{"id":18195,"date":"2022-03-02T20:44:50","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T20:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/02\/ukrainian-tech-leaders-defiant-in-the-face-of-russian-onslaught\/"},"modified":"2022-03-02T20:44:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T20:44:50","slug":"ukrainian-tech-leaders-defiant-in-the-face-of-russian-onslaught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/02\/ukrainian-tech-leaders-defiant-in-the-face-of-russian-onslaught\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian tech leaders defiant in the face of Russian onslaught"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A few employees of VRnetio OU<\/a>, a developer of virtual software for the real estate industry, spent last weekend filling empty bottles with gasoline for use as Molotov cocktails.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would demoralize our army if businesspeople started to run away,\u201d said Chief Executive Artem Batogovsky. \u201cWe need to be strong, be together and show that we support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Batogovsky was speaking to a reporter over a Zoom call at 1 a.m. local time on Tuesday as bombs exploded in the distance. His Kyiv, Ukraine-based operation was still up and running at the time, although \u201creal estate [sales] in Kyiv have stopped because no one is looking,\u201d he said. \u201cAll real estate companies here are bunkered right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing a Russian onslaught that is the biggest invasion of a sovereign European country since World War II, Ukrainian business leaders are doing their best to keep morale up in the face of the relentless pounding of its biggest cities. \u201cWe are terrified, but everyone is doing their best to protect the homeland,\u201d said Nataly Lytvyn, public relations head at BetterMe Ltd.<\/a>, a Kyiv-based maker of mobile wellness apps.<\/p>\n

Tech disrupted<\/h3>\n

Ukraine is one of the leading technology centers of Europe. The business directory Crunchbase lists more than 3,000 companies based in Kyiv alone, most of them in the technology sphere. SiliconANGLE contacted executives at several of them this week to see how their businesses and people were being affected by the crisis.<\/p>\n

What we found was anger, fierce patriotism and stoic determination to outlast the invaders despite Russia\u2019s vastly superior numbers and firepower. \u201cThis is our 25th war with Russia,\u201d Andrei Drogobytsky, CEO of Seadora LLC<\/a>, an online seller of seafood, said in a Zoom interview this morning. \u201cThe fear has gone. Some people thought of Russia as our brother country. Now everyone knows they are fucking assholes.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of the middle of this week, most executives who were contacted said they were trying to maintain some semblance of business as usual while casting a wary eye on news reports as a 40-mile-long column of Russian tanks and artillery formed outside of Kyiv.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment everyone is moving to a place where they feel safe enough,\u201d said Batogovsky. \u201cWe\u2019re now trying to start to work because our economy is at a near-crash.\u201d Working, he explained, \u201chelps people to focus on something useful. Otherwise, they are looking at the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

But staying focused was difficult in light of intensifying bombardments. \u201cThe actual activity of the company was not affected, but the team is in danger now,\u201d Lytvyn said. \u201cWe can\u2019t work as usual. Bombs are targeted into civilian houses and several times a day we hear alarm sirens.\u201d<\/p>\n

All expressed concern about the welfare of their employees. \u201cThey should be safe and take care of their families,\u201d said Seadora\u2019s Drogobytsky. \u201cThat\u2019s their main task at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

People first<\/h3>\n

Seadora LLC<\/a>, a U.S.-based maker of analytics software, has about 150 employees in Ukraine. Last month it put emergency protocols in place, establishing two safe zones where employees and their families can shelter, with the company paying for all transportation and accommodations. It also advanced salary payments to Ukrainian employees in case of disruptions to the banking system.<\/p>\n

So far, it\u2019s business as usual. \u201cAt the beginning, very few found it necessary [to move to the safe zones] but now many are moving there,\u201d said CEO Amir Orad. \u201cWe have additional teams in Europe and the U.S. trained and ready to support our clients and, if needed, covering for their peers in Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gameloft Corp.<\/a>, a Paris-based game publisher, donated \u20ac600,000 to its employees in addition to advancing payments on the March salaries. \u201cFor those who want to leave the country, we are also supporting them with help for housing and legal counseling,\u201d the company said in a LinkedIn post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Technology leaders who were contacted are also contributing to the resistance effort in ways that range from practical to clever. Seadora, which had to suspend operations last week because of disruptions to its delivery network, donated its entire inventory of seafood \u2014 roughly two tons \u2014 to the Ukrainian Army, Drogobytsky said.<\/p>\n

BetterMe donated $40,000 to the Savelife Foundation, which supports the Ukrainian army. It\u2019s also providing free access to the BetterMe mental health app for Ukrainians and has asked Apple Inc. and Google LLC to reduce commissions for Ukrainian publishers in their app stores. \u201cWe completely stopped serving Russian users and encouraged them to support Ukraine through push notifications in our applications,\u201d said CEO Victoria Repa.<\/p>\n

App-level resistance<\/h3>\n

Reface<\/a>, the business name of Neocortext Inc., came up with creative uses<\/a> for its content creation app. \u201cWe encourage everyone to swap themselves into [Ukrainian] President Zelenskyy and animate photos with the Ukrainian anthem,\u201d Public Relations Manager Daria Kravets wrote in an email. \u201cWe\u2019ve added in-app messages and banners on how to support our country and donate to The Armed Forces of Ukraine and every video made with our app has the watermark #standwithukraine and the Ukrainian flag.\u201d The company said it also sent 9 million notifications documenting the situation inside Ukraine to its users, 2 million of whom are in Russia.<\/p>\n

All the business leaders who were interviewed expressed confidence that the Ukrainian Army would prevail, noting media reports that Russia had expected the invasion last no more than a couple of days. \u201cThe nation is mobilized 100%,\u201d said Drogobytsky. \u201cThere is no panic. Everybody has accepted the reality and is aligned with Ukraine. We will win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Puttin \u201chas gone crazy and lives in his fictional world,\u201d wrote BetterMe\u2019s Lytvyn. \u201cI believe in the bright future of Ukraine and the terrible isolation of Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

VRNet\u2019s Batogovsky urged American investors to speak with their dollars. \u201cThis is a good time to invest in our startups because we will go to European markets to do what we\u2019ve done here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are super-motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo of pro-Ukrainian protest in London\u2019s Trafalgar Square on Feb. 27: Flickr CC<\/a><\/h5>\n
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