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Tag: covid 19 solution challenge

  • 16 Founders shared Steps Taken by Companies after the Outbreak of CoronaVirus

    The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively brought normal life to a halt in whole world. Social distancing, work from home and a lockdown are the only ways to stop the spread of this virus. Situation is not different in India too. The Indian government has done the smart thing by implementing a 21-days lockdown along with an international and domestic flight ban, and a stoppage of the railway service. But, this lockdown, work from home will impact Indian economy.

    Transportation has stopped, manufacturing units are closed, shops which sell non essentials are closed, so this will affect economy for sure. One of the biggest potential impacts to India’s employment and economy could be the shuttering of manufacturing plants and assembly lines in the tech sector. So, this will affect startups too.

    Also read  – How Government is helping startups fight coronavirus

    We have asked few companies about what policies they have adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of CoronaVirus.

    Policies the company has adopted for the recent outbreak of Corona Virus

    MyGate

    MyGate is India’s leading security and community management solution for gated premises. MyGate helps residents to manage guest entries and delivery executives. We talked to Vijay Arisetty, Co-founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    Quick access to medical expertise and credible information, particularly in the era of social media, is extremely important in the fight against coronavirus. We are very keen on raising awareness on the matter and ensuring the availability of qualified medical advice for our 1.5 million+ users, and found strong partners in digital healthcare platforms DocsApp and mfine who promptly agreed to offer online consultation via their nationwide doctor network. Their doctors were kept busy over the weekend, with 2800 consultations completed over the last weekend alone, at no cost to our users.

    Rising Sun

    Inatur Ayurveda & Aromatherapy manufactures Organic and Natural skin, hair care and wellness products. These are safer, eco-friendly, and more effective skin care products. We talked to Pooja Nagdev, Founder and CEO,on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    We have taken the following steps to ensure the safety of all our customers, our partners & most importantly our employees.

    1. Our manufacturing facility, office and retail stores are being disinfected regularly.
    2. All employees have been given complimentary gloves, sanitisers & masks which are to be used at all times, without fail.
    3. Strict measures are taken against anyone working in an unhygienic way.

    Zamit

    Zamit- a one-stop platform that networks & supports school ecosystems to be future-ready. It is an information, engagement and interaction platform that networks schools, students, teachers, parents, and school service providers. We talked to Aarul Malaviya, Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    The various steps taken by the company are as follows-

    1. Our HR has created a ready-to-refer document and shared it with every employee of the company which contains all the information related to the virus and preventive measures to be taken. (The information is taken from verified sources)
    2. Hand sanitizers are being placed at every entrance of the office and in all cabins/rooms of the office. The employees are asked to wash their hands at regular intervals and only enter the office premises on washing your hands using waster or Hand sanitizers.
    3. The employees have been asked to communicate using various communication platforms like slack, hangouts etc. as much as they can to maintain social distance.
    4. All the employees are being given strict instructions to clean and sanitize their stuffs like laptop, bags, mouse & mouse pads, phones etc. using Antiseptic Wipes which are placed in every room/cabin of the office.
    5. The cleaners are instructed to clean the office using an antiseptic liquid throughout the day in equal intervals of time.
    6. Disposable gloves are being provided to the cleaners and the people managing the pantry. The gloves will be worn every time they are serving any food item to anybody in the office.
    7. Time slots have been given to each department of the office for lunch in the pantry to avoid employee’s exposure to crowded areas.
    8. Face masks are made available in the office for every employee. Whoever feels the need, someone who is coughing, sneezing, running nose or symptoms of COVID-19 will have access to the mask.
    9. Lastly, info graphics, posters are set up across the office as a way of encouraging the employees to eat food & adopt practices which will help in immunity building of the human system.

    CASA EXOTIQUE

    The company has been exploring the depth of Interior Designing and Styling with the help of a remarkable team of professionals who takes each and every turn to make your vision come to life. We talked to Ms. Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist, Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    After consulting with experts in the field, we have adopted a number of routines to ensure that the risk of any possible outbreak is minimized.

    1. The workplace is routinely cleaned and sanitized to provide a safe working environment for our employees.
    2. Travelling, especially overseas, has been restricted and is permitted only in urgent or exceptional cases.
    3. We have also employed a temperature gun at the office so that in case anyone contracts the sickness, it could be detected at the earliest. This would help prevent the disease from worsening and would also prevent the infection from spreading.
    4. We have also asked sick employees to stay at home and we’re providing flexible leave policies as well. The alcohol-based sanitizer has also been made mandatory at the workplace.

    121 Experiences

    121 Experiences specializes in experiential brand communicating solutions to drive behaviour changing consumer habits. We talked to Aniket Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    Following policies have been implemented starting this week –

    1. Office will be open from 11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday.
    2. No visitors will be allowed within the office premise.
    3. All employees who have laptops need to work from home; also they need to be available on phone calls and emails during office hours.
    4. For those who cannot work from home, a rotational cycle for attendance will be applied.
    5. Avoiding non-essential local travel.
    6. Domestic and international travel must be prohibited.

    Also Read – Tips to work from home efficiently.

    MyStarHub

    In their endeavor to create the most authentic and memorable fan experiences across the world, MyStarHub provides a platform where fans can book personalized video shoutouts from their favorite celebrities. We talked to Swapnil Mahajan, Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    The safety of our employees is of utmost importance for us, and understanding the seriousness of the situation, we have been constantly tracking the turn of events.

