MacPaw: Year of Resilience

It’s been exactly one year since every Ukrainian woke up to the terrifying news that a full-scale war has been started against them. Many learned the news not from the media or the internet or even anxious calls from their loved ones, but from the deafening explosions right outside their windows as the russian rockets rained on many cities across the country while land forces breached the borders of Ukraine.

The last 365 days became a great challenge and an awing display of resilience by the Ukrainian people.

In this post, we would like to highlight the contributions of MacPaw company and MacPawians to this Year of Resilience.

Preparing for a possible full-scale war

The pandemic has taught the MacPaw team to embrace the independence of remote work, pushing us to work effectively even when we are working from different locations. All our products, including your favorites CleanMyMac X, Setapp, The Unarchiver, continued to operate with no disruptions. During the first weeks of the full-scare war, product sustainability was our main focus.

MacPaw forged a plan in advance. The company organized processes, programs, and communication in a way that even the worst-case scenarios (which included the russian invasion) would not affect the performance of any of MacPaw’s software products. We also prepared all our products to work completely autonomously in an emergency.

Namely, MacPaw securely hosts its infrastructure and user data on Amazon Web Services, located outside of Ukraine. Werner Vogels, the CTO of Amazon, stated that Amazon works hard to ensure MacPaw and other companies from Ukraine can communicate and serve their customers. Our payment provider, Paddle, operates from the United Kingdom. MacPaw also arranged for the fulfillment of its financial commitments under any conditions.

Additionally, the MacPaw team had set up a "red button,” which would activate the company's transition to an offline product support mode. That would trigger a switch to automatic responses from the support service.

MacPaw Team

The safety of team members and their families has been a top priority for MacPaw since the start of the war. Now the MacPaw team is relatively safe. Roughly 30% of the MacPaw team are outside of Kyiv. They left for safer places in Ukraine and abroad.

Those forced to move to other countries connected into group chats by location to stay in touch and help each other out. And for those staying in Ukraine, work has become a desk-bomb shelter balance challenge.

MacPaw did not plan to relocate abroad — MacPaw stays in Ukraine. However, before the full-scale invasion, the company rented a coworking space in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, where part of the team now moved.

The Promprylad.Renovation innovative center helped set up a cozy coworking space for MacPawians. MacPaw actually became the largest investor in the Promprilad.Renovation project in Ivano-Frankivsk.

During the war, MacPaw has invested $1 million in the development of the center. MacPaw’s total investment in the project amounts to $1.5 million and can hopefully help to keep more businesses and talents in Ukraine.

Even before the full-scale russian invasion, MacPaw wanted to keep our team prepared for worst-case scenarios. Several weeks prior to russian attack on Ukraine, a part of the MacPaw team temporarily moved to Ivano-Frankivsk as a precaution to ensure the continuity of the company’s work.

These team members were responsible for supporting MacPaw products and services to prevent any disruptions in MacPaw's key operational processes.

MacPaw also organized a practical first aid course for the team and provided go bags containing some of the key necessities for a crisis.

Alternative communication channels were established so that the MacPaw team could communicate even without access to the internet. A hotline was launched through which the MacPaw team could get support and off-the-moment updates on the situation within the company.

First months of the full-scale war

The morning of February 24, 2022, MacPaw team met at the office, distributed dry rations, unpacked medical supplies and power banks, mailed go bags to colleagues not in Kyiv, and got together to coordinate further actions. From that morning on, MacPaw's office became a home for many of the team members for those first few harrowing months.

Volunteering has become an integral part of life for every MacPaw team member.

At the beginning of March, there were difficulties with food, medicine, gas, baby food, pet food, and even moving around Kyiv during the nightly curfew.

MacPaw team negotiated with supermarkets, went out to procure and distribute food, sometimes under russian fire. We delivered humanitarian aid for those in need — we bought things that could not be found in Kyiv in other cities and delivered them by train to those who needed it.

In those first months after the full-scale war erupted, we helped with food, water and medicine for local units of the patrol police, General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ministry of Defense, Come Back Alive foundation, and the Ukrainian defenders at various levels of the military hierarchy directly.

MacPaw donated our office equipment to cover the urgent needs of the offices of the Armed Forces’ General Staff and Come Back Alive foundation. MacPaw escorted cargo for the military, transported medicine from the warehouses of the Ministry of Health to the hospitals, unloaded trucks, delivered food for animals, bought suture/dressing packs for the hospitals that were receiving the wounded.

MacPaw procured and delivered thousands of thermal imagers, helmets, bulletproof vests, boots and thermal underwear to Ukrainian defenders.

