November 8, 2022: As the war in Ukraine rages on, technology entrepreneurs are trying to stay positive.

“I don’t think there’s something worldwide that could kill our ability to win and do work or anything,” Valery Krasovsky, CEO and co-founder of Sigma Software, told on the sidelines of the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon.

Sigma, with 2,000 employees based in Ukraine, being equipped its offices with diesel generators and Starlink internet terminals to permit employees to continue working amid the Russian shelling of critical energy infrastructure.

“Nothing could happen that would stop us from delivering business, even in these conditions,” he further said.

Sigma was one of 59 Ukrainian start-ups that attended the event last week. Ukraine is a notable presence at Web Summit, where it sought support from the global tech community to support its fight against Russia.

In 2021, Ukraine had a minor booth at Web Summit, Krasovsky said. It had a much larger stand this year, lit in yellow and blue. It was surrounded by floods of visitors, with Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska accompanied by armed guards as she passed through the venue among them.

On an opening evening, Zelenska gave an impassioned speech calling on tech entrepreneurs and investors to side with her country.

“You are the force that moves the world,” Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told a packed audience on Tuesday.

Therefore, Russia uses technology for “terror,” and the international community has “technologies helping, not destroy,” she added.

Russia is calling its invasion a “special military operation.” To Ukraine, it is an unprovoked land grab to undermine its sovereignty.