Mstyslav Chernov, Donbass Region

Robinwood is a non-profit initiative aiming at providing humanitarian and employment support to the people of Ukraine.

We offer high-end design objects made out of wood and manufactured in manufactured in Western Ukraine, where over 6.5 million Ukrainians have fled, far away from the front line.

All profits generated are distributed to NGO’s active in food supply, medical assistance, childcare and civilian and army protection.

Kharkiv Office, 2018

Line has been active in Ukraine since 2016 with a whole electronic engineering department in Kharkiv and manufacturing operations in Western Ukraine. Our team has developed strong ties with Ukrainians and we were floored by the Russian invasion. But after the initial shock came the time for action.

« We need work. We have mouths to feed and bills to pay. We must carry on. » said our factory line leader Roman.

As a hardware startup, we know a thing or two about product design and manufacturing.
So we decided to put our skills to contribution by maintaining financial stability and moral support of Ukrainian workers, while further enabling the humanitarian actions deployed on the ground.

Photo credit : Karolina Grabowska

The first product of the collection is the Storm Lamp from Ukrainian designer Julia Kononenko. Made exclusively from laser cut plywood, its stunning design is reminiscent of the unbeatable Ukrainian inner light, shining through chaos.

When purchasing a product from Robinwood, designers get a retribution for their work.

Photo credit : Olena Sergienko

All Robinwood products are made using Ukrainian wood exclusively, a sustainable resource that is plentiful, even in times of war. Plywood is produced locally (3 miles away from our factory) and has no known military application to date. Ukraine is a major source of wood in Europe, ranking 6th in Europe in terms of timber reserves.

Photo credit : Ono Kosuki

Transformation of raw wood trunks to plywood boards is taking place in our factory in Western Ukraine. Plywood boards are cut according to the designers drawings, with a precision down to 0.1 millimeter.

Photo credit : Julia Kononenko

The laser cut parts are shipped to the final assembly factory where edges are sanded and the product is fully assembled. After final quality inspection, finished products are packed and stored in a warehouse awaiting for shipping to our Belgian facilities.

Photo credit : World Central Kitchen

• The journey does not stop here. Together with our team in Ukraine, we have carefully selected charities and NGO's on the ground to which we donate all our profits. Here are the areas of focus we have identified and the organizations we selected :

  • Humanitarian Aid and Medical Supply : Vostok-SOS
  • Food Supply : World Central Kitchen
  • Childcare : Voices of Children
  • Protection of civilians and army (non-lethal) : KOLO

All Robinwood suppliers operate in the purple area, where no direct combat is taking place.

All manufacturing facilities are located in western Ukraine, 200 miles away from combat zones. Final assembly is the most manual labor intensive step of the production, currently relying on a staff of 30-60 workers. The factory has direct access to a soviet era nuclear bunker where workers can shelter within 2 min, should air raid sirens start blasting. Since March 15th transport of goods through the Ukrainian-Polish border has resumed and is on par with pre-war efficiency.
We have daily calls with our production team and are reassessing our contingency plan weekly. May the conflict progress to the west, manufacturing and sales of Robinwood products would be stopped until the situation reaches necessary safety levels.