By March 2022, MacPaw donated:

over UAH 80,000 in food to the General Staff, Armed Forces of Ukraine, Come Back Alive foundation, Patrol Police Department, KORD, special police battalion of the Kyiv region
over UAH 125,000 in medicine and supplies to hospitals
UAH 200,000 in thermal clothing production to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (together with Syndicate), and we continue to purchase these items
UAH 100,000 in bulletproof vests to the Ukrainian defenders
EUR 35,200 in ballistic glasses and UAH 100,000 in fuel to the territorial defense units of the Tsyblivsk territorial community
UAH 100,000 to the territorial defence units of Pereyaslav

MacPaw also supported Ukrainian nonprofits and local communities. MacPaw donated funds directly to organizations to cover urgent requests:

UAH 500,000 to Grow Up In a Family Foundation to help children affected by the war
UAH 2,000,000 to The Stavnitser Foundation, which provides ammunition to women soldiers
UAH 300,000 to Come Back Alive
UAH 500,000 to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
UAH 2,500,000 to other local charitable funds

Animal Shelter

Sirius Animal Shelter, founded in 2000, is the largest animal shelter in Ukraine. It is located in a small village Fedorivka, 50 miles north of Kyiv. Through its MacPaw Foundation, MacPaw has been supporting Sirius Animal Shelter since 2016.

After the start of the full-scale russian war against Ukraine, Sirius Animal Shelter found itself on the temporarily occupied lands: animals and employees suffered without food and water for over a month. More than 3,000 animals were on the verge of death.

When the Ukrainian Armed Forces forced the russian troops out of the Kyiv region, the MacPaw Foundation team, joined by Come Back Alive, rushed to the shelter to provide early humanitarian assistance — food, water, medical and sanitary items.

The MacPaw Foundation team were the first to come to the Sirius shelter after its de-occupation. Shelter employees were scared because they didn't know who had come. The next day we brought more food for the animals, as well as mobile phones, food and medicine for the shelter staff.

MacPaw Foundation

As time went on, our assistance became more consistent and focused.

MacPaw Foundation is a corporate charitable fund, established in 2016 to implement social and charity projects of MacPaw company and its founder Oleksandr Kosovan.

Since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion, MacPaw Foundation has been utilizing its unique technological expertise to procure non-lethal help for the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

tactical medicine
protective gear
tech equipment

Direct assistance to the Ukrainian defenders

Through its MacPaw Foundation, MacPaw continues to directly assist the Ukrainian defenders, including MacPaw’s very own team members and their family members who are defending Ukraine at the frontline.

So far, MacPaw Foundation has processed and fulfilled over 250 requests for assistance. These included both smaller individual requests and large-scale requests of equipment or gear from battalions, regiments and brigades.

MacPaw Foundation: activities during first 8 months of the full-scale war

In total, MacPaw has donated over $6.3 million to help Ukrainians through its MacPaw Foundation. That includes over $800,000 fundraised by the foundation in contributions by the users of MacPaw products and people who wanted to support Ukraine. MacPaw Foundation started this fundraising activity after MacPaw received numerous inquiries by the users of our products from all over the globe.

“MacPaw sees a future where technology empowers human life. During the full-scale war that russia started against Ukraine, it’s important to use all possible ways to bring Ukraine's victory closer. We use technology. We provide our defenders and civilians with gear that helps save lives,” says Oleksandr Kosovan, Founder and CEO of MacPaw

Technical equipment

MacPaw Foundation regularly purchases and transfers equipment and gear to the Ukrainian defenders.

As of now, the donations include: 350 thermal imagers, 38 drones, 141 ordinary and 4 armored laptops, 83 tablets, 98 smartphones, 10 satellite phones, 5 charging stations, 40 power banks, as well as media converters, soldering stations, IR testers, GoPro video cameras, PTS4 reset systems (DJI) for drones, chargers, extension cords, printers, adapters, video recorders, drives, Microsoft Office licenses and MacPaw product licenses, along with many other tech devices.

In the near future, we expect the arrival of 20 Starlinks and a new batch of drones. We are in the process of purchasing external batteries for military helicopters. We bought 120 tablets for Ukrainian pilots, with which they will perform their combat missions.

By the way, you may have seen a photo of a Ukrainian flag on the liberated Zmiinyi (Snake) Island in the media. A drone donated by MacPaw took that photo.

Tactical medicine

We purchased tactical medicine supplies in the UK and the US to fill personal first-aid kits, CAT tourniquets (over 40,000 items), occlusion stickers, bandages and thermal blankets (Israel), medicine and supplies to treat the wounded.

