Every entrepreneur has to overcome obstacles, but only a few were faced with the challenges of Oleksandr Kosovan. As the founder and CEO of the Ukrainian Scaleup Macpaw, Kosovan heads his business in a country under an invasion. The company was even affected by rocket barrels.
As an relentless Russian bombing and shelling of Ukraine, his team continues to push her work. In October they published a new version of CleanMymac, the flagship of MacPAW.
“It was completely developed during the war,” says Kosovan TNW in a video call from his house in Kyiv.
The software deserves rave Reviews. But two months later, the horror of the war arrived in front of MacPaw's front door.
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On a cold December morning, another devastating Russian ballistic rocket attack hit Kyiv. The explosion hit MacPaw's headquarters and shattered the facade, the windows and the technical devices of the building. After the emergency services, a person was killed in the attack.
Kosovan was on the way to an event when a message about the strike appeared on his phone.
“The only thing we could do is to initiate our emergency procedures,” says Kosovan. “We had plans for this risk and they helped us organize measures – because people were panicked. They didn't know what to do.”
Security measures were implemented quickly, emergency tests were carried out and the recovery steps were carried out. The next day, MacPaw received access to the office building. In addition to emergency services, the staff worked together to save devices and prevent further damage.
The company's office comprises three floors of the building. The hardest hit of you is still not ready for operation, but the others are open again. The employees are already working in them again.
MacPAW's adjustments had given the company a lead into recovery. Many team members have already worked from a distance. Processes were heavily automated. The employees were geographically distributed and shifts should cover all critical roles during emergencies and military calls.
While the rocket strike was traumatic, MacPaw was prepared.
Preparation for the war
Numerous buildings were damaged by the rocket stroke. Credit: MacPaw
When the Russian troops got together on the border with Ukraine at the end of 2021, MacPaw started disaster planning.
The company developed reduction measures for various threats, from cyber attacks to Russian armed forces who take control of the office. An emergency team was formed from each product and service unit, whereby members are based either outside of Ukraine or in the secure western regions of the country.
Communication security has been improved, with the signal being accepted as a new messaging service. The office infrastructure was only moved to the cloud. The satellite internet has been set up to cover the risk of an internet loss. The company then waited for reports on the military movements of Russia.
On the first day of full invasion in February 2022, MacPAW activated its risk reduction plan.
“We had to re -host our priorities,” says Kosovan. “The first of them was of course the security of our employees and then the continuity of our business.”
A Codes -Freeze regime was implemented for all products and infrastructures without the changes to be allowed without prior approval by the emergency team.
Hardware management strategies also postponed. New laptops from abroad had to be collected with disturbed supply chains. Sometimes system administrators had to drive to distant locations and personally deliver laptops on team members.
When the conditions in times of war became routine, the team adapted to their new reality. Her biggest challenge is the tireless attacks of Russia on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure these days.
The strikes cause frequent and lengthy power outages. In Macpaw's hometown of Kyiv, daily power outages of eight hours have become the order of the day, which makes more team members work out of the office from the office from the office. In order to keep the company, the company has installed additional electricity and internet access cables. In addition to an uninterrupted internet access point via Starlink, a backup generator was also taken over.
“Starlink helps a lot,” says Kosovan. “It is one of the savings factors for Ukraine.”
MacPAW's new measures have run in Russia's attacks on the Ukraine power grid. However, the human effects were more difficult to solve.
The restoration process
Windows were covered with wooden panels to protect what remained in the MacPaw office. Credit: MacPaw
Although no MacPaw employees were physically damaged in the rocket attack, the psychological stress was profound.
“The biggest challenge that we and many other companies currently face here is not the destruction of the offices, but the exhaustion of these people,” says Kosovan. “It is very difficult to process mentally. People sometimes break and it is very difficult to predict and help them.”
Employees in Kyiv have endured air strikes in Kyiv for months. “People cannot usually sleep because they always hear these explosions in the air … they do not know whether a drone will meet their house the next night.”
The brutality of December rocket attack was a strong contrast to MacPaw the day before. The staff had prepared vacation gifts for Children of heroesAn organization that supports Ukrainian children who lost parents in the war.
Thanks to the MacPAW Foundation, the company does not offer the Ukrainians fatal help, including protective equipment, IT devices and medical care. Since 2022, the non -profit organization has distributed over $ 12 million in total support
In addition to the humanitarian projects, Kosovan helps to maintain the country's IT sector. He personally invested in almost 20 Ukrainian companies, including Osavul, a Ki startup in Kyiv, analyzing information threats.
Osavul founded to counter the Russian propaganda, Osavul now offers governments and companies alike. “Our goal is to check the stories, show which of them is dangerous, and then give all intelligence to understand what you can do”, Dmytro Bilash, co -founder of the startup, TNW told last year.
Ukrainian technology also has a strong influence in combat zones. Innovations range from a growing fleet from domestic drones to Delta, a Battlefield management system. The software developed by the military combines a variety of tools, from digital maps to securing communication.
The Ukrainian army Lieutenant Colonel Yelyzaveta Boiko describes the system as “Google for the Military”. “Google helps organize its work area. Delta helps organizing your war space” said last year.
In addition to the war theater, MacPaw tried to preserve the technical heritage of Ukraine. The latest result is Insolating innovation – A book that records the history of the country.
The past and future of Ukrainian technology
Oleksandr Kosovan remains optimistic about the future of the Ukrainian IT. Credit: MacPaw
Posted in Europe and the USA last month, Insolating innovation Researched the Ukrainian technology from the 1940s to the present day.
Through archive research, interviews with IT lights and lively photography, the book creates the digital development of the country. The stories extend from cybernetics pioneers to modern innovators such as grammary and Recover.
All income from the book will go to humanitarian aid measures through the MacPaw Foundation. However, the project is not just a non -profit undertaking.
“It is also important to talk about history because we all see how Russia tries to change the past by rewriting history and claiming many things as its own,” says Kosovan.
“Many things that were built in Russia or USSR were actually created by the Ukrainians and Ukraine. This partly explains why there are so many great technology companies from Ukraine. We have a very rich inheritance.”
This legacy continues to flourish after rocket strokes.
“There are many companies that appear in these difficult times,” says Kosovan. “Hard times produce strong people. If companies can survive despite the war and all its challenges, the company has a long -term future.”
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