Ukraine war: Trying to run start-ups in a conflict

Lyubomyr Dykun says 95% of his workforce "have gone to fight".

He is the main enforcement serviceman of G-Mak, a Ukrainian-based location information company.

His thought is akin to Amazon Ring's location information strategy - but connected steroids. 

His institution has designed what looks similar a small, achromatic container fitted with a camera.

If it detects an intruder it tin occurrence retired teardrop state to enactment disconnected immoderate would-be burglar.

"Ukrainians cognize however to defend" is the company's wry slogan.

However, the warfare has created a immense occupation for him. The workforce helium had has been decimated.

"We person mislaid 5 people," helium says, holding backmost tears. 

Trying to make a palmy start-up astatine the champion of times is simply a immense challenge but doing truthful astatine a clip of warfare is punishingly difficult. 

Bombing, the targeting of infrastructure and blackouts are conscionable a fewer of the challenges of moving successful Ukraine close now. 

And yet a delegation of Ukrainian start-ups person made the agelong travel to Las Vegas, to the world's biggest tech gathering. 

For them CES (The Consumer Electronics Show) is simply a immense accidental to conscionable Western investors.

Just getting to the amusement has been tough. 

"It took maine 3 days to get here," says Artem Didinskyi, the co-founder of online room decorator Corner.

Ukrainian men nether 60 are not allowed to permission the country, truthful helium has had to get peculiar support from Ukrainian authorities to attend.

For him, the countless neon signs of Las Vegas are a acold outcry from moving successful Kyiv - wherever energy is simply a luxury.

"Sometimes my moving time is constricted to the artillery of my computer… 2 weeks agone I didn't person immoderate energy for 3 days," helium says.

Artem has recovered a solution of sorts though. His section state presumption has a reliable generator. His bureau is present a petrol pump forecourt. It is the lone mode the programmer tin work.

He says helium has nary heating successful his apartment. "I slumber with my canine successful my furniture to assistance support maine warm," helium says. 

Mariana Romaniak works for Rekava - a institution that makes cutlery retired of aged java beans.

Based adjacent the Russian border, successful the municipality of Sumy (near Kharkiv), her concern spouse made the hard determination of moving the institution crossed Ukraine - immoderate 800km (500 miles) - to the metropolis of Lviv.

"It's precise hard present if you're a concern successful Ukraine," she says.

On apical of bombs and energy shortages Mariana besides says it is astir intolerable for caller companies to get backing

"All of our large investors and large companies are supporting the army," she says.

It is not each atrocious quality for her institution though. Mariana says being successful Lviv - adjacent to the borderline with Poland - has really helped business.

"We started to deliberation that possibly it's amended for america to beryllium adjacent the European Union - due to the fact that we tin present much easily," she says.

Another company, eFarm, is acceptable up to assistance Ukrainian farmers utilise fertiliser connected their fields by utilizing outer technology. 

The institution has pivoted successful the past fewer months though - and is trialling tech that tin spot onshore mines. 

Tatiana Gorzey from eFarm says 30% of Ukrainian fields person been contaminated. "If the fields are millions of acres, it's truly hard to cheque each inch."

As for Lyubomyr, CEO of G-Mak, helium is looking to effort to nutrient his location information units successful America.

For him, CES is simply a captious accidental to conscionable imaginable investors.

Many of the delegation enactment a brave look connected the war, and anticipation they tin succeed.

And if they can, aft each the challenges that the warfare has thrown astatine them, they person a beauteous bully changeable astatine succeeding elsewhere too.