Individual equipment

MacPaw Foundation also provides essential gear and personal protective equipment for the military. So far, we have provided body armor and plate carriers, tactical glasses, sets of thermal clothing, helmets, shoes, backpacks, 280 pairs of tactical gloves, 35 sets of uniforms (UK-made), 7 pairs of tactical headphones, more than 200 water filters, 50 ground pads, 50 shoe dryers, 100 hand warmers, and much more.

Institutional support of Come Back Alive

Since November of 2022, MacPaw has been donating $30,000 monthly to Come Back Alive foundation to support its operations.

MacPaw’s targeted charitable assistance to Come Back Alive covers administrative expenses — salaries, rent of offices in Kyiv and regions, as well as rent of a warehouse where the largest aid items for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are stored.

Come Back Alive is Ukraine's most significant military assistance organization, specializing in technical solutions for Ukrainian defenders. Currently, it employs more than 60 people, including procurement officers, military managers, logisticians, warehouse employees, and engineering, UAV, tactical medicine and firearms instructors.

MacPaw has been a strategic partner of Come Back Alive for many years. Even before the war, MacPaw had been supporting the foundation through the MacPaw Foundation.

B-day drone

On July 18 — the birthday of the MacPaw company, — we announced a fundraiser for a made-in-Ukraine PUNISHER Drone, for the Ukrainian defenders.

The cost of the drone was $50,000. Part of the amount was covered by donations from users of MacPaw products and people who support Ukraine.

The game-changing PUNISHER Drone was manufactured by the Ukrainian company UADynamics. Now, the drone is successfully serving at the frontline.

We continue working with UADynamics to put even more drones in the hands of Ukrainian defenders.

More drones to come! 2 more drones have already been purchased and, in the nearest future, will be delivered to the Ukrainian defenders.

Mariupol teachers

We supported the initiative by the graduates of the Mariupol Technical Lyceum to support teachers forced to leave the city fleeing russian occupation. The MacPaw Foundation provided teachers with laptops so they could continue teaching.

Targeted support of Ukrainian defenders

MacPaw Foundation provided necessary help for the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, founded by Valery Markus. We handed over laptops, thermal imagers and other equipment to the brigade.

The fighters needed warm uniforms, so we purchased 2 tons of winter uniforms for them from the UK. MacPaw donated over $375,000 to cover the needs of the brigade.

Why this brigade? This is an innovative unit that sets new standards for military operations: it relies on coordinated interaction of military personnel within the team and organizes training by instructors from private military companies. Their ambition is to reboot the old military system.

Recording war crimes

We provided equipment (laptops and cameras) to the Union of Public Organizations of People with Disabilities in Kyiv to document crimes committed against people with disabilities during the war.

The organization now conducts workshops for managers at public organizations working with people with disabilities. The workshops teach how to identify and record war crimes. This training aims to help correctly collect evidence for an international tribunal.

Investments during the war

Promprylad.Renovation project

During the war, the MacPaw invested $1 million in the development of the Promprylad. Renovation innovation center in western Ukraine, increasing its total investment in the project to $1.5 million.

This undertaking hopes to encourage companies, entrepreneurs and specialists in various industries in Ukraine not to relocate abroad, but to stay and work locally instead. Promprylad.Renovation project works to create favorable conditions for businesses to build and support the country's economy during the war and its revival after the victory.

“We have reconsidered many yearly and quarterly goals, as they are certainly no longer achievable. We have lowered expectations for our new products. But despite this, we decided to keep most of the goals, just with postponed deadlines, in order to continue growing as a company and become successful as a business. Yet, we still constantly think about the war, because that’s unavoidable. Therefore, we are committed to continuously supporting Ukraine throughout this crisis and beyond,” says Oleksandr Kosovan, Founder and CEO of MacPaw.

Information campaigns

International campaign #DiakuYOU🇺🇦 (Thank YOU!)

Launched on November 30, 2022, with the #DiakuYOU🇺🇦 campaign, Ukrainians say “Thank you!” to people from all over the world who continue supporting Ukraine in its fight for independence and freedom.

Сrafted by MacPaw Foundation, the international campaign #DiakuYOU🇺🇦 is a small Ukrainian gratitude to express appreciation for the world’s unsung heroes. On behalf of all Ukrainians scattered around the world and back in our homeland, Ukrainians said Дякую! (DiakuYOU) — Thank you! — to those standing with Ukraine.

