Ukrainian medical startup CheckEye, which is developing an artificial intelligence system for the early detection of chronic diseases using retinal images, has received a $175,000 award at the international Healthy Longevity Global Competition organized by the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM). The company took second place in the final stage of the competition, NAM reported.
The award ceremony took place in Washington during the international NAM Global Innovator Summit. The Ukrainian team was represented by CheckEye co-founder Viktoriia Chuchyna, who was identified by the organizers as the leader of the competition project.
The Ukrainian company’s development, called AI-Powered Retinal Screening for Early Detection of Chronic Diseases, involves using artificial intelligence to analyze retinal images and identify signs of chronic diseases.
The technology allows examinations to be conducted without complex invasive procedures. According to the company, capturing an image of the fundus takes about three minutes, after which the image is analyzed by a cloud-based platform using artificial intelligence algorithms.
The examination can be conducted in primary healthcare facilities, pharmacies and specialized screening centers without the direct involvement of an ophthalmologist at the image acquisition stage.
Currently, the platform is primarily focused on detecting diabetic retinopathy and signs of vascular diseases, including arterial hypertension. In the future, the developers intend to expand the technology’s capabilities to assess the risks of more than 50 diseases.
According to the project description submitted to the competition organizers, CheckEye has already screened more than 15,000 people in five countries: Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Romania and the United Kingdom.
The company reports that its algorithms achieve a sensitivity of 93–95% in detecting diabetic retinopathy and a specificity of approximately 90%. These figures are presented in the competition documentation and represent the development results claimed by the team.
As part of a pilot program of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, implemented from October 2024 to March 2025 in Odesa and Chernihiv regions, more than 870 patients with diabetes underwent screening. According to the project, approximately one-quarter of the participants were referred for treatment.
The company plans to use the $175,000 received from the competition to scale up the technology and further develop methods for the early diagnosis of chronic diseases.
“It is a great honor for us to represent and promote Ukrainian innovations around the world. This recognition at the global level confirms that our technology has the potential to change the approach to treating chronic diseases — from dealing with their consequences to early prevention,” CheckEye founder and CEO Kyrylo Honcharuk said in a company statement.
According to NAM, 147 applications from participants who had previously received support from the program were considered in the final stage of the Healthy Longevity Global Competition. Fourteen projects became winners in various categories, sharing $2 million in awards.
Two projects received the top prizes of $700,000 each, while two others, including Ukraine’s CheckEye, took second place and received $175,000 each. The third prize amounted to $125,000, and nine other projects received honorable mention awards.
In total, over the seven years of the international program, launched by NAM in 2019, its organizers and partners have supported more than 725 projects with over $38 million in funding. The program covered more than 50 countries and territories.
For CheckEye, the award marked another stage of international recognition. The Ukrainian startup previously received support from EIT Health, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Google for Startups, and also won the EIT Health InnoStars Awards 2024.
According to NAM, the total amount of support attracted by CheckEye before receiving the latest award exceeded $750,000.
CheckEye is a Ukrainian HealthTech company specializing in the development of medical screening technologies using artificial intelligence. Its platform is designed for the early detection of diseases based on retinal image analysis and for expanding access to preventive examinations. The company’s founder and CEO is Kyrylo Honcharuk.
artificial intelligence, CHECKEYE, INNOVATION, MEDICINE, STARTUP, UKRAINE
