{"id":19645,"date":"2023-01-10T14:44:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T14:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ukraine-war-trying-to-run-start-ups-in-a-conflict"},"modified":"2023-01-10T15:38:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T15:38:13","slug":"ukraine-war-trying-to-run-start-ups-in-a-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/ukraine-war-trying-to-run-start-ups-in-a-conflict","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war: Trying to run start-ups in a conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Lyubomyr Dykun says 95% of his workforce “have gone to fight”.<\/b><\/p>\n

He is the chief executive officer of G-Mak, a Ukrainian-based home security company.<\/p>\n

His idea is similar to Amazon Ring’s home security system – but on steroids.<\/p>\n

His company has designed what looks like a small, black box fitted with a camera.<\/p>\n

If it detects an intruder it can fire out tear gas to put off any would-be burglar.<\/p>\n

“Ukrainians know how to defend” is the company’s wry slogan.<\/p>\n

However, the war has created a huge problem for him. The workforce he had has been decimated.<\/p>\n

“We have lost five people,” he says, holding back tears.<\/p>\n

Trying to create a successful start-up at the best of times is a huge challenge but doing so at a time of war is punishingly difficult.<\/p>\n

Bombing, the targeting of infrastructure and blackouts are just a few of the challenges of working in Ukraine right now.<\/p>\n

And yet a delegation of Ukrainian start-ups have made the long journey to Las Vegas, to the world’s biggest tech gathering.<\/p>\n

For them CES (The Consumer Electronics Show) is a huge opportunity to meet Western investors.<\/p>\n

Just getting to the show has been tough.<\/p>\n

“It took me three days to get here,” says Artem Didinskyi, the co-founder of online kitchen designer Corner.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian men under 60 are not allowed to leave the country, so he has had to obtain special permission from Ukrainian authorities to attend.<\/p>\n

For him, the countless neon signs of Las Vegas are a far cry from working in Kyiv – where electricity is a luxury.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes my working day is limited to the battery of my computer… two weeks ago I didn’t have any electricity for three days,” he says.<\/p>\n

Artem has found a solution of sorts though. His local gas station has a reliable generator. His office is now a petrol pump forecourt. It is the only way the programmer can work.<\/p>\n

He says he has no heating in his apartment. “I sleep with my dog in my bed to help keep me warm,” he says.<\/p>\n

Mariana Romaniak works for Rekava – a company that makes cutlery out of old coffee beans.<\/p>\n

Based near the Russian border, in the town of Sumy (near Kharkiv), her business partner made the difficult decision of moving the company across Ukraine – some 800km (500 miles) – to the city of Lviv.<\/p>\n

“It’s very hard now if you’re a business in Ukraine,” she says.<\/p>\n

On top of bombs and electricity shortages Mariana also says it is almost impossible for new companies to get funding<\/p>\n

“All of our big investors and big companies are supporting the army,” she says.<\/p>\n

It is not all bad news for her company though. Mariana says being in Lviv – close to the border with Poland – has actually helped business.<\/p>\n

“We started to think that maybe it’s better for us to be near the European Union – because we can deliver more easily,” she says.<\/p>\n

Another company, eFarm, is set up to help Ukrainian farmers utilise fertiliser on their fields by using satellite technology.<\/p>\n

The company has pivoted in the last few months though – and is trialling tech that can spot land mines.<\/p>\n

Tatiana Gorzey from eFarm says 30% of Ukrainian fields have been contaminated. “If the fields are millions of acres, it’s really difficult to check every inch.”<\/p>\n

As for Lyubomyr, CEO of G-Mak, he is looking to try to produce his home security units in America.<\/p>\n

For him, CES is a vital chance to meet potential investors.<\/p>\n

Many of the delegation put a brave face on the war, and hope they can succeed.<\/p>\n

And if they can, after all the challenges that the war has thrown at them, they have a pretty good shot at succeeding elsewhere too.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Lyubomyr Dykun says 95% of his workforce “have gone to fight”. He is the chief executive officer of G-Mak, a Ukrainian-based home security company. His idea is similar to Amazon Ring’s home security system – but on steroids. His company has designed what looks like a small, black box fitted with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-19645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nUkraine war: Trying to run start-ups in a conflict - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lyubomyr Dykun says 95% of his workforce "have gone to fight". 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