Kyris: Intelligent Rehabilitation Wins Three Awards at the Slovak University Startup Cup 2026
Kyris, a startup that further developed its project through the UVP TECHNICOM accelerator programme, has been named one of the five best university startups in Slovakia. At the Slovak University Startup Cup 2026, it received three special awards for its innovative solution, which has the potential to enable more precise movement tracking and more effective patient rehabilitation.
Technology Supporting Rehabilitation
Kyris is developing an intelligent joint movement monitoring system that records movement data in real time and translates it into clear, understandable feedback for patients and healthcare professionals.
The aim of the solution is to help patients perform rehabilitation exercises correctly, monitor their progress and identify potentially risky movements at an early stage. At the same time, it is designed to provide healthcare professionals with objective data on rehabilitation progress, including between follow-up appointments.
The startup was founded by a team of young innovators from the Technical University of Košice (TUKE): PhD students Zuzana Orinčáková, Richard Póša and Barbora Novysedláková from the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (FEI TUKE), together with TUKE graduate Martin Novysedlák.
From an Award-Winning Student Project to a Startup
The roots of Kyris go back to the OrthoHealth project, which won first place in the Živé IT projekty 2025 competition. In collaboration with Siemens Healthineers, the FEI TUKE student team developed a device designed to support home-based rehabilitation for patients recovering from knee or hip surgery.
The solution was developed in response to input from doctors at L. Pasteur University Hospital in Košice. It enables rehabilitation exercises to be monitored using sensors and a web application. This technological foundation provided the starting point for further development of the project into the Kyris startup.
Three Awards at a National Competition
In September 2026, Kyris competed in the finals of the Slovak University Startup Cup, organised by Junior Chamber International Slovakia (JCI). The startup secured a place among the five finalists and received three special awards:
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BMW Slovakia Award for Innovation
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UNIQA Award for Sustainability
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A place in the UPSTEER incubator programme run by Asseco Central Europe
The awards recognised the potential of the technology being developed and provided the team with further opportunities to advance the project and establish new partnerships.
Supporting the Startup on Its Journey to Success
Throughout its startup journey, Kyris has benefited from several opportunities to develop its entrepreneurial and technological skills. Following its participation in the YesLab incubation programme, the team also joined the UVP TECHNICOM accelerator programme, where it completed twelve weeks of workshops, mentoring sessions and consultations with experts.
The team presented its project at the final Startup Spotlight event, where it received valuable feedback and established new contacts. With the support of UVP TECHNICOM, the team also participated in the international ALIVE startup programme at Université Côte d’Azur in France, which selected just eight teams.
The success of Kyris demonstrates how university expertise, an innovative idea and targeted startup support can come together to create solutions with practical application potential.
Kyris is an example of how research and technological know-how developed at TUKE can gradually evolve into an innovation with the ambition of making a meaningful difference in people's everyday lives.
