IIA

The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA), formerly the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry, operates as the principal Israeli government entity supporting commercial technology R&D. The IIA succeeded the Office of the Chief Scientist through the 2015-2016 institutional restructuring that consolidated technology-policy functions.

The IIA's principal mandates span:

— Direct R&D grant funding to Israeli technology companies through the matching-grant program (with structured ongoing royalty obligations on commercialization of supported technology) — Operation of the technological-incubator program (the Israeli incubator network supporting early-stage technology company formation) — Sector-specific innovation programs across cybersecurity, AI, digital health, climate technology, and adjacent priority categories — International collaboration agreements supporting Israeli technology company access to international R&D partnerships — Coordination with the broader Israeli technology ecosystem across the Israeli academic technology-transfer companies (Yeda, Yissum, Ramot, and the broader academic technology-transfer tier), the Israeli VC and growth-equity sector, and the major Israeli technology corporates

The IIA's structural support for early-stage Israeli technology R&D operates alongside private-sector venture capital and growth equity covered in The Olam's Venture cluster. The institutional pattern — government R&D support at early stage feeding into private-sector commercialization at growth stage — has been a structural feature of the Israeli technology economy since the founding of the Office of the Chief Scientist in 1969.

See also: /glossary/yeda/, /venture/2025-mega-round-cohort/