Lithuanians raised €1m in one hour for Ukraine – and IT company doubled it

Lithuanians donated over one million euros in one hour for radars for Ukraine. An IT company then matched the sum. Over 6 million euros were raised during the first week of the Radarom! campaign.

Tesonet, best known for its VPN service NordVPN, approached the organisers of the Radarom! (Let’s Radar!) campaign about giving a donation for Ukraine. But instead of coming up with a concrete sum, it offered to match whatever amount people would donate in one hour.

The magic hour began at 08:00 on Friday, February 3. In just 60 minutes, Lithuanians raised one million euros by calling a hotline or making online bank transfers.

“One million and six thousand euros in one hour,” said Andrius Tapinas, one of the initiators of the campaign and head of Laisvės TV, after the clock hit 09:00.

The total figure surpassed 5 million – the initial target of the campaign – on Friday, after the one-hour donation spurt and Tesonet’s contribution.

“But nothing ends here – we keep calling, we keep transferring money. We already have more than 5 million euros, but we need to double that amount before the war anniversary,” Tapinas said.

In total, around 6 million euros were raised by Monday morning, one week since the launch of the Radarom! campaign on January 30. Fundraising will continue until February 24, the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.

RADAROM

Tesonet, previously known as NordSecurity, is one of Lithuania’s two “unicorns”, tech companies valued at above one billion euros. Last year, Tesonet’s value was estimated at 1.6 billion.

The money raised by Radarom! will be used to purchase multifunctional tactical radars that will help monitor the airspace around potential targets in Ukraine that could be hit by Russia.

The Radarom! campaign was launched on 30 January. It is organised by Blue/Yellow, Laisvės TV, 1K Fondas, and Stiprūs Kartu.

Last summer, Lithuania raised 5 million euros in three days to purchase a Bayraktar drone for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It was sent to Ukraine on August 7.

Donations can be made by calling 1482 (EUR 5) and on radarom.lt.