The Vernadsky Challenge is a unique engineering startup competition, organized by Noosphere since 2015. This year, Noosphere continued the same competition format from the year before – with a focus on active bioelectronics and space technologies projects.
Following the application deadline for the Challenge on September 10 we started summarizing the results. This year we received 132 applications. Of these, 74 were in the field of “active bioelectronics” projects and 58 in “space technologies”. 43 startups from Ukraine joined the competition: 25 space technologies and 18 active bioelectronics. The 2020 edition of Vernadsky Challenge involved 36 countries around the world. Along with Ukraine, we received applications from the USA, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Canada, Great Britain, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and others.
The Vernadsky Challenge finals were scheduled to be held as a part of the XII International Aerospace Salon “Aviasvit – XXI” from October 13-14 in Kyiv. But due to the epidemiological situation in Ukraine, “Aviasvit – XXI” was postponed. As Vernadsky Challenge organizer, Noosphere recognizes the need for and strives to create favorable conditions for young startups to network and share experiences with experts from well-known technology companies. Unfortunately, an online format is not conducive to this goal. Because of this, we chose to postpone the finals. So, the fifth edition of the Vernadsky Challenge will be held in April 2021, as a part of the XII International Aerospace Salon “Aviasvit – XXI”.
The 10 finalists are:
- Medicsen: Needle-free medication delivery system by smart pad.
- Surface functionalization of metals, glass and composites in aviation and space applications, using lasers.
- Provizio: Smart device for aiding to delay vision loss by measuring internal eye pressure.
- Contactless 3D nano profilometer which visualizes surface topography with nanometer accuracy.
- PancakeSat: A new satellite form factor.
- K300Geo: Suborbital rocket with a liquid engine.
- Interorbital vehicle energy module.
- RoHLiCk: Hybrid rocket fuel based on lithium-ion batteries.
- 3D Printed Scaffolds: Human tumor samples 3D printed for cancer research.
- E-Wrap Wearable Electronics: Deep vein thrombosis early detection and prevention.
They will present their projects to an expert jury for a chance to win a grant equivalent of 2М UAH.
