The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted people across the globe. Over half a million people have emerged positive to Covid-19, and there are over 40,000 dead. In India, we are close to touching 2000 positive cases. The pandemic has seen corporations and business leaders committing sizable amount towards supporting the impacted people, communities as well as funding government initiatives towards fighting the pandemic as well implementing preventive measures.
In a recent development, Rs. 100 Cr grant has been set up by the start-up community in India, to support ideas that could help fight Covid-19. The initiative, Action Covid Team (ACT) Grants is a collaborative effort led by a members from leading VC funds and founders, with the support of partner NGOs and leading industry veterans.
The grant aims to support ideas that are capital efficient, scalable and can be leveraged to fight the spread of the pandemic. The Action Covid Team (ACT) Grants has already raised Rs 70 Cr. from its target corpus, has funded 2 projects, and has over 45 volunteers. The initiative has seen the participation and support from leading start-up investors, fund managers from top VC firms, and prominent start-up CEO’s. Amongst the backers are Sequoia India, Accel, SoftBank, Coatue, Tiger Global, B Capital as well as leading start-up founders and entrepreneurs, along with industry bodies TiE, IVCA, Nudge foundation.
The statement announcing the grant said – “As members of the startup ecosystem, not only are we feeling the massive impact of COVID-19 in our industry, but we are also conscious of our collective responsibility in helping fight the long-term effects this global pandemic will have on our society. Through the Action COVID-19 Team (ACT), founders, investment advisors, business leaders and service providers have come together as a community. Our mission is to provide a springboard for Indian startups and innovators in their fight against COVID-19.”
The initiative has partnered with Bengaluru based chapter of United Way, a global non profit organization to help coordinate the project and grant activities. A 25 member team from the resources of the start-up community have been formed to support rapid evaluation and recommendations on potential projects.
Among the first ones to bag a grant from the initiative is MyLabs Discovery Solutions. Mylab, is the first Indian firm to get approval for its coronavirus testing kits. The firm has bagged Rs. 1 Cr., from Action Covid Team Grants. Testing is very critical to to arrest the spread of Covid19, and Mylab has created a RT-PCR kit which is manufactured domestically, has a local supply chain and is approved by ICMR.
The broad areas of impact that the grant is looking at supporting: prevention of Covid-19 spread, scaling testing, disease management at home, support for healthcare workers, management of critically ill patients, support for mental health. Both for-profit and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply, or even groups of individuals could apply.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.