MacPaw Foundation created a video about the new wartime reality that all Ukrainians live in. The video manifested faith in the Ukrainian victory and gratitude to people from all over the globe who continue to support Ukraine’s fight for independence, peace and prosperity on its own land.

russia's war against Ukraine displaced more than 14 million Ukrainians, according to UNHCR data. 90% of Ukrainian refugees are women and children. Threat of death, injury, torture or captivity, along with constant shelling and destruction of civilian infrastructure and loss of jobs, forced thousands of Ukrainians to flee their homes seeking safety, shelter, and humanitarian assistance. From volunteers on the ground to free food, clothes and lodging for displaced Ukrainians abroad, the list of international support provided to Ukraine by its allies and individual benefactors is long.

Through the #DiakuYOU🇺🇦 video, we thanked those who helped Ukraine resist, protected its displaced people, provided humanitarian aid, donated to local charities, and delivered any support in these most challenging times for Ukrainians.

“The world has been there for us, providing power to continue our fight. We thank you for being with Ukrainians when it’s most needed. The only way to resist absolute evil is to do it together. With this campaign, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone involved: from our customers and partners to government officials, volunteers, doctors, journalists, paramedics, defenders, and each Ukraine supporter from all over the globe. YOU stepped up and showed strong faith and provided life-saving aid to Ukrainians. With YOU, we are sure we are not alone in this fight. And for all these big and small actions, we thank YOU! In Ukraine, we say — Дякую! [DiakuYOU],” Oleksandr Kosovan, Founder and CEO of MacPaw.

Over 650,000 people from all corners of the world expressed their gratitude for support to Ukraine through this campaign.

Bathtub Creative info campaign

Around Thanksgiving of 2022, together with US-based ad firm Curiosity and Ukrainian nonprofit PR Army, MacPaw Foundation launched an awareness campaign about the conditions fellow Ukrainian creative industry workers are forced to work in during the war.

Bathtub Creative doubled as a fundraiser for hygiene items for people in Ukraine’s newly de-occupied territories.

Bathtub Creative highlighted how Ukrainians were forced to adjust the way they work during the war. The campaign spanned professionals across multiple creative industries — advertising, tech, PR, etc. It addressed the challenge of working while trying to keep safe as air raids and bombings ravaged their cities. For many, their workplace was now a bathtub.

In the weeks leading up to the holiday, Curiosity and the PR Army were attracting traffic to Bathtub Creative, a fake “bathtub-based creative agency” website that is home to some of the real faces and true stories of Ukrainians who now work and create from the confines of their bathtubs — or other windowless closed spaces like laundry rooms or closets.

Bathtub Creative encouraged people to stand in solidarity and show their support by either purchasing a Ukraine-inspired bar of soap or making a direct monetary donation.

“The Russian invasion to Ukraine turned my life in Kyiv from the one I liked a lot (with a beloved job, family gatherings, friends, books, and travels) into a completely new reality: with bomb shelters, volunteering, constant fear for my family and friends, war news and work from a bathroom during air raid sirens,” said Petryk. “Ukrainians show unbelievable resistance while living, working and studying during these tough times for our country. Because of the recent attacks on our infrastructure, Ukrainians also need to adapt to blackouts now. However, even under such harsh circumstances, we know our freedom is worth it,” says Julia Petryk, Head of PR for MacPaw and Co-Founder of PR Army

Adweek, AdAge, Muse and other media have covered the Bathtub Creative campaign.

All raised funds (over $10,000) were directed to MacPaw Foundation to provide aid (hygiene items) to Ukrainians living in the de-occupied territories of Ukraine.

Support of the local communities

Prolonged blackouts across Ukraine caused by russian shelling have become another challenge for Ukrainians. To join the governmental and public efforts to support all Ukrainians through periods without electricity, MacPaw equipped a 6.2 square-meter-large tent right outside of its office in Kyiv to allow all passers-by to warm up, charge their devices and access the internet if they are caught in such a blackout.

The setup was created to complement the newly unveiled network of public hybrid heating-electricity-internet points, provided by the Ukrainian government. MacPaw’s point is listed on the official interactive map of such “Points of Invincibility.”

MacPaw’s “Point of Invincibility” has a generator, UFO heating, chargers and Wi-Fi, as well as places to rest (a table and chairs). Ukrainians stopping by the tent can charge their electronic devices and warm up. The location is also kid-friendly: children can be entertained with coloring books and board games provided on site.

If you would like to join the efforts to support Ukraine and the people of Ukraine in their battle for independence, survival and democracy, please donate to local Ukrainian nonprofits and initiatives you trust, stay informed and help keep the global attention on this unprovoked and illegal attack on a sovereign nation.

We thank you for your continued trust and support. In these extremely distressing and challenging times, MacPaw strives to stick to our core values, stay human and keep the faith in Ukrainian speedy victory and quick postwar recovery.

Want to join our efforts? Donate to MacPaw Foundation at macpaw.foundation.