Building a Net-Positive Future

Bar-Ilan is set to anchor Israel’s national energy ecosystem with projects that close the gap between academia and industry.

For years, Bar-Ilan has helped grow Israel’s clean-energy ecosystem through cutting-edge basic and translational energy research. Now, it’s poised to increase that ecosystem’s impact dramatically through prototype labs that bridge academia and industry. Designed to advance and test new battery and hydrogen technologies, the labs will support the large-scale production of commercial clean-energy products and engage in collaborative academia-industry R&D.

“The prototype labs will be a major draw for energy researchers and industry players around the world. It will put Bar-Ilan on the map as the place for ‘everything energy’ in Israel.”

—CEO and Senior Deputy President Zohar Yinon

One of the key building blocks of Bar-Ilan’s energy eco-system is the establishment of the NetZero Accelerator, an extension of the Israel Innovation Authority at Bar-Ilan. NetZero will enable the launch of clean-energy startups based on researchers’ technologies and offer researchers from every university in Israel and their entrepreneurial partners a range of services, including assistance with idea development and market validation; skills-based education and mentorship; and shared work and meeting space.

Thanks to a $6.5 million gift from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, construction of the specialized labs and a space for the accelerator began in the Jerome Schottenstein Center last year. The labs are expected to be operational by November 2024.