At OASIS 2017, Prof. Avraham Katzir flanked by professors Jacob Scheuer (Tel Aviv University) and Dan Marom (Hebrew University). Photo by Perry Mendelboym

EPIC visit
Carlos Lee, president of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), came to Israel in January to lay the groundwork for a contingent of 25 senior photonics executives taking part in OASIS 2017 the following month.
“What an impressive way to start the year! Meeting 30 top photonics people in Israel and visiting five companies in one day! Very impressive leading edge technology,” Lee posted after his first trip to Israel, during which he visited ISERD (Israel-Europe Research Innovation Directorate) of the Israel Innovation Authority.

Joe van Zwaren, left, of the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum accompanied EPIC President Carlos Lee, right, to optics companies including Ophir Photonics in January. Photo: courtesy

At OASIS, the EPIC delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Israel Association of Electronics and Software Industries for future collaboration with Israeli photonics industries.
Some of the companies on Lee’s itinerary were Ophir Photonics Group, Orbotech, LAS Photonics, Prolog Optics,  Duma Optronics,  KiloLambda, HP Indigo and Solar Paint.

Stars of Israeli optics

Total Israeli sales in optics equal approximately $4 billion a year. Much of that is in missile defense and night-vision systems from companies such as Elbit, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries.
Katzir estimates that 15 Israeli optics companies each ring up annual sales of more than $100 million.

Elbit Systems’ electro-optics subsidiary, Elop, is the largest electro-optics company outside the United States. Based in Rehovot, Elop’s electro-optic systems and products for defense, space and homeland security are used internationally. In 2015, Elbit’s electro-optics segment brought in $231.9 million in revenues. Israeli companies are no less prominent in the consumer space.
Lumenis, the world’s largest energy-based medical device company for surgical, aesthetic and ophthalmic applications, is marking its 50th year. Based in Yokneam with offices across the globe, Lumenis was acquired for $510 million by Chinese private equity fund XIO in 2015.
Two other Israeli optics superstars are Mobileye, the Jerusalem-based developer of vision-based advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies, which was just purchased by Intel for $15.3 billion; and Medtronic (previously Given Imaging) in Yokneam, maker of diagnostic products — most famously, PillCam — for visualizing and detecting gastrointestinal tract disorders.
Aside from Mobileye, several Israeli optics companies have scored investments in the past year:
Lumus Vision of Rehovot, creator of transparent displays for augmented reality eyewear, completed a $45 million investment round last December. Lumus optical technology also is used in healthcare, military aviation and logistics sectors.

Lumus’s development kit for AR smartglasses. Photo: courtesy
Innoviz Technologies of Kfar Saba, developer of smart 3D laser sensing, sensor fusion and mapping and localization technologies for autonomous driving, raised $9 million last August and was recently selected to participate in Startup Autobahn 2017.
Corephotonics of Tel Aviv, a startup developing dual camera technologies for smartphones, including 5X optical zoom, completed a $15 million funding round, bringing its total raise since its 2012 founding to $50 million. In February 2017, Corephotonics announced a development deal with Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
DeepOptics of Petah Tikva, developer of electronic omnifocal eyeglasses, raised $4 million in 2016 toward building a revolutionary lens prototype. AR and VR companies look to integrate DeepOptics’ electronic lenses in next-generation products. The company is fine-tuning the technology prior to commercialization.