Ukrainian bionic prosthetics manufacturer Esper Bionics has announced a new iteration of Esper Hand, a smart prosthetic arm. Teasers for Esper Hand 2 have appeared on the company’s website and Instagram account.

• Esper Hand is a robotic, articulated hand made up of 288 parts. It is controlled by a set of two to sixteen electromyographic (EMG) sensors. These sensors are attached to a person’s forearm, shoulder, or chest, where they detect muscle impulses and transmit commands to the prosthesis. The software analyzes the collected data to continuously improve the robotic hand’s control.
• In 2022, Esper Hand was featured on the cover of TIME as one of the best inventions of the year. Now, the company is preparing to launch the next iteration of its product.
• So far, few details have been released about Esper Hand 2. It is said to stand out for its strength and waterproof capabilities: a short video shows the robotic hand holding a 16 kg weight with one finger in pouring rain. The company also promises that Esper Hand 2 will be even smarter than its predecessor.
• The release date has not yet been disclosed. Users can register for early access on the company’s website.

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About the company

• Esper Bionics was founded in 2019 by Dmytro Gazda, Anna Believantseva, Ihor Ilchenko, and Borys Lobanov. In June 2024, the startup raised another funding round of $5 million.
• In total, the company has secured around $7 million in investment. Until 2024, the largest investor was the Ukrainian investment firm SMRK. Esper Bionics has also received grants from the Vernadsky Challenge, the Ukrainian Startup Fund (UFS), Google, and the US-based accelerator Alchemist.
• Esper Bionics’ primary market is the United States, where the team sells the prostheses through insurance companies. One prosthetic hand costs $22,000 — a sum typically covered by American health insurance.