    1. We have been maintaining the highest hygiene standards within the office premises and communicating detailed guidelines for personal safety and hygiene.
    2. Initially, we started by restricting travel and face-to-face meetings to only urgent ones. But as the coming few days are crucial for India to control the spread of Coronavirus, we have declared work-from-home for all our employees since March 18.

    Sify Technologies

    Sify is the largest ICT service provider, systems integrator, and all-in-one network solutions company on the Indian subcontinent. We talked to Praveen Krishna, Investor Relations, Public Relations & Corporate Communications, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    At Sify we have taken certain precautionary measures to safeguard the employees like daily mailers on hygiene, use of santizers, awareness through WHO videos, reporting colleagues who might be coughing or sneezing inordinately, no physical contact with each other, etc –
    Specifically, these are the is what is being implemented.

    People

    1. Stipulation that everybody should sanitise their hands a minimum of 4 times in the day.
    2. Report anybody who is coughing or sneezing inordinately.
    3. No shaking hands
    4. Hydrate with warm water regularly.

    Precautions

    1. Daily mailers on maintaining hygiene.
    2. If in doubt, get it checked at the nearest designated hospital.
    3. Recommended home quarantine for 14 days on the advise of a medical practitioner.
    4. In the event of co-habited work space, they have to have sanitisers on the desk.
    5. WHO videos on best way to avoid and if contracted what to do.
    6. Videos on fundamentals, for e.g. how to wash hands, how to wear a mask when out in public, what to avoid etc
    7. All events, offsites etc have been cancelled.

    Travel

    1. If carpooling, recommended to exercise caution and not drive other’s vehicles.
    2. International travel has been completely barred.
    3. Domestic travel is also being monitored with hot spots like Delhi, Hyderabad and now Bangalore not recommended.

    Quarantine

    1. Anybody who has internationally travelled in the last 30 days is quarantined for 14 days as a precaution and a report is shared with the travel and health authorities.

    Team Pumpkin

    Team Pumpkin is a 360 Degrees Marketing & PR agency commenced its operations in 2012 with a clear mission to help brands win in the Marketing and PR space. We talked to Ranjeet Kumar, Co-founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    1. We were one of the first few offices to declare WFH for all our teams.
    2. We had taken a note right from the beginning and have been preparing to tackle the situation.Initially, we created a COVID-19 response plan and shared it across teams to keep them aware of the probable actions according to the corresponding situations. This was shared along with detailed information about the transmission of the virus and guidelines to ensure safety.
    3. Sensing the seriousness of the situation we had limited travel only to the critical ones and restricted in-person interviews and meetings at all our offices.
    4. The use of the biometric machine has been completely stopped and attendance management is being done through the partner app.

    75F

    75F provides Internet of Things (IoT) hardware & software building products that makes office building more energy efficient, controlled and comfortable. We talked with Mr. Deepinder Singh, CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.  

    1. 75F Technologists and Sales Teams is working remotely to provide troubleshooting, ongoing training, best practices, and guidance to its customers.
    2. Their Facilisight are fully operational through which customers can monitor, manage, and control buildings remotely through their desktop, tablet or 75F apps to lower set points, power down building lighting, or bring down unused zones or floors selectively to conserve costs and equipment.
    3. 75F warehouse are fully staffed, and their flexible cloud-based infrastructure will ensure minimal disruption to the business.

    Dineout

    Dineout is India’s largest Dining out and Restaurant tech platform, helping more than 17 million diners monthly discover new restaurants, reserve a table, pay for their bills and get offers and discounts combined with a SaaS product offering to its restaurant partners manage their operations. We talked to Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    At Dineout, our team is our extended family, and their health and safety always comes first! When the coronavirus outbreak first hit globally, we were as surprised as everyone else however we did start taking preventive measures right from the beginning.

    1. Rigorous office sanitisation, availability of masks and sanitisers, as well as a Self-quarantine policy was implemented under which all employees (or family) with a travel history outside India, or those who have been in contact with affected persons or even flu like symptoms were asked to self-quarantine themselves for 14 days.
    2. We also urged our teams to cancel any work related travel, reduce visitors and fever screening through IR thermometers at the entrance for the last 2 weeks.
    3. We also practiced social distancing at all our offices by sitting at alternate work stations and maintaining 6 feet distance at all times.
    4. From Monday, 16th March, we implemented work-from-home policy for our teams across all cities until March 31st 2020.
    5. Our sales teams have also been advised to focus on virtual training and virtual client support for the next two weeks. In fact our teams are also having lunch together digitally!

    In such challenging times, we continue to work together to overcome operational hurdles by leveraging technologies like Google Hangouts, Slack and Google Meets to stay connected virtually and ensure continuity of work.

    Huddle

    With a rich pool of dedicated experts and mentors to support the growth of early-stage ventures, Huddle enables the ventures to take their business to the next stage. We talked to Sanil Sachar & Ishaan Khosla, Co-founders & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    The current challenges due to Covid-19, act as a reality check for a lot of startups and large ventures to realize who their real customers are and how valuable their product/service is. In an environment where doing less is helpful, there is a lot of reduction in spends which is funneling out and reducing customer base, which indeed has a detrimental impact on the cash flows of a venture. For us, we have taken measures to help our ventures from day one to create businesses that have a strong back end and therefore, not only those that can sustain during such unfortunate and unexpected times.

