Minesight Innovation Challenge opens applications and announces Kick-Off event.
Ukraine is launching the Minesight Innovation Challenge — an international engineering challenge to develop a compact remote excavation system for humanitarian demining.
The initiative focuses on one of the most critical and high-risk stages of mine action — excavation, which is still largely performed manually and accounts for up to 60–80% of a deminer’s time in the field.
The challenge is implemented by Minesight, a nonprofit organization focused on deep tech innovation in humanitarian mine action, in partnership with the national platform Demine Ukraine, with the support of the Serhiy Prytula Humanitarian Foundation and the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine.
Engineers, startups, research teams, and companies working in robotics, mechanical engineering, agriculture, and construction technologies are invited to participate.
Participants are expected to develop solutions that reduce the need for manual excavation, operate effectively in real field conditions, increase safety for deminers, and are scalable and suitable for real-world deployment.
The challenge will begin with an online Kick-Off event, where organizers will present the problem, technical requirements, selection criteria, implementation stages, and participation opportunities.
Edlyn Levine, CEO of Minesight, emphasized that the initiative goes beyond a traditional innovation competition:
“Ukraine has demonstrated to the world the power of its innovation sector to answer some of the greatest problems in the face of conflict. For this reason, we are challenging Ukraine’s best innovators to develop new technical solutions to excavate landmines, which remains one of the most challenging aspects of humanitarian mine action”.
Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Ihor Bezkaravainyi highlighted the importance of practical innovation for accelerating demining efforts:
“Ukraine is shaping a new approach to humanitarian demining — driven by technology, market development, and openness to innovation. We need solutions that can be tested, scaled, and deployed now. This is about the safety of deminers and the safe return of people to cleared land”.
Maryna Petrychenko, Director of Serhiy Prytula Humanitarian Foundation, stressed the focus on real-world impact:
“This challenge is designed to take solutions from concept to real application. Participants will have the opportunity to work with industry experts, test their developments, and adapt them to field conditions. What matters to us is that these solutions actually change how demining works”.
Participants will receive funding for prototype development, mentorship from mine action experts, field testing opportunities, and pathways to further deployment and scaling.
Registration for the Kick-Off event is now open and will run until April 8. Following the event, teams will be able to submit their solutions and proceed to the next stages of the challenge.
More details and registration are available at: https://www.minesightchallenge.com/