On September 26, the final of the Startup Competition took place at IT Arena 2026 in Lviv. The competition is an annual contest for promising technology startups organized by Lviv IT Cluster. Six finalists pitched their solutions to the jury and investors, and three teams shared a prize fund from the Ukrainian Startup Fund.
This year, the competition received 189 applications. The final stage brought together startups working in energy, medtech, navigation, artificial intelligence, and sensor systems. Participants competed for a share of the $65,000 prize fund and access to a $12.5 million investment fund, as well as mentorship from international investors and entrepreneurs, PR support in Ukrainian media, and the opportunity to present their products to investors.
Alatyr – Interceptor 3.0 builds interceptors to counter Shahed drones, missiles, and jet-powered drones. The product is developed by a team of Ukrainian engineers.
Sirocco Energy develops compact wind turbines for businesses in suburban areas, designed to perform in lower-wind environments with stricter noise and regulatory constraints. The turbines have been tested in Ukraine for over a year, and the team is running a pilot project with one of the world’s 50 largest food companies.
FNAV Systems is building navigation for environments where GPS is unavailable. The company’s passive module combines several navigation methods, including sun and star positioning, and operates day and night.
Versi Bionics has created an affordable, Ukrainian-made bionic hand. Each finger moves independently, and built-in sensors convey temperature, pressure, and vibration. The first batch is already undergoing clinical trials.
Zmiyar developed HYDRA, a network of small ground-based AI sensors deployed by drone. The sensors distinguish between people and vehicles and show the operator what has moved and where on a single map. The team’s first product has been in use on the front line for over two years, with more than 40,000 units delivered.
Rankin AI helps brands appear in AI-generated answers. The platform tracks a company’s visibility in AI tools and turns that data into concrete link-building and PR steps. The startup’s clients already include MacPaw.
Sirocco Energy took first place and $30,000. Second place and $20,000 went to Zmiyar, and third place and $10,000 to Versi Bionics.
In addition, INNOVA awarded its special prize, Tequila Night Batch, along with $5,000, to the startup Rainbow. The team is developing an app that helps children build healthy habits.
“This year’s final showed how broad the range of Ukrainian tech solutions has become, spanning energy, medtech, navigation, and artificial intelligence. Most of the finalists already have a working product, pilot projects, or their first clients, so the conversation with investors was about scaling. Our goal is for the Startup Competition to give teams access to funding and partners they can keep growing with,” said Ihor Markevych, Co-organizer of Startup Track at IT Arena.
Beyond the Startup Competition final, 40 startups presented their products on the Innovation Expo at IT Arena 2026.
The Startup Competition is an annual startup contest held as part of IT Arena. Since 2016, around 1,000 startups have taken part in it. Past winners include Mosqitter, which develops technology-based mosquito protection and took first place in 2021, as well as Oko Camera, Vidar Systems, and NORDA Dynamics, the 2024 prize winners. In 2025, Ovul, HEFT, and StackBob won in the general category.
IT Arena 2026 Partners
Organizer: Lviv IT Cluster
Main Partners: F-Drones, FirePoint
Exclusive Government Partner: Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
Exclusive Banking Partner: UKRSIBBANK
Exclusive Partners: Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv City Council, Google, EU4Innovation East
Gold Partners: N-iX, TAITRA, SoftServe, EPAM, Ukrainian Startup Fund, JETRO, Aleph, IITD, CrowdStrike, MISTO, Everstar, blago, EveryMatrix, TAF Industries, Morshynska
General Media Partner: LIGA.net
The conference is organized by Lviv IT Cluster with the support of the EU4Innovation East project, funded by the European Union, co-funded by the Government of France, and implemented by Expertise France.
On September 26, the final of the Startup Competition took place at IT Arena 2026 in Lviv. The competition is an annual contest for promising technology startups organized by Lviv IT Cluster. Six finalists pitched their solutions to the jury and investors, and three teams shared a prize fund from the Ukrainian Startup Fund. This […]
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