萝莉视频

The leadership team at customer success startup was monitoring the tensions between Russia and Ukraine for several weeks. About two weeks ago, they offered to relocate their small Ukrainian team to Tel Aviv, where Totango has engineering operations.听

Instead, most of its employees chose to stay.听

鈥淭he team initially preferred to stay put and wait and see how things are going to play out,鈥� founder said in an interview from Redwood City, California, where Totango is headquartered. 鈥淚t was also clear to me that the team would like to stay close to their families and they don鈥檛 want to be seen as opportunists, leaving Ukraine at this time of distress.鈥�

Ukrainian venture-backed startups received at least $33.8 million in investment last year, per 萝莉视频 data, though that figure likely doesn’t capture many smaller companies and raises. Larger tech startups including also got their start in Ukraine, and the country has emerged as a hub for tech companies around the world to source cheap talent. It鈥檚 home to an .听

As Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine continues, many startups have worked to help their employees in the country, where more than 100 startups have offices, . For Totango, that meant offering to relocate its team of about 15 to Tel Aviv, or another location of their choice.

But only two people ended up leaving Ukraine鈥搊ne who had left ahead of time to avoid the winter, and a developer who left for Istanbul the day before Russia invaded.

Some members of the team wanted to stay put because they wanted to support their country, according to two employees who spoke with 萝莉视频 News. (We鈥檙e withholding their names to protect their safety.)

The situation was unexpected given that the relationship between Ukraine and Russia seemed stable for the past eight years or so, according to one Totango employee who relocated from Ukraine鈥檚 capital of Kyiv to Odesa in the country鈥檚 south amid the conflict.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 move first of all because we are connected to our families, and also we don鈥檛 like to do it. Why should we do it? On our land we have our houses, we have our life and I don鈥檛 know why we should change it. A lot of people stayed at home 鈥� They can鈥檛 probably fight, but they do it to show they support our country,鈥� the employee said.

The employee said solidarity with those defending their country was important. 鈥淥f course probably we鈥檙e afraid, but some things we need to stay strong and support because I don鈥檛 know if we all start to withdraw, what will our people on the front think about us?鈥� the source said. 鈥淭hey need to protect us but they will do it much better if they know we鈥檙e staying firm and supporting them.鈥澛�

In turn, Totango is looking to support its employees. The company created an emergency plan a few weeks ago. It hoped it wouldn鈥檛 have to use it, but executed the plan to stay in contact with employees and give them a space to collaborate, according to Amit Bluman, the company鈥檚 SVP of engineering.听

鈥淏esides the ability to provide financial support, there鈥檚 very limited options we can have right now,鈥� said Nirpaz. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e very much focused on is moral support to our team and their families.鈥�

For employees in Ukraine, they鈥檙e feeling the weight of the situation in multiple ways. Some people aren鈥檛 able to access money from banks, one employee in Polesia said, and stores are facing supply shortages, according to the employee in Odesa.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a super frustrating situation, the team is very frustrated. 鈥� from our perspective it鈥檚 frustrating because we see them suffer and we see how little we can provide support for the team,鈥� Nirpaz said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping the international community will figure a much more definitive answer to where we鈥檙e at with the situation.鈥�

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