VADYM MELNYK

Press kit

Press kit

Everything you need to write about or feature Vadym Melnyk. For interview requests, get in touch.

Photos

8 shots
Vadym Melnyk — studio headshot
Studio headshotDownload
Vadym Melnyk holding one of his autonomous drones
With an autonomous droneDownload
Vadym Melnyk speaking on stage
On stage — keynoteDownload
Vadym Melnyk presenting Dronehub on stage to a full audience
Presenting DronehubDownload
Vadym Melnyk on the factory floor with autonomous robots
On the factory floorDownload
Vadym Melnyk speaking about autonomous drone inspection
Speaking on autonomous inspectionDownload
Vadym Melnyk — studio portrait
Studio portraitDownload
Vadym Melnyk — casual portrait
Portrait — casualDownload

Thumbnails shown for speed — click any photo (or Download) for the full-size file. Credit: courtesy of Vadym Melnyk, free for editorial use. Higher-resolution or additional shots available on request.

Bio

One line

Vadym Melnyk is the Ukrainian-born founder & CEO of Dronehub — building autonomous drones that take on dangerous infrastructure work, and teaching tens of thousands of entrepreneurs to build with AI.

Short (≈50 words)

Vadym Melnyk — known as Vad — is the Ukrainian-born founder & CEO of Dronehub, one of Europe’s leaders in autonomous drone-in-a-box infrastructure. A 3× Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Financial Times FT1000 founder, and US EB1A “extraordinary ability” green-card holder, he also teaches tens of thousands of entrepreneurs to build with AI through VADYM.AI and KIERUNEK.AI.

Long

Vadym Melnyk (b. 1994, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine) is a technologist and founder who goes by Vad. A robotics kid who won a US State Department FLEX scholarship at fifteen, he moved to Poland at eighteen with two words of Polish — and founded Cervi Robotics in Rzeszów’s Aviation Valley in 2015.

A 2017 European Space Agency contract for autonomous landing and battery swap became the seed of Dronehub — today one of Europe’s leaders in autonomous drone-in-a-box infrastructure: robots that inspect power lines, refineries, and railways so people don’t have to. Dronehub coordinated the Horizon 2020 HUUVER project, runs the ESA- and EDA-backed AUDROS programme, and made the Financial Times FT1000 list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies in 2023.

Vad is a 3× Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree (Poland 2020 & 2021, Ukraine 2023), holds a granted patent for autonomous drone parcel handling, and was awarded a US EB1A “extraordinary ability” green card in 2024. Today he splits his time between drones, AI, and teaching — reaching tens of thousands of entrepreneurs through the AI-education brands VADYM.AI (Ukrainian) and KIERUNEK.AI (Polish) — and is building a new US venture, Oswin AI, at the intersection of AI and robotics.

Quick facts

  • 3× Forbes 30 Under 30
    Poland — “25 Under 25” (2020) & “30 Under 30” (2021); Ukraine — “30 Under 30” (2023)
  • Financial Times FT1000
    Among Europe’s fastest-growing companies (2023)
  • US EB1A green card
    “Extraordinary ability” — granted 2024
  • GENIUS NY finalist
    $500K accelerator finalist · Syracuse, NY (2022)
  • Granted patent
    Autonomous drone parcel handling — Polish Patent Office (2023)
  • $10M+ in EU R&D funding
    European Space Agency · European Defence Agency · Horizon Europe