    This period of isolation and in the day and age where social distancing is important, companies will see a reduction in funding, financing of their working capital due to reduced sales or utilization of their service and product, but the gain from this ‘downtime’ is to create sustainability within ventures through offerings that can add value despite the environment. We are prepared to support our startups through infrastructure and our team, with the resources we have to help them sustain and not succumb to any of these losses. At a time like this, is when our Huddle of portfolios are standing strong together to support one another. For us, we are preparing all the measures to support our ventures. Luckily we have not seen any decline in the speed at which our companies are working, and our onboarding of newer companies, because innovation is needed now more than ever.

    Zolostays

    Zolo provides fully managed, long-term affordable stay options with a warm and homely environment. We talked to Dr. Nikhil Sikri, CEO & Co-Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    At Zolostays, the safety and health of our residents and our employees is of out utmost priority. Since we operate a co-living model, we have come up with specific policies to tackle the spread of COVID-19 for both our employees and our residents.

    For Employees

    1. We have advised employees to ‘Work from Home’, if they are experiencing any kind of flu, cold, cough and breathlessness and have been asked to self-quarantine and get in touch with a doctor.
    2. We have also encouraged hand hygiene by placing hand sanitizers around the offices and the commonly touched surfaces and objects are being wiped with disinfectants regularly.
    3. We have also cancelled non-essential business trips and our efficient HR team regularly shares all the advisories released by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs.

    For Residents and HouseKeepers

    1. We have initiated special training of the housekeeping staffs for the best practices of personal hygiene and sanitizing for COVID-19 prevention.
    2. Personal Protective Equipment have also been provided to all our housekeeping and kitchen staffs including gloves and masks which are disposed off at regular intervals.
    3. We have also provided hospital-grade disinfectants and cleaning agents approved by WHO for cleaning purposes.
    4. All community activities have been suspended and a special trained support team is kept on standby to help the residents of any related COVID-19 instances.

    Ozonetel

    Headquartered in Hyderabad and Singapore, Ozonetel has several industry firsts to its credit in the area of Cloud Communication. We talked to Chaitanya Chokkareddy, Co-founder & Chief Innovative Officer, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    1. Ozonetel has adopted Work From Home (WFH) as one of their policies with respect to the recent COVID -19 outbreak. We believe that remote working model can be as efficient as working from office if we use the right tools. And since we can offer this option for our employees, we did.

    Tjori

    Imbibing cultural and traditional crafts from around the globe, Tjori is a platform for treasured designs across apparel, footwear, bags, decor, and jewellery. In keeping with the essence of our brand, it also offers a range of organic and ayurvedic skin care products, using secrets whispered through generations. We talked to Mansi Gupta, Founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    We at Tjori are trying our best to create awareness and precautionary measures for our Tjori family, our employees, our vendors and our customers.

    1. The measures taken under the office premises are that of compulsory mask on everyone who enters the office, a sanitization process for our vendors and customers who walk-in for their respective needs. The sanitization process contains the simple steps of handing a surgical mask and using an alcohol derived sanitizer has that helps killing the viability of the office.
    2. The everyday cleaning processes has amplified and now every two hours a thorough cleaning is done.
    3. The people who are ill have been given grace leave in-order to help them recover without any stress.

    Packman Packaging

    Packman Packaging is one of India’s largest manufacturers of corrugated boxes, corrugated rolls, bubble rolls, bubble pouches, courier bags, POD jackets, duct tapes, e-commerce shipping bags and more. We talked to Gaurav Jalan, Director and Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    Packman Packaging is trying what it can by implementing some of the things not just for the betterment of its employees but in a broader aspect its customers as well. Packman Packaging has already implemented certain work policies that include everyone from the workers and the management.

    1. Packman Packaging is primarily working as a manufacturer so in the manufacturing unit, Packman Packaging has adopted a policy where the workers are being asked to work in shifts so that there will be a lesser number of attendances at a given time.
    2. It will also ensure that every worker has a proper space to work because it is not crowded as it used to be before the pandemic days. As of now, this seems to work well.
    3. Packman has a huge advantage because of its online store. And because of that the majority of the staff related to IT and customer service the marketing and sales teams are working remotely from their homes most of the time.
    4. As for the senior management teams are concerned, the employees are working on a rotational basis. The management team members are working on alternate days. This way it not only helps the normal flow of work but also, ensures everyone remains safe.
    5. The most important thing Packman Packaging has assigned its guards an added responsibility that whoever is entering the premises of the office and manufacturing unit he is making sure that everyone is getting their hands sanitized and wearing masks.
    6. Also, there has been a floor manager assigned who is monitoring that everyone is washing their hands with sanitizer and wearing masks for every exit and entry in the respective floors.
    7. Sick employees are advised to stay at home as much as possible.

    Bridged.co

    Bridged uses a combination of AI and a 13,000 strong highly skilled workforce to develop unique and vast data at scale significantly improving the quality of data models. We talked to Ashwin Chalam, CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    1. We’ve educated our employees on best practices (such as washing hands often and limiting physical contact) to implement during this health crisis.
    2. We’ve placed hand sanitizers across spaces in the office, and even requested employees to practice social distancing and avoid unnecessary travel.
    3. We’ve implemented a work from home policy.

    With these efforts, we hope to flatten the curve by reducing the probability of our employees catching the virus, which is essential to mitigating this pandemic.

  • Intugine is Helping Government Monitor Home-Quarantined Individuals

    To ensure strict compliance of social distancing guidelines, a Bangalore-based start-up, Intugine Technologies is helping government officials monitor a large number of home-quarantined individuals as the nation ramps up its efforts to contain the COVID-19 spread. The most important part of their solution is that it does not require the installation of any mobile application and can work even on feature phones. Using SMS, the user consent is recorded and the tracking is initiated.

