Today in FinTech Ukraine: Renesas Electronics Gives €1M; P2P Lenders Step Up

Renesas Electronics Corp., a provider of advanced semiconductors, has decided to donate €1 million to UNHCR, the UN High Commission for Refugees, to help support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, a press release said.

The efforts are in response to the war started by Russia in Ukraine in late February.

The company says it “considers the safety and well-being of all stakeholders worldwide, including employees, their families, and customers as an utmost priority.”

Renesas had set up a crisis response team in an early part of the war in Ukraine. The company has reportedly been in contact with its employees there.

The release noted that Renesas has made advanced payroll and supplemental pay available to Ukrainian employees, has given practical and financial support to those who wanted to leave, and is working on aid for those who left.

In addition, a communication platform has been made on the company intranet, letting employees offer skills and support such as accommodation and translation. And there’s been a shelter made in Ukraine at Reneseas’s Lviv headquarters, which will support the families and employees who can’t leave Ukraine.

Meanwhile, P2P lenders and FinTech firms have stepped up efforts to show support to Ukraine as well, a report said.

For example, Assetz Capital and its institutional backer Aros Kapital have agreed to make donations to relief organizations out of profits from their continuing partnership.

And Innovate Finance, the U.K. FinTech trade body, has held sessions on how members can donate to humanitarian causes.

Estonian P2P lender Bondora has also donated to Mondo, a nongovernment organization working on humanitarian relief in Ukraine, and Twino has teamed up with numerous FinTechs and Latvian businesses with an eye towards raising at least €5 million ($5.4 million) toward Ukrainian causes, the report said.

In addition to that, there has been an effort from platforms like Mintos and Twino to monitor investor loans in the region.