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Ігор Вишневський Startup
8 October 2025, 12:54
2025-10-08
In Ukraine, they have found a way to monitor the health and fertility of cows 24/7. The solution is already attracting interest from livestock industry giants. What the HEFT startup offers
One of the winners of this year’s startup competition at IT Arena 2025 was HEFT — a startup that offers a health, mobility, and fertility tracker for cows in the form of a special collar. In the startup competition during this event, HEFT took second place and took home a prize of $10,000, only losing out to Ovul — a startup that created the world’s first hormonal tracker that determines fertility and estrogen levels in women. An interesting coincidence, but instead of inappropriate sexist jokes, we simply state — it’s really cool that Ukrainian startups are solving this problem, and not only for their own species :)
One of the winners of this year’s startup competition at IT Arena 2025 was HEFT — a startup that offers a health, mobility, and fertility tracker for cows in the form of a special collar. In the startup competition during this event, HEFT took second place and took home a prize of $10,000, only losing out to Ovul — a startup that created the world’s first hormonal tracker that determines fertility and estrogen levels in women. An interesting coincidence, but instead of inappropriate sexist jokes, we simply state — it’s really cool that Ukrainian startups are solving this problem, and not only for their own species :)
How HEFT’s smart cow collar works
It is the timely diagnosis of both diseases and «hunting» and pregnancy in cows, according to representatives of the HEFT startup, that should become a game changer in animal husbandry, as it will prevent significant financial losses in dairy farming. As reported in the IT Arena press release, the system developed by the startup uses accelerometers to collect data on the activity of cows, and the key function of the gadget is to determine heat (heat detection), when a cow should be inseminated, with an accuracy of 98%. In addition, HEFT can measure stomach acidity using another separate device and use AI to predict some health problems in animals.
CBDO at HEFT Maria Mashkovska during a pitch at IT Arena 2025
More about the startup and how these gadgets work was told by its operations director Oleg Kravchuk at the HEFT dev.ua stand.
According to him, the HEFT team’s work in other AgriTech startups and understanding of the industry showed that both the health of a cow and its productivity depend on its overall development. Accordingly, the startup participants came to the conclusion that it was necessary to make a sensor that would detect «hunting» in a cow and show its health in real time.
«Thanks to this sensor, we understand when a cow can get sick — because it all depends on its mobility. This sensor sees how it moves. Accordingly, it is trained by artificial intelligence and understands what diseases can occur with this or that condition,» Oleg Kravchuk explained to the dev.ua journalist.
He also added how information from sensors helps to understand the physical condition of the animal in real time.
«We have indications of what the normal mobility of an animal should be, what the normal chewing and rumination of a cow should be. And we start from them, because we know what the norm looks like, and, accordingly, we understand when there is a malfunction. Even if a cow demonstrates less mobility, this is a reason to approach it and look, because this may indicate health problems,» said a representative of the HEFT startup.
According to him, when a cow feels «hungry,» that is, ready to mate, her mobility, on the contrary, increases.
«A cow produces the greatest increase in milk after giving birth to a calf. Accordingly, this period between when she calved and when she was inseminated again should be as short as possible — she needs to be inseminated again on the 17-21st day,» explains Oleg Kravchuk about physiological processes, noting that it is very difficult for a veterinarian on a farm to accurately track these processes on his own, especially when it comes to a herd of hundreds or even thousands of cattle.
«And our sensor itself will notify that cow number 328 is currently in a „hunting“ state. Accordingly, the veterinarian comes, examines the animal, and makes all necessary decisions,» adds the HEFT representative.
Does the solution already have real-world application?
As Oleg Kravchuk notes, Ukrainian agro-industrial business currently, for the most part, does not use such technological solutions, or tries to «use» foreign solutions of a similar type.
«We want to make our own, Ukrainian, so that it works here. A contract for 200 sensors has already been signed with one Ukrainian company, they are being manufactured and will be on the farm in the near future,» he assured.
In addition, as Oleg Kravchuk says, the startup already has experience in potential cooperation with 14 clients, including such agricultural giants as MHP.
Oleg Kravchuk did not directly name the price of the device, namely a smart collar for cows, but noted that «it will definitely be cheaper than foreign solutions.»
At the same time, according to him, HEFT offers a wider line of hardware solutions that foreign companies that manufacture similar trackers do not have.
«We already have two solutions, and a third is currently being developed. In addition to the collar, which is a health and „hunting“ sensor, we also have a bolus that is inserted into the cow’s stomach. This can work together or separately. The bolus determines a number of physical indicators and the state of the cow’s rumination. Also, a solution such as a „smart“ ear tag is currently being developed,» Kravchuk shared.
According to him, such an ear tag will become a kind of analogue of a collar, and will also show the cow’s temperature, so potential customers will be able to either choose or combine HEFT gadgets depending on their needs and specific situation.
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