The Ministry of Digital Transformation is inviting startups to participate in a new competition that offers up to £3,000 for developing solutions in humanitarian demining. This was announced by the Ministry.

UK Ukraine TechBridge and Sikorsky Innovation Challenge are launching the Innovation for Humanitarian Demining competition to support Ukrainian teams creating innovations for humanitarian demining. The top three teams will receive grants of £3,000, £2,000, and £1,000 respectively.

The ministry added that participants will receive:

• collaboration with leading experts and demining operators;
• investment and partnerships with British companies;
• mentorship support;
• the opportunity to implement their developments in real projects.

Startups and research teams with ideas or ready solutions in the following areas are invited to participate in the Innovation for Humanitarian Demining:

1) development of drones, robotic systems, and multisensory platforms for remote detection of explosive objects;

2) creation of ground and aerial autonomous platforms for safe area clearance;

3) development of interactive maps and real-time demining management systems;

4) as well as those with potential for humanitarian demining.

The competition will take place on September 30 in a hybrid format in Kyiv at the Igor Sikorsky KPI. Registration is open until September 22 via the provided link.

Additionally, recently the Danish-Ukrainian company Dropla Tech raised €2.4 million to scale up its technology for detecting explosive objects using artificial intelligence. The funding was provided in a pre-seed round by the Danish Export and Investment Fund, Maj Invest Holding, and Final Frontier.