Ukrainian prosthetic developers to receive grants up to 8 million hryvnias

Ukrainian companies and teams that develop prosthetics and their components will be able to receive up to 8 million hryvnias in grant funding. The Ukrainian Startup Fund and Brave1 are launching the "Innovative Prosthetics" program with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity.

The grant amount will depend on the technology readiness level. For idea validation and research, it will be possible to receive up to 2 million hryvnias.

For projects that transition to creating a laboratory prototype, engineering and user testing, funding of up to 4 million hryvnias is provided.

The largest grant - up to 8 million hryvnias - is intended for creating a prototype, conducting laboratory testing and preparing the development for the next stages of conformity assessment and certification.

The program covers technologies for upper and lower limb prosthetics. Funding can be received by developers of bionic, electronic and mechanical prosthetic systems.

A separate direction will be support for component manufacturers. The list includes electronics, actuators, battery systems and mechanical nodes for prosthetics. Grants are also provided for personalization technologies, including the use of 3D printing.

Part of the funds will be allowed to be directed to user testing. The Ministry of Social Policy explains that developers must take into account a person's lifestyle, activity level and daily loads already at the stage of creating a prosthesis or its components.

The government expects that supporting Ukrainian developers will help increase domestic production and reduce dependence on imported equipment. The state already provides prosthetics free of charge to people within the framework of the corresponding program, including highly functional products.

The "Innovative Prosthetics" program is implemented by the Innovation Development Fund. In its structure, the Ukrainian Startup Fund is responsible for civilian innovations, and Brave1 for defense technologies.

Applications for grant funding are accepted through the Ukrainian Startup Fund portal.

Based on materials from: Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.