    Already live in five states including Goa where the company has launched a mobile application Covid Locator to suit the demographic. The state governments are using the solution to monitor COVID-19 quarantines in specific regions, the solution is helping officials monitor tens of thousands of cases on a single dashboard. This has helped reduce the workload on the ground teams significantly while ensuring a more effective way of ensuring adherence. The dashboard is accessible to the officials and the COVID-19 control room to facilitate real-time decision making and monitor the home-quarantined cases. The location data is stored securely on cloud servers, thereby ensuring that the privacy of individuals is not compromised. The tracking stops automatically after the quarantine period ends. The start-up is in talks with government officials to deploy the solution in other states of the country as well.

    Intugine is a Logistics Technology company, providing real-time tracking and supply chain optimization solutions to the likes of Philips, Flipkart, Mahindra Logistics, Arvind Mills, Arvind Fashion and many more. Intugine’s end-to-end platform includes route planning & vehicle allocation, digital indenting, in-warehouse tracking, in-transit tracking, electronic PoD, and data-driven planning. Intugine’s Location Intelligence platform already tracks lakhs of truck movements every month and is repurposed to track the home quarantines in the light of the COVID-19 crisis. Intugine tweaked their logistics solutions, including their ‘Mobile Number Tracking‘ solution to help government authorities track movements of the home-quarantined people and detect any possible breaches. The tech works on basic phones as well, covering 95%+ of the Indian Mobile Phones.

    Intugine Technologies Founders

    The founding team behind Intugine includes Harshitv Shrivastava, Ayush Agrawal, and Mrinal Rai, who come from IIT Kharagpur and SRCC. They raised an undisclosed amount from IPV and some angel investors in 2019.

    To maintain mandated confidentiality, the names of some states have not been mentioned.

    The founders stressed on the importance of private ventures backing the government in these troublesome times. As they put it, effective use of technology can go a long way in containing the situation.

    Harshit Shrivastava: With social distancing being the only effective option to contain COVID-19, we believe that an effective monitoring solution can be of great help at this point. With our location intelligence platform, we are enabling authorities to monitor thousands of quarantines at once, in an effective, least intrusive and scalable manner.

    Ayush Agrawal: Our logistics platform fits seamlessly in providing a solution to the COVID-19 monitoring. As we got positive feedbacks in detecting the breaches of home quarantine, we started reaching out to multiple state governments for large-scale implementation.

    Mrinal Rai: Once the lockdown ends it’s going to be very crucial to identify COVID hotspots based on population movement and density and do effective contact tracing to avoid the next wave of infection. With our location intelligence algorithms and data mining technologies, we are building tools to do such analysis and tracing at scale.

  • 9 Founders Shared their tips on Surviving Coronavirus Outbreak?

    Apart from being a threat to public health, COVID-19 has also emerged as a threat to the global economy. Indian Government has put restrictions on regular movement, malls, public spaces, offices. Everything except essential things has been locked down. During this time of uncertainty and unrest, small businesses have been hit the hardest.

    Flight, hotel booking firms are the worst hit. Whereas, at the same time, video conferencing providers and online education companies, messaging platforms and of course healthcare & pharmaceutical companies are witnessing a boom in demand but the situation has become for worse for the startups & small scale businesses as they have limited sources and capital.

    Indian benchmark indices (BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty) have fallen over 20% this month with foreign investors pulling out around Rs. 38,000 crores fearing recession Analysts predict that the impact of coronavirus in India will shave off 0.5% of India’s GDP growth in FY21. The impact on Indian trade alone is estimated to be more than Rs 34.8 crores.

    These macroeconomic headwinds have already affected sale of white labelled goods which contribute half of the GMV of ecommerce companies. Retrenchments and downsizing in the startup ecosystem have started to accelerate as businesses take a hard look at steep operational costs and dipping demand in an uncertain environment made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. Oyo, Bounce, Udaan and Drivezy have begun laying off staff.

    While India has taken early measures to contain the virus, there is still uncertainty around how long this pandemic might last. Governments in Europe and USA have already announced aid packages for small businesses and India might have to go down the same route to revive the economy.

    Also Read:

    How will small businesses survive during Coronavirus India outbreak
    How will small businesses survive during Corona Virus outbreak

    We have asked few companies how small companies can survive when Corona Virus has affected the economy and so many businesses around the globe.

    Rising Sun

    Inatur Ayurveda & Aromatherapy manufactures Organic and Natural skin, hair care and wellness products. These are safer, eco-friendly, and more effective skin care products. Lets get views of Ms Pooja Nagdev, Founder and CEO, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    The Coronavirus crisis presents the economy and businesses with challenges but also with some opportunities. All of us have got time now to review and reflect. This is the time to plan new strategies, check all costs and overheads. Small businesses will have to cut down unnecessary costs and expenditures in order to be profitable.

    Indi Collage

    Indi Collage is a Fractional Retail platform. It helps brands expand into new markets without the overheads of expensive retail spaces. We talked to Anuradha Singh, on how will small business can survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    We are focusing on building a base & giving flexible options to our customers to take later tentative dates for booking their popups at our spaces.

    Zamit

    Zamit is an information, engagement and interaction platform that networks schools, students, teachers, parents, and school service providers. We talked to Aarul Malaviya, Founder, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    Coronavirus has created a deep global recession across the world. In case of the Indian market, all the small businesses will suffer a short, serious but not catastrophic recession. Consumers should help these small businesses in any possible way they can since they’re the driving force for these businesses.

