Today, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced the USAID Competitive Economy Program (CEP) will provide a $150,000 grant to Esper Bionics, an innovative producer of robotic limbs widely in need by Ukrainian veterans and people with limb differences worldwide. This grant will enable Esper Bionics to create 20 new jobs, increase sales by $2 million over the next year, and invest an additional $2 million into the company.
Esper Bionics is an award-winning engineering company that has been building bionic prosthetic devices since 2019. Headquartered in New York with R&D and manufacturing located in Kyiv, Esper Bionics produces essential robotic prostheses, including the first AI-powered, cloud-based prosthetic hand that improves its performance over time. With USAID support, Esper Bionics’ team in Kyiv will be able to double its annual revenue by utilizing new accounting software as well as high accuracy manufacturing equipment including a high precision lathe machine and measurement devices.
This comes at a critical time. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, demand for Esper Bionics’ products has increased significantly, with the number of upper limb amputations in Ukraine increasing tenfold. In May 2022, Esper Bionics launched the program “Esper for Ukraine,” which offers the Esper Hand prosthesis at a special affordable price to Ukrainian veterans and provides support for amputees throughout the prosthetic process.
Through the USAID Competitive Economy Program, the United States supports job creation, workforce upskilling, and helping businesses pivot to Western markets in order to increase exports and sales. By supporting Ukraine’s small and medium enterprises, we are helping rebuild the economy from the ground up. And by supporting Esper, we are not only investing in a company – but in the health, empowerment, and recovery of those who lost limbs fighting against Putin’s brutal war, and of others in need of prostheses.