How a Fellowship at My University Helped Jumpstart My Prosthetics Company

After finishing her degree, a incubator-style university program led Sydney Robinson to create a business making adaptable socket for amputees
Sydney Robinson (Photography: Vessl Prosthetics)

Sydney Robinson is the co-founder and CEO of Vessl Prosthetics, a company that grew out of her time in Western University’s medical innovation fellowship. Together with her co-founder, Oleksiy Zaika, she developed a prosthetics socket that adapts its shape throughout the day to reduce friction and chafing on the wearer’s leg. We spoke to Robinson about her journey to Vessl, and what lies ahead for her and Zaika.


Growing up, I had a small flair for business. When I was 18, I would walk over to the neighbours’ pools around London, Ontario, and teach their kids how to swim—and it developed into a small swim school. But I only discovered my real passion in my senior year of university: Biomechanics. My engineering capstone project at Queen’s University was to design an ankle and foot brace for a five-year-old girl. The process was so rewarding that it compelled me to pursue a Master’s in the field of prosthetics. After receiving my Master’s in 2021, I applied for Western University’s medical innovation fellowship: A ten-month, incubator-style program that brings engineers, PhD scientists and medical doctors together to create patents that address issues in the medical field.

I got into the program, but by the second month of the fellowship, I was still without a project idea. As part of our training, we would spend time shadowing clinicians. I ended up observing a doctor at a diabetes clinic in Hamilton, along with another fellow from the program, a clinical anatomist named Oleksiy Zaika. During that time in Hamilton, we met a lot of patients with leg amputations, and all of them experienced pain and friction at the juncture between their amputated leg and their prosthetic. Their legs would naturally change size throughout the day due to blood circulation, but the sockets failed to adapt to this change, chafing their skin. It frustrated the clinicians and the amputees alike. Oleksiy and I thought, there is our idea: An adaptable socket. 

I reached out to prosthetists and paralympians on LinkedIn to find out if poorly-fitting sockets were a common issue among amputees. It turns out it was a massive problem: We heard many stories of people developing blisters and even pressure sores from the friction generated by their socket. So, we set out to create a device that adapts its size in real time to match that of the wearer’s leg to reduce that chafing—all without the use of electronics or batteries to avoid the need for charging. By the programs end, we had our first design and founded our company: Vessl Prosthetics. However, that first design was hydraulics-based and far too heavy and bulky to use. So over the next couple of years, we developed a metal disk that sits between a prosthetic socket and the wearer’s leg. The disk uses the vertical movement of each step to automatically tighten the socket onto the leg throughout the day. We attached this disk to a special socket with panels that adjusted based on the disc’s movements. We called this new design isoform.

Despite my exuberance at having created a product that works, it felt like the hard part was still to come. Swimming school notwithstanding, I had next to no business experience; especially at this scale. But Oleksiy and I were both hungry for the challenge. I, the extrovert, took the position of CEO, and Oleksiy, the tinkerer, became CTO. So far, we have received approximately $800,000 in grants and prizes from pitch competitions, and have raised almost $500,000 in a friends and family round of funding. Around that time, we received an investment from a person who wears prosthetics, and it felt like an aha! moment. I thought: This person experienced the problem we are trying to tackle, and they believe we can solve it. It was so gratifying. 

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Now, the company, which is based in London, is evolving by the month. In 2023, we hired an engineer as our third employee, and we’ve gradually brought on advisors including prosthetists, para-athletes and researchers. We also have wear-testers, including Stevie Crawford, a snowboarder who is training for the 2026 Paralympic Games in Italy. We’re currently raising a pre-seed round of US$1 million in preparation for our product launch.

I’m proud of how much Oleksiy and I have already learned about the business, but I know there are still many puzzles to solve. For one thing, we may have to outsource our manufacturing away from our home base in London in order to scale up. However, I’m also learning that, if you’re solving a true need, success will follow. We want to be the gold standard for prosthetics socket technology, and we won’t stop until we get there.

As Told To Alex Cyr
As Told To Alex Cyr
Alex Cyr is a Toronto-based writer born and raised on Prince Edward Island. He lives in Liberty Village, and can be found running on the Martin Goodman Trail every day between 4 and 6 pm.