Gift Ideas by Ukrainian Startups
With the winter holiday season in full swing, everyone must be looking for warm-hearted gifts for family, friends, or work colleagues. Gift-giving is one of the ways to show the people around you care about them. But picking a perfect gift is not always an easy venture. If you are still trying to choose one, take a look at the list of cool tech gifts developed by Ukrainian startups we’ve compiled.
Well-being Management Wristwatch
Kyiv-based startup Force created a smart gadget EMWatch designed to reduce your stress level, endeavoring to compete with Apple’s world-famous product. The team set out not to entertain users, but to notify them about their health indicators, in particular, mental well-being.
The gadget enables you to monitor your emotions in real-time right from your wrist, measuring your blood pressure and heart rate. Smart wristwatch also tracks steps, calorie expenditure, and sleep patterns. EMwatch app provides the users with AI health advice based on their indicators and allows them to stay active with all vital metrics in one place. Compatible with Android and iOS, EMWatch guarantees 14 days battery life and boasts water and dust-resistant features. The gadget can be used as a personal health tracker, proving to be an excellent gift for any health and fitness aware enthusiast, or as a corporate tool to reduce the level of stress in the company.
Smart Home Systems
Ajax Systems, an international technology company with a headquarter in Kyiv, develops professional wireless security systems, rapidly expanding the IoT market. The Ajax product range includes devices that detect intrusion, provide protection in case of fire emergencies and flooding, offering seamless smart home management options. The professional security system will help you guard your apartment, house or office, or demonstrate how much you care about the person to whom you give it as a gift.
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Among the features that set apart Ajax security systems from their competitors is the mobile app enabling a control function, reliable cryptographic encryption, robustness, functioning under extreme conditions, energy efficiency, and conceptual design.
Furry Friends Gift
Founded in 2012, Ukrainian startup Petcube has been trying to merge tech innovations and love for the human’s little friends, creating pet products for the 21st century. The company offers interactive cameras for pet owners enabling them to monitor and communicate with pets who are staying home alone. Pet owners can watch, play and talk with their furry friends through the mobile app, relieving anxiety and stress in their pets or assisting them in training.
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After having integrated Alexa into the gadgets in early 2019, Petcube cameras are now able to work without a separate Amazon Echo or other Echo devices. Currently, 2 versions are available on the market: Petcube Play 2 and Petcube Bites 2 Cameras, with the latter allowing to treat your pet remotely, loading a wide range of dog and cat treats, and schedule automatic dispensing via the free Petcube app.
Alice’s Adventures in AR
Ukrainian augmented reality startup Live Animations has significantly contributed to the development of AR-enhanced literature collaborating with the US publisher Little Hippo. The market of AR books is rapidly developing in Ukraine as well. This year, the Talant Publishing from Kharkiv presented a series of AR Encyclopedias covering a fascinating world of fauna. Both adults and kids will become absorbed discovering long-extinct beasts in the Prehistoric Animals, diving into the marvelous underwater world in the Ocean Monsters, trying not to panic before a wolf or a rattlesnake in Predators, and learning about the realm of insects in Beetles.
Readers of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a much-loved classic, can observe incredible adventures of a little girl Alice and other mesmerizing characters in AR since last year. Colorful illustrations created by Yevheniya Hapchynska come to life with the help of the Wonderland AR app. Readers can not only see their favorite characters and listen to their stories but also interact with them, taking photos or videos and sharing on social media. Other augmented reality editions include ABCs books by FastAR kids, Kateryna Babkina’s The Pumpkin Year by Staryi Lev Publishing, and Heroes of Stolen Princess by Smart Koala Trading.
Eternal Stationery
A bunch of teenagers from Kyiv, who quit school to pursue their dream, founded a startup Nuka that offers eternal stationery. With the idea born in 2017, the creators have gone through a long path of bringing their idea to life, the Kickstarter campaign, and the start of mass production. Finally, in December 2019, first Nuka’s customers have received the long-awaited smart products.
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Despite its conventional design, Nuka’s sought-after notebook boasts a unique functionality. The sustainable notebook enables an unlimited number of notes which can be easily erased; it is waterproof, tear-resistant, and there’s no need to worry that your pet can damage it. The notebook has various layouts: multipurpose smart-dots for notes, sketches and spreadsheets, a to-do list, and a planner. With Nuka’s mobile app, you can scan the tasks from the notebook and add your plans to the app’s inbuilt calendar. The brand also offers an eternal metal pencil. You can still write with any conventional pens, pencils, or markers and erase the inscriptions with Nuka’s magic eraser.
Nixie Tube Wristwatch
After successful campaigns on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Japanese crowdfunding CampFire, Ukrainian startup NIXOID Lab has started to produce extraordinary nixie tube watches. Nixoid wristwatches use lamp indicators with a half-century history manufactured in the USSR for the military industry. The unique design was created as an urge to bring back vintage things to life, mixing them with modern technology, as the creators report. Masterfully combining the past and present, Nixoid’s wristwatches reimagine the future.
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Delfast E-bike
With Delfast electric bikes created in Ukraine, you can travel a record 380 km on a single charge. The vehicle was initially created by the Delfast Courier Service for faster delivery of goods. After several years of internal use, the company decided to make its product available to people all around the world. The startup raised $165,000 on Kickstarter, receiving most orders from the USA. Engineers at Delfast created 3-speed modes ECO, CITY, and Unlimited for cross country travels in order the rationalize the consumption of the energy supply.
Delfast has become one of the 15 startups going to Silicon Valley to represent Ukraine at the Startup Grind Global 2020 after it was selected in a fierce competition among 160 Ukrainian startup teams.
3D Models
Startup Ugears, which produces plywood mechanical 3D models for adults and children, was founded in 2014 in Kyiv. People all around the world now piece together their unique models, ranging from vehicles to even chronometers and horses. The models are self-propelled and require no electricity. All laser-cut pieces are crafted very accurately, and due to a unique patented joining formula, they can be assembled without glue, nails, or screws.
Whether you’re a novice model-builder or an expert in piecing together the parts, Ugears have the options for everyone: the beginner range such as the Geneva Drive and the Date Navigator, to most complex wooden models which feature some of the most elaborate historical engineering designs like the Steam Locomotive and the Roadster. With new impressive models coming out frequently, you have a chance to enjoy a unique modeling experience that poses a challenge and requires patience.