    • Tax relief is something which will help in relieving a major amount of pressure from these small business owners.
    • All the business owners need to opt for extra cost cutting in their businesses which includes- minimized travel, cancelling any non-essential subscriptions, reduce online sponsored posts, reduce or eliminate meetings to reduce expenses, pause any large costs that could be undertaken at a later stage.
    • They also need to set clear and realistic business plan and at the same time, motivating the employees to pull this off together as a team and irrespective of mode of working, every employee should be there to help each other as in when it is needed to keep the boat floating peacefully.

    CASA EXOTIQUE

    Established with an urge to deliver incredible experiences, Casa Exotique has redefined a new benchmark for remarkable interiors and exquisite finishes. We talked to Ms. Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist, Founder, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    Needless to say, this outbreak is detrimental to the economy – especially the small business firms that do not have very deep pockets to support their staff without doing business in the time of this crisis.

    • To survive this pandemic, there is a need to have open communication with the staff. Everyone can pitch in their ideas on how to keep the business running in such a tough time. By starting the chain of dialogue, more innovative ideas would come to light and effective plans can subsequently be put into place.
    • Obviously, if the situation gets worse, work from home will probably be the only option. Businesses that are based on IT infrastructure would find it easier to manage work than the ones that require fieldwork. Alternate working hours can be one option for such firms.
    • The time is beckoning to the employers to put contingencies and crisis management plans in action. Those who have worked out such plans would be at an advantage in the coming months in terms of managing their business.

    121 Experiences

    121 Experiences is India’s first ever out of the Line agency. 121 Experiences specializes in experiential brand communicating solutions to drive behaviour changing consumer habits. We talked to Aniket Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.

    • All small businesses will need to learn to optimise their resources.
    • Maintaining transparency with the internal employees and customers can help with innovate solutions.
    • The spirit of survival is going to be the key, staying positive will help think straight in these times of difficulty.
    • Collaborating with competition instead of cutting costs will be pivotal to sail through together instead of trying to on up the other.

    MyStarHub

    In their endeavor to create the most authentic and memorable fan experiences across the world, MyStarHub provides a platform where fans can book personalized video shoutouts from their favorite celebrities. We talked to Swapnil Mahajan, Founder, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.

    • Even though the Coronavirus has a negative influence on the market worldwide, it has also opened up doors of opportunities for smaller and unconventional businesses in the longer run.
    • In situations like this, the reliance of overseas suppliers will decrease and demand for local products will increase. Also with limited resources in hand, these small scale businesses, in particular, will innovate ways to survive the uncertainties and bounce back.
    • Besides this, the government aid and relaxations will help a lot of small businesses manage funds to keep the business going.

    Also Read:

    Dineout

    Dineout is India’s largest Dining out and Restaurant tech platform, helping more than 17 million diners monthly discover new restaurants, reserve a table, pay for their bills and get offers and discounts combined with a SaaS product offering to its restaurant partners manage their operations. We talked to Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder & CEO, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    We work with more than 40,000 restaurants in India, and the common concern right now is that since no one knows when this will end, there is no way to evaluate the potential business impact. However, it is also severely impacting the bottom line of small businesses like restaurants since their dining operations are temporarily closed.

    • We are advising our partners to look for ways to stay connected with their customers by means of adding flexibility in their operations. By offering a discount on take-home orders, free delivery, using popular delivery services and special discounts for its existing members opting for home deliveries.
    • While, no one knows how much longer this situation is going to persist, the one thing that has emerged from this crisis is the absolute need of technology! We’re working closely with our restaurant partners to support them with our B2B technology products in effectively managing deliveries.
    • We are also preparing for when this pandemic subsides and it’s business as usual to help our restaurant partners get back up and running powered stronger by technology.

    Packman Packaging

    Packman Packaging is one of India’s largest manufacturers of corrugated boxes, corrugated rolls, bubble rolls, bubble pouches, courier bags, POD jackets, duct tapes, e-commerce shipping bags and more. We talked to Gaurav Jalan, Director and Founder, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.

    No doubt coronavirus has impacted several businesses. But one needs to think about the bigger picture. Yes these are hard times particularly for small businesses. But with proper information and following certain guidelines they can survive it too.

    If you take an example some markets in Mumbai have decided to work on alternate days just like an odd even program. One day markets on right and on other day the shops on left will remain open. This is a good concept and also ensures time to time income is generated. But yes cannot rule out certain degree of financial losses.

    Bridged.co

    Bridged uses a combination of AI and a 13,000 strong highly skilled workforce to develop unique and vast data at scale significantly improving the quality of data models. We talked to Ashwin Chalam, CEO, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.

    • Here’s an opportunity for businesses to reassess their spending and identify areas of unproductivity. After that, businesses should direct all their efforts into ensuring that their money-making product/service keeps them afloat. Or, they might need to pivot and update their gameplan with new offerings, offerings that a coronavirus-affected market will accept.
    • Businesses will also have to make difficult decisions such as laying off loyal employees and scaling down on certain perks. But, until the coronavirus phase passes, they will have no other choice but to exercise monetary caution.

    St. Angelo’s VNCT Ventures

    With a unique approach to real estate development, SAVV Global offers value deliveries, superior design, world class amenities and infrastructure, coupled with timely deliveries and after-sales service. We talked to Mr. Agnelorajesh Athaide, Co-founder, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    The pandemic is supposedly estimated to hit the economic growth by up to 50bps in FY 21, with the first two quarters slowing down at 4.4.5%, as per government sources. Although these are tough times, entrepreneurs can actually use this to effectively reflect and strategize the way forward, with a resilient attitude and a winning mindset.

