The Middle East’s largest medical center is expanding into Massachusetts to establish a startup accelerator for digital and AI-powered health care solutions, its first in the U.S.
Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, located near Tel Aviv, is ranked one of the world’s best hospitals by Newsweek. Its collaboration with Massachusetts, announced Tuesday, will serve as a “soft landing pad” for startups coming from Israel and other global sites associated with its ARC Innovation initiative, which stands for “accelerate, redesign, collaborate.”
According to the announcement, the effort will leverage Massachusetts’ world-class health care institutions, clinical research and tech innovation with Sheba Medical Center’s ARC methodology and global platform.
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Yitshak Kreiss, director general of Sheba Medical Center, said their innovation model combined with Massachusetts’ “unparalleled health care ecosystem” will accelerate artificial intelligence technologies that address “the most pressing challenges facing patients and providers globally.”
Sheba’s partnership with the Bay State can “be a bridge for many other elements of life,” Kreiss said, referencing the ongoing turmoil of the Gaza war.
He called the health care provided by Sheba “the beautiful face of Israel,” one that can perhaps stem antisemitism.
The startup initiative will focus on developing three areas: advanced diagnostic tools, digital health platforms and workforce support technologies.
Set to begin operations in the Boston metro area in early 2026, the Massachusetts site will become part of Sheba’s global innovation network, which includes London, Melbourne, Singapore, Berlin and New Zealand.
Gov. Maura Healey met with Sheba Medical Center’s leadership at the State House on Tuesday to celebrate the partnership. During a press conference, she called them “an incredible Israeli company and institution.”
“This is a big deal,” Healey said. “This was exactly the kind of partnership Sheba was seeking as it looked across the globe.”
In a provided statement, Healey further lauded their decision to come to Massachusetts.
“They had many options to choose from, but our state stood out because we are already a global hub for health care innovation with unmatched talent,” she said. “We look forward to the opening of their new accelerator, which will be a valued contribution to our innovation-based economy, and I’m sure it will result in new discoveries that will improve the world and save lives.”
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Last December, Healey launched the Massachusetts AI Hub, an effort to make the state a national leader in AI innovation.
It was not immediately known Tuesday if Massachusetts is giving state funding to the partnership with Sheba Medical Center.
Benny Sharoni, New England consul general of Israel, said opportunities for collaboration between Israel and Massachusetts are “both real and exciting,” especially in biotech and life sciences, “where both are global leaders.”
“When we work together, the potential is limitless,” Sharoni said.
According to Sheba, the ARC Innovation initiative has supported more than 100 startup companies so far, including three with investments surpassing $1 billion.
In Israel, Sheba treats more than 1 million patients across 160 different departments per year.
