The Kyiv Independent

Decades happened in the last two weeks. It continues to unfold without any clear final outcome. Is it a long war ahead? Is there further escalation? Is putin's regime to implode soon? Whatever he was expecting, it certainly turns out the opposite - NATO, EU (and certainly Baltics) are stronger, more united, and Ukraine is much closer to Western integration. At the same time, Russia's regime is weakened in all possible aspects and is now in uncharted territory with massive sanctions (dictators - take notes).

In the context of war, I guess we are all feeling our day-to-day is trivial and not important to discuss. It's hard to focus. But we also get inspired to see Lithuanians stepping up to support our suffering neighbours. Tech companies were one of the first ones to react - ceasing RU/BY operations and organizing, supporting, donating for Ukrainians. This is also a reminder of what we have achieved, and how much now we are able to help others.

Let's continue in two directions. First, helping as much as we can. Second, keep building - a better future, a stronger nation, a more resilient society, and more impactful companies.

work in progress

• Lots of initiatives from tech - there is a good list from Martynas, Unicorns LT also mention support of EUR 500k and offer humanitarian aid transportation to places in Ukraine (more).
• While many companies leave Russia, for VPN providers (Surfshark (interview) and NordVPN) it's more complex - they are the last resort for civil society there to access independent news and connect to social networks.
• 24 of Nordcurrent colleagues and their families arrived from Odesa to Vilnius. Eddy (Eddy Travels) actively helping with places to stay in LT, too. Zive sending ECG devices over to Ukraine. Dedicated equipment from Brolis Defence, too.
• In terms of donations Vinted is donating EUR 2m to Ukraine and is much involved in operational support.  Bored Panda is donating for Save the Children and Red Cross. And there are many more doing similar.

rounds and capital

• Invest and support ROCKETO - now live on Crowdcube, with £235k already committed.
• Contrarian Ventures joins s Lockheed Martin and In-Q-Tel, to invest in Satellite Vu series A round.
• Dutch Convious raised $12m in December and is another foreign scale-up with a significant Lithuanian presence (CTO and 20 people). Hiring locally and also are supporters of Ukraine.
• A week ago, Estonian Starship raised $100M series B.
• More details on LitBAN progress - more members (above 200), larger tickets (20k median), 1/4 of angels are foreigners or live abroad.
• Latvian pension fund makes the first foray into venture capital (Change Ventures)

founder guides

• Good list of what companies can do if they have employees in Ukraine
• Job platform for displaced persons from and within Ukraine - UAtalents
• List of 250+ female VC partners

roleplay

insights

• Ukraine Received More Than $30M in Crypto Donations (mentions Indre Viltrakyte)
• Open-source researchers went viral unpacking the war in Ukraine