    • Instead of spending the time counting the losses or panicking over the situation, the slowdown could actually be a boon. It is an opportunity allowing start-up founders to take stock of the situation, envision the market needs and demands after the pandemic is over, and gear up for a fresh start.
    • From learning new skills, conducting employee reviews, collaborating with new vendors/ chalking out an innovative product, to diversifying the business, the current lockdown can be effectively used as an opportunity by visionary and resilient entrepreneurs.

    Skilfinity

    Skilfinity is full service Digital Marketing & Analytics Company, with operations in Singapore & India. We talked to Ujjal De, Co-founder, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.
    Now is the time for longevity and surviving the crisis and not trying to use the situation and health scare as an opportunity.

    • Build community and trust for your brand by giving back in any way possible, to ensure, when this all is over, people invest in your brand.
    • Evaluate the offline marketing strategy and switch to bring as many online eyeballs as possible for all business, across industries.
    • Keep calm, be tenacious, support other businesses in any way possible and take the necessary steps so that you come out of this disruption stronger than ever.

    Grooming Naturals

    Groominh Naturals owns the brand RAWNATURE which is a line of conscious beauty products that is natural, vegan and designed to work within Indian weather conditions and suited to our people. It cover products across skin care, hair care and bath and shower and cater to both men and women. We talked to Mohit Saxena, on how will small business survive during Coronavirus outbreak.

    The key to survival will lie in managing what we can control. We will hopefully soon emerge from this crisis but even if we do, it will be far from over as the aftereffects of the COVID syndrome will stay for a while even after it is gone. Some of the areas we as a company need to be focussed on:

    PRODUCT LEVEL

    1. Look at our product portfolio and focus on what sells the most (say top 3 products). FOCUS ON OUR HERO PRODUCTS. This will help us reduce slow moving inventory risk and increase sales cycle. Also, the manufacturing will be easier as we will have only 20% of the SKUs that we will largely focus on.
    2. Relook at what people need in this time and if we can offer that as a solution. We make grooming essentials that are natural and clean. For us introducing a line of hygiene products that are plant based and effective will be more important and a natural extension than say a line of skin care. CREATE A MUST HAVE PRODUCT LINE from our portfolio.
    3. The consumers will be a bit wary for a while till the time the influence of COVID goes in the backburner. It will be prudent to GET MORE AFFORDABLE either by changing pack size or by offering more of the product at old price.

    ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL

    1. We will need to stay lean – Morally the last option is a lay off in these times. As entrepreneurs, we are responsible to our people and their families. Having said that, even the employees will agree that in these tough times, all hands need to be on the deck. Looking at salaries and minimising it basis seniority will be the need of the hour. Reducing manpower cost v/s the manpower itself should be the 1st priority
    2. A complete freeze on hiring for a substantial period going ahead will also be needed. Multi-tasking, multi skilling and figuring more efficient ways of managing day to day operations using technology or even outsourcing of certain operations will become key.

    PROFITABILITY and CASH FLOWS

    1. Post COVID, the need to be profitable will be ‘urgent’. This immediately will become the new buzz word. Not growth rate, not GMV sales, not multiple markets but positive cash flows and profitability.
    2. Plugging leaks in marketing and acquisitions drives, strategic alliances to reduce cost of sales, CRM and customer management, new markets and better GM’s on new products will be areas of focus till this financial winter thaws out.
    3. Reduce all additional costs and go back to being a bootstrapped venture. Shut every single cost head that can be closed and rationalise/minimise the others.

    FUNDRAISE

    1. While it may sound contrary to the market sentiment, if your product and business model is solid, fundraise will happen. However, 9-12 months from now this sentiment may change in case the after effect of COVID does not subside. So, we need to get what we can and brace for a longer runway. Since our focus now will be on profitability, this runway can will be substantially longer with the same money than we expect and must be the way ahead till we see the summer again.

    Emerging from this crisis will be a gradual process. It’s important to plan appropriately and find various alternate ways of sales and financing.  

    Also read:

    Hipcouch

    Hipcouch is an end to end interior design + build solutions startup based in Lower Parel, Mumbai. We talked to Pankaj Poddar, Founder, on how will small business survive when Coronavirus has affected the economy and so many businesses around the globe.
    Small businesses, as a first measure, have to look really hard at their expenses and trim out anything that might constitute as fat. Secondly, and equally importantly, you have to put in place a business continuity plan coupled with scenario analyses. We have never collectively faced so much disruption and uncertainty on a global level and preserving capital should be the topmost priority.

    IoTfy

    IoTfy is a #MakeinIndia IoT & AI cloud suite that superpowers consumer durable brands to add IoT capabilities to their device categories. We talked to Arpit Chhabra, Founder, on how will small business survive when Coronavirus has affected the economy and so many businesses around the globe.

    At IoTfy we are deploying a futuristic approach to mitigate the impact of the 21 days lockdown, on the business. Given we are a products’ company, we have already started focussing on the next set of features/products that are in the pipeline. The idea is to utilise this time well and invest in future product conception and planning during this period, where most businesses are trying to focus on the recovery aspect. To that end, we have already started planning two quarters ahead and are gearing for the spike in demand IoTfy is expected to witness from the brand partners, who have suffered huge losses on account of the global supply chains being disrupted due to Covid19 outbreak.

  • How Startups are Building Products to fight COVID-19?

