Lviv, Ukraine – The IT Arena 2025 Startup Competition has once again highlighted the ingenuity of the Ukrainian tech ecosystem, with this year’s winners showcasing groundbreaking solutions in artificial intelligence, women’s health, agritech, and military technology. Sixty startups competed in the semi-finals, with the top projects sharing a total prize pool of $60,000 across two main tracks.

Main Competition: AI for Pressing Global Issues

In the general category, the top honors went to startups leveraging AI to tackle urgent problems in health, agriculture, and corporate security.

First Place ($15,000) – Ovul

Crowned the champion, Ovul captivated the judges with its revolutionary hormone tracker. Positioned as the world’s first device to analyze hormones through saliva, it empowers women to live in sync with their bodies, offering unprecedented insights into their health and hormonal balance.

Second Place ($10,000) – HEFT

The agritech innovator HEFT secured the second spot by addressing significant financial losses in the dairy industry. Its advanced system uses accelerometers and AI to monitor the health and fertility of cows, boasting a 98% accuracy rate in detecting the optimal time for insemination. The technology can also measure stomach acidity and predict potential health issues, promising a new era of efficiency in livestock farming.

Third Place ($5,000) – StackBob

Taking third place, StackBob presented its sophisticated AI platform for identity and access management. The solution automates the complex processes of employee onboarding and offboarding, while also managing passwords and software licenses, thereby enhancing corporate security and operational workflow.

Other notable finalists in this category included Sec-TA, a cybersecurity firm; Funelly AI, an AI-powered marketing funnel creator for small businesses; and Anima, a mental health assessment platform that uses web-based eye-tracking technology.

Miltech Track: Powering Ukraine’s Defense Capabilities

The dedicated miltech competition showcased the critical role of innovation in modern warfare, with startups presenting solutions to enhance Ukraine’s defense and technological sovereignty.

First Place ($15,000) – Dwarf Engineering

The top prize was awarded to Dwarf Engineering for its pioneering B2B platform. This solution bridges the gap between developers of autonomous control systems and the manufacturers of UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), munitions, and marine drones, streamlining the integration of cutting-edge technology into defense hardware.

Second Place ($10,000) – BabAI

BabAI earned second place for its critical defense technology. The startup is developing an AI-powered system designed specifically to protect against enemy FPV (First-Person View) drones, a crucial innovation for the modern battlefield.

Third Place ($5,000) – Bravo Dynamics

Bravo Dynamics claimed the third prize with its Phantom 3.0, a robust mesh system for ground robots. This technology ensures reliable communication and coordination between unmanned units, significantly boosting their effectiveness in complex operational environments.

The results of the IT Arena 2025 Startup Competition underscore a powerful trend: Ukrainian entrepreneurs are not just participating in global tech conversations but are actively defining the future with impactful, intelligent, and critically necessary innovations.

Source: DEV.ua