver highly precise and consistent ophthalmic procedures, starting with cataract surgery. Leveraging AI-based algorithms, advanced computer vision, and micro-mechanics, the robotic system offers exceptional dexterity and manoeuvrability, while also improving the surgeon’s ergonomic experience.

“Cataracts are part of aging, and rates are rising with obesity and diabetes. But many surgeons are retiring, and there’s not enough new talent entering the field,” Nathan noted. “This gap will only grow.”

Dr. Nathan calls the Series B one of the largest medical funding rounds in Israel in recent years, an exceptional feat in a turbulent time.

“We see ophthalmology as the next frontier in medical robotics, just like general surgery was before Intuitive Surgical revolutionized it with the da Vinci system. It’s a massive market with urgent global need.”

The company’s advisory board includes Dr. Fred Moll, the founder of Intuitive Surgical and the da Vinci surgical system, and Mr. Rony Abovitz, the founder of MAKO Surgical Corp. Dr. Fred Moll recently joined the company’s board of directors. Additionally, ForSight Robotics benefits from the expertise of a world-class clinical advisory board that includes Dr. David Chang, Dr. Vance Thompson, Prof. Boris Malyugin, Dr. Sam Garg, and Dr. Modi Naftali.

Israeli health tech startup NeuroKaire, Cofounded by Dr. Daphna Laifenfeld who has a PhD in Medical Science and Molecular Biology from Technion, has rolled out a blood test in the US and Israel that they say can measure the responsiveness of a patient with major depressive disorder to common antidepressants.

This week, NeuroKaine have rolled out a blood test in the US and Israel that they say can measure the responsiveness of a patient with major depressive disorder to common antidepressants.

NeuroKaire says its novel, AI-assisted tech uses stem cells to create a brain proxy against which drugs can be tested to find the best one.

Depression is one of the most common forms of mental disorder, affecting more than 330 million people worldwide. Treatment methods rely primarily on a taxing trial-and-error process to find the right prescription drug, which can take years.

In Israel, the psychological toll of 23 months of war and counting has made the need for effective mental health treatment felt more than ever.

The blood test, promises to create a platform for personalised treatment of mental disorders. Guided by the test results, clinicians and psychiatrists can determine which treatment is most suited to a particular patient’s condition.

“For far too long, patients with clinical depression have endured a grueling trial-and-error process before finding an effective treatment,” Cohen Solal told The Times of Israel. “Around one-third of the time, a patient improves or recovers from depression when seeking treatment, and around two-thirds of the time, physicians will need to change their medication or dosage multiple times.”

“Typically, the guessing game of identifying the right drug for a patient with clinical depression can take between 12 to 18 months. We are bringing that down to two months,” she claimed.

The blood test began being offered in Israel and the US this week, though the new technology still needs more research and trial data to determine its effectiveness, according to Prof. Mark Weiser, who heads the Psychiatry Department at Sheba Medical Centre.

“NeuroKaire’s unique combination of stem-cell technology, genomics, and AI represents an evolutionary step forward from traditional pharmacogenetics and is promising, but more research needs to be done in large clinical trials with hundreds of patients, comparing the outcomes with those that haven’t taken the test, and further improve results for patients,” Weiser said.

NeuroKaire’s blood-based screening tool, BrightKaire, was recently granted laboratory-developed test regulatory approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the US, making it the first clinically deployed test based on neurons derived from blood, the startup said.

Cohen Solal and Laifenfeld have decades of academic expertise in brain research and personalised medicine between them. Cohen Solal spent a decade studying psychiatric disorders at Oxford University, University College London and Columbia University. Laifenfeld has worked in brain research at the Technion and Harvard University, and has over 20 years of experience in personalised medicine, including serving as head of precision medicine at Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries.

The two neuroscientists met when Cohen Solal immigrated from the US to Israel in 2017, and they decided to join forces to found NeuroKaire in 2018. The two shared a vision to develop a more precise personalised test that clinicians could use in order to pick the optimal drug therapy for patients with clinical depression.

NeuroKaire’s R&D team then turns the stem cells into frontal brain neurons — the brain region most implicated in mental illness and depression — and tests them against 70 different antidepressants, helping to pinpoint the most effective drug or combination therapy for each patient.

Using a proprietary AI platform to analyse personalised data, including a patient’s genetic data, medical history, and microscopic neuronal imaging, the test produces a report detailing the patient’s response to different medications, including the likelihood of side effects.

“Depression is reduced connectivity in the brain, often expressed in a lack of motivation,” Cohen Solal explained. “With our brain in a dish platform, we have a window into the brain and can analyze how well those neurons are connecting or communicating after exposure to antidepressants, and we turn that into a quantitative readout for how strongly a drug has affected connectivity in those samples.”

“Our brain in a dish technology tells you not just if the drug gets past the liver to the brain, but what it does in the brain and whether it works,” Cohen Solal noted.

Cohen Solal said that the startup has validated the technology in clinical trials of the blood-based diagnostic in Israel in collaboration with Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan and Geha Mental Health Center in Petah Tikva. In the US, trials were conducted at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and in collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health. In addition, NeuroKaire has formed partnerships with Israeli biotech companies Clexio and Neurosense.

“In the past two decades, our knowledge of human genetics and brain biology has advanced at an unprecedented pace, but it is still limited,” said Weiser. “The underlying problem is that when a patient comes for treatment, there is no test based on biology as to whether I should prescribe Prozac or a different antidepressant, but it is based on consultation and clinical impressions.”

Weiser said other companies that have developed blood tests based on genes to determine the best drug treatment for depression, were not well-validated.

In 2023, NeuroKaire expanded to the US and opened a commercial lab, while its R&D center, employing 25 people, is based in Tel Aviv. To date, the startup has raised $25 million from venture capital investors, including GreyBird Ventures, Meron Capital, Jumpspeed Venture Partners and Sapir Ventures.

“Israel has fantastic life sciences and neuroscience PhDs, which is wonderful for hiring great R&D scientists,” Cohen Solal said. “It’s a mission of ours because of Israel and because of the war to launch this test here as well, and we are very happy to be able to help in this time of need.”

A report published by the State Comptroller’s Office earlier this year found that approximately 3 million Israeli adults may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or anxiety as a direct consequence of the events of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.

“Many of the drugs overlap for depression and PTSD,” said Cohen Solal. “Physicians can use our technology to help them choose between PTSD medications as well.”

“But in the future, we will specifically be recruiting cohorts of PTSD patients so we can validate it as well in the PTSD setting,” she added.

Cohen Solal said that depression is the first indication, but going forward, tests for other neurological conditions are being planned using the same method.

“NeuroKaire’s mission is to bring precision medicine to the brain,” said Cohen Solal. “Next year, we will be starting our studies in ADHD. That’s going to be our next indication.”