Ugani Prosthetics 2A

Florian Vallaeys

CEO

Florian is passionate about innovation and projects that positively impact the world. He holds a master's degree in electromechanical engineering and a postgraduate in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Before launching Ugani, he had 6 years of experience as Business Development Manager of Turbulent Hydro, a start-up focused on renewable energy. Florian was appointed Managing Director of the South American branch of this company for 3 years, after which he changed direction to do business in developing countries.

He has managed projects and sales in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, which has given him a better understanding of the needs of local populations. He is often on the ground and has local knowledge and contacts. The idea for Ugani came to him while doing business in the Democratic Republic of Congo and talking to amputees and doctors.

Florian has been leading Prothea Kenya, the workshop in Nairobi, for the last year, giving him invaluable knowledge of the needs of patients and the difficulties workshops face.

As CEO, he is driving the fundraising efforts while helping Joren with the international expansion of the company. He will push sales in Europe and South America in the following years, as he believes the main role of a CEO is to understand a companies customers and make it grow to new heights.

Joren Vallaeys

COO

Driven by change, Joren has worked for various start-ups throughout Europe. He started with a master's degree in electromechanical engineering at the KU Leuven, followed by a postgraduate degree in innovative entrepreneurship in collaboration with the VUB.

To gain experience, he moved to Berlin, where he worked in the international operations of a fast-growing start-up. Building on this experience, he founded his own company in Lisbon to combine his passion for surfing with work. The company evolved into a freelance job as a project manager, where he has worked for more than 10 companies, ranging from 2-person start-ups to 1,200-person scale-ups.

His experience includes operations, finance, marketing, sales, HR and strategy, and he has helped several start-ups grow exponentially over the last few years.

This energy led him to Ugani Prosthetics, where he is responsible for operations as the COO. As the Ugani operations are not a fulltime job, Joren leads the business expansion on the Asian continent. He travels around Asia searching for new opportunities for Ugani, and is the one who brought in most revenue in 2024.

Cristobal Venegas

CTO

Cristobal is a mechanical engineer with extensive experience in design and manufacturing methodologies. He was responsible for production at Turbulent Hydro and has a hands-on approach to engineering. His hands are always busy and he can fix almost anything.

Over the last 3 years, Cristobal has been the driving force behind the technical innovation at Ugani. He selected materials, finetuned settings, engineered new designs, tested the durability and strength of all Ugani solutions and made sure they were fitted to be used anywhere in the world.

The main difference between Cristobal and your average engineer, is that he embodies Frugal Innovation. He refuses to make the Ugani solution complicated, as it needs to be useable even in the most precarious and hostile settings. Thanks to his ideas and the support of the team, Ugani made a groundbreaking technology available everywhere.

He moved to Belgium to develop projects around the world, helping to bring energy closer to the people who need it. During that time, he saw all the obstacles and difficulties they have to overcome on a daily basis. That's what led him to become part of Ugani Prosthetics, to create a solution for those who need it most.

Lien Uten

Marketing

Lien Uten is the communications and marketing manager at Ugani. She has a master's degree in biomedical engineering and 8 years of experience as an entrepreneur and marketer, gained through the two companies she founded and the many startups she has worked with over the years, either as a co-founder, marketer or recruiter.

After graduation, she went to India, where she founded a social sewing workshop that provided fair employment and training to women from rural areas. After four years, she moved to Sri Lanka, where she lives to this day and founded a wellness company.

At Ugani, Lien is the voice behind social media and supports the team with all their marketing and communications work. Her unique perspective, shaped by her experience in different cultures, allows Ugani to communicate effectively with a global audience.

Sammy Maina

CFO

Sammy is a Kenyan accountant, with years of experience in supporting startups in his country and abroad. He started with Ugani to strengthen their operations in Kenya, and has since grown to become the CFO, keeping an eye on all finances.

Germain Boutte

Manager

Germain leads the DRC project as the country director. He guides the local team of prosthetists, engineers and staff to achieve their targets and push Prothea Congo to new heights. His experience in operations and BusDev make him the perfect addition to the team.

Nick Were

Advisor

Nick Were is an orthopaedic surgeon from Kenya, and the co-founder of Prothea Kenya together with Ugani.
He advises the Ugani team in medical procedures and new product opportunities, as he constantly sees the needs of African patients.

Stefaan Vanbastelaere

Advisor

Stefaan is Senior Health Expert at Enabel, the Belgian development cooperation agency. Stefaan lived in Africa for many years in his various roles at Enabel. He knows the medical world in developing countries like no one else and advises Ugani on this subject.

Belinda Adhiambo

Advisor

Belinda is a prosthetic user from Kenya and advises Ugani on her daily pain points.
Her insights and experience help Ugani better adapt its offering and ensure its solutions are adapted to the true needs of patients everywhere.

Bert Janssens

Advisor

Bert is the electromechanical engineer and developer who is the mastermind behind Ugani's open-source 3D modelling software. He joined the team in 2022 as Ugani found the need to develop its own software.
Bert's knowledge of Python and Blender coding is phenomenal and has allowed him to develop our entire software by himself in a couple of months.

He now works part-time with Ugani, pushing updates and making sure the software stays operational for our partners all over the globe.

Zoé Moyaux

Advisor

Dr Zoé Moyaux works as an orthopaedic specialist at UZ Saint-Luc in Brussels. She specialises in amputations and all the procedures involved.