    The number of coronavirus cases has been rising steadily every day not only in India but whole worldwide. The state governments across the country are taking important measures to control the spread of the virus. With the globalized world going into partial or complete lock down over the Covid-19 pandemic, startups in the various sectors are facing a huge stress test and immediate disruption to business as people are encouraged or even forced not to travel. Now much of Indian startup ecosystem has just started to realise the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic as the country goes into lockdown.

    Starting as a group of nearly 70 entrepreneurs and investors who had written to the government last week, the “Founders vs Covid-19” group has now become a 600-member crew which includes stakeholders from the healthcare sector, technology industry, the social sector and government. The collective has now transitioned into “Startups vs Covid-19” and is now fighting the coronavirus battle across multiple fronts. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced the “COVID-19 Solution Challenge” to encourage the startups in India to find solution to fight the virus by proposing ideas.

    Many entrepreneurs and startups across the world have focused on developing solution to contain the spread of virus. Designers, engineers and programmers are also trying to scale testing through telemedicine, building multistage testing procedures, scaling the manufacturing of test kits and the healthcare infrastructure. It has also built various applications, such as a portal for citizens to report symptoms and a heatmap of the infection based on symptoms reported by doctors.

    Startups are helping fight Covid-19 by building Products
    Many startups are being encouraged to build Products to fight COVID-19

    So here are some products developed across the world to cope with novel coronavirus-

    Fever-finding Smart Helmet

    The Shenzhen-based Chinese tech firm KC Wearable is also trying to increase testing through telemedicine, building multistage testing procedures, scaling the manufacturing of test kits and the healthcare infrastructure. Further, the group also planning for the path ahead which includes planning for Stage 3 of the pandemic or community transmission. The company has developed a smart helmet that can detect people with a fever up to five metres away and indicates with sounding an alarm when anyone with a high temperature comes close.

    The headset, which is already used by police in many cities of China including Shenzhen, Shanghai, etc. It also features an infrared temperature detector, an augmented-reality visor, a camera that can read QR codes, plus wifi, Bluetooth and 5G so it can beam data to the nearest hospital. Equipped with facial recognition technology, the helmet can also display the subject’s name on the AR visor, as well as their medical history. According to the developer, it would only take officers two minutes to scan a queue of more than 100 people with the help of the helmets, while one big hospital would only need 10 such helmets to cover every corner of its site.

    3D-printed Ventilator Valves

    An Italian startup came to the rescue after a hospital ran out of crucial valves that connect oxygen masks to respirators for its ventilators. The hospital in Chiari, in northern Italy hit hard by the virus, had 250 coronavirus patients in intensive care, and was short of venturi valves – which connect the ventilator to a patient’s face mask, and need to be replaced for each patient.

    After the original supplier was unable to provide new valves quickly enough, the hospital put out a call for help. Isinnova contacted the manufacturer, Intersurgical, but was unable to obtain a digital model of the part, so its team decided to reverse-engineer its structure themselves. The first prototype was ready within six hours, with 100 working valves printed and supplied to the hospital within a day.

    Also Read: How Entrepreneurs are Helping to Fight COVID-19?

    Hands-free Door Opener

    Door handles are said to be among the most contagious places in a building or house. Thus, it is advised to refrain from touching the door handles. Belgian 3D printing company Materialise has designed a hands-free door handle attachment under the slogan “Do less harm, use your arm!”. The design, which has been made available to download for free, consists of two simple parts that can be screwed either side of a handle, allowing you to use your arm or elbow to turn the handle.

    UV-sanitising Robots

    A Danish company developed a sterilising robot looking like a cluster of light swords on wheels. It can kill virus cells and sanitise hospital wards without the need for chemicals. The eight bulbs on each roaming robot emit concentrated UV-C ultraviolet light which destroys bacteria, viruses and other harmful microbes by damaging their DNA and RNA so they can’t multiply.

    The robot was launched in early 2019, following six years of collaboration between parent firm, Blue Ocean Robotics and Odense University Hospital. But recent demand has seen boom in production. A similar device has been developed by Chinese firm YouiBot, which took its existing robot base and added thermal camera and UV-C bulbs for disinfection. It has supplied factories, offices and an airport, and a hospital in Wuhan. This helps reduce dependency on chemical-based disinfectants which require rooms to be left empty for several hours during sterilisation,

    3D-printed isolation wards

    Chinese company Winsun has deployed its rapid 3D-printing technology for manufacturing 15 coronavirus isolation wards in a single day. Those little cabins were originally designed to be used as holiday homes but seeing the demand from overcrowded Chinese hospitals to cope with Covid-19 pandemic, the company increased production the wards.

    The company says it uses recycled construction material in the process and claims its structures are twice as strong as a conventional concrete construction. The buildings, which have showers and eco-toilets, were printed with a robotic arm mounted on rails, gradually depositing layers of concrete to build the walls.

    Corona 100m App

    Coders have joined the battle against coronavirus, racing to develop apps. In South Korea, virus-tracking apps make up six of the most popular 15 downloaded apps, by far the most popular being Corona 100m. Using the wealth of data collected by the government’s testing programme, the app alerts users when they come within 100 metres of a location visited by an infected person. This app is one of the most crucial things developed to fight Covid-19. It needs to be used in India also.

    3D-printed face shield

    Czech company Prusa, which claims to have the largest 3D printing farm in the world, with more than 500 printers, has started mass-producing protective face shields used by medics. It is manufacturing over 800 a day and has donated 10,000 to the Czech ministry of health. Another firm, Stratasys, has also developed a 3D-printed face shield and masks. According to its CEO, Yoav Zeif: “The strengths of 3D printing, be anywhere, print virtually anything, adapt on the fly, make it capable for helping address shortages of parts related to shields, masks, and ventilators, among other things.”

