Since one month solidarity with Ukraine is organized everywhere with individuals and businesses. Kinvent, a Montpellier start-up that designs connected sensors for rehabilitation and physical preparation, also wants to show this solidarity by donating equipment, but it’s not easy.
Athanase Kollias the founder of the company was the guest of the New Eco this Monday morning on France Bleu Hérault
What made you decide to donate equipment for Ukraine?
We see everything that is going on. The war has been going on for a month now. We are very committed to the medical world. Our clients are physiotherapists and all departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation. War is a good thing for no one. We have already started donating money and now, our goal is to be able to send our equipment.
What equipment do you plan to donate and what could it be used for in Ukraine?
It is material widely used for functional rehabilitation. And we all know that military actions can sometimes lead to quite serious injuries, which require rehabilitation. The war has been going on for a month now and we, we all know the hospitals are all full and there is a need.
To make things concrete, we have connected devices with which the rehabilitation professional such as the physiotherapist or the doctor or the sports doctor will be able to follow the progress of the patient and set up training adapted for his rehabilitation. Concretely, it is to regain joint mobility following a functional injury or even the neurological capacities of the person. We work with the French army for example to help them with rehabilitation, for example knee problems.
We have not found the means to send our equipment, we must help
We saw hundreds of trucks with food, with clothes leaving for Ukraine. And you, you want to send medical equipment and obviously you have the greatest difficulty in sending this equipment. What difficulties do you encounter?
The first thing is that It’s not essential equipment. It’s not something you’re going to see on the front lines. And it’s not something you need to survive. It’s not water, it’s not food, so it’s a bit out of that frame. That said, it is still our goal to be able to help. So, financial donations are always very good. But we know we can go much further than that. We couldn’t find a way to ship it there. We must help ourselves.
So there, you make a call?
Exactly. We make a call so that we can send equipment to hospitals and rehabilitation services in Ukraine. If we can help, we must help.
To contact Kinvent: [email protected]