    Virus-fighting Drones

    No one needs to mention the need of drones from preventing people from stepping out of their houses. Many governments have started using drones to keep watch but these drones have been modified with more features to fight the coronavirus. The world leader in drone manufacturing, China has used the mini choppers(drones) for everything from fever detection in crowds to disinfecting public spaces, to delivering supplies to remote locations. Drones have also been used to deliver test samples, dramatically cutting journey times.

    In France, the police have started using drones to help enforce its lockdown, monitoring parks and public spaces to make sure people are not leaving their homes for non-essential trips, while, in the UK, Northamptonshire police are planning to increase the use of drones, which will be equipped with speakers to transmit public information messages and tell people to get back indoors. In India too, a Tamil Nadu startup is helping government to disinfect roads & hospitals with drones.

    Also Read: What will be the Scenario after Coronavirus Outbreak?

    Robots at Kerala’s Airports

    Kerala Health Minister Shailaja KK has proved to be a strong pillar of strength and support in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Kerala’s Asimov Robotics has developed two robots that are to be stationed in the airports. While one robot distributes sanitisers, masks, and napkins to the people, the other robot streams World Health Organisation’s (WHO) campaign videos and also briefs people about social distancing and other steps to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus.

  • 10 ways Startups should be Prepared for the Coronavirus Crisis

    The COVID-19 or Coronavirus outbreak has turned into a global emergency. It has no left no choice to entire nations but go into lockdown mode and economies prepare for impact. Many businesses across the world have already paused their operations as the pandemic requires social distancing, the closing down of services, offices and cancellation of events. Emergency preparedness plans have never been more in focus than this situation which has devasted many businesses.

    It’s true, we can’t neglect the fact that the Coronavirus hasn’t spared the startup communities. Just the opposite, many startup founders are worried about the consequences of sweeping lockdowns and restrictions and difficulty in managing to stay afloat and keep their staff onboard. In such situations, startups are more vulnerable than established corporations because of limited access to services & capital. So startups are understandably more worried. Many startups are calling for hiring slowdowns as well as spending curbs, cutting out travel and preparing for a very tough time ahead. For startups, funding seems to be the first casualty and those that are in the middle of a fund-raise or have small reserves of cash are looking for solutions. Those that have already raised funds and have at least six months of operating capital should be fine too. According to reports, though overall funding has slowed down, the best companies will still get funded with delays.

    However, pre-seed and seed-stage startups might find the going tough as burn rates rise and sales fall. It will be tougher for these startups to gain customers, find potential new business and scale-up. This, in turn, would make it more difficult to raise the next round of funding. Although we don’t know how the pandemic will play out over the rest of the year, it has many lessons on crisis preparation and management.

    This includes taking care of and preparing for impacts upstream and downstream as well as for potential impacts within the organization. Don’t forget that many of these ideas could also help lead generation and getting people to know about your company and your expertise, so the effort you invest in these good deeds will your company and help you too. Here are ten steps to keep top of mind while dealing with this crisis.

    Employees’ Safety first

    Your staff should always be your first priority. Make sure they are safe. That may mean rethinking some work practices – you may need to restrict travel and switch to meetings via video or audio conference calls. Some offices may need to temporarily shut and employees be asked to work from home; most companies have already implemented this for desk workers.

    Offer products and services free of cost

    During this coronavirus crisis, many messaging platforms,video conferencing companies, online learning platforms are free offering services and removing the limits on their services to help the students and employees working from home. Some startups have been wholeheartedly offering free or substantially discounted services and products to help. If your brand offers anything that can support either people hugely affected by the pandemic or those who are staying at home in a need of a boost to keep up with their lives, this is the right time to give a hand. This will leave a long lasting impression on people’s minds which will surely help in future.

    Also Read: Coronavirus Impact on Digital Payments Startups

    Work on innovative tech solutions to fight the Coronavirus

    What else could be better solution than finding the tool or technology that helps in containing the spread of Corona virus. If you have an idea for developing a tool that could in any way be of help in the fight of the COVID-19 virus, then start working on it right away. Even Government of India has also arranged COVID-19 Solution Challenge to encourage entrepreneurs to find a technology that helps find the coronavirus. The entrepreneur or startup providing the best solution will receive the money prize. So startups can see this as a good opportunity to earn funding during this crisis. Just act quickly and remember that even a simple app that would encourage the citizens to adapt more easily to the changed conditions can take your organization ahead.
    To know more about this challenge, visit the Official Website –
    https://innovate.mygov.in/covid19/

    Connect with the startup community

    Coronavirus outbreak has just started affecting the Indian market but it has affected Chinese and American market many weeks ago. So their experiences & mistakes in dealing the crisis can be used as guidelines on how to survive in the crisis. So it is advisable start connecting with the startup community not just in India but communities worldwide.  Some ways and solutions can definitely hey be found be found by interacting with these tech and start up communities. Just take Estonia, for example, whose tech community has already been tackling the coronavirus through various activities. Portugal has also put together a page for collaboration. There are many ways to help in the quick and smart development and implementation of the necessary measures. So, get as involved as you can and encourage others in your community to do so as well.

    Companies are organizing Hackathons for others to Participate remotely

    Organise or attend hackathons

    Many companies & startups have organised hackathon. This has paved the way and many innovative solutions that arose as a result of the to-date organised hackathons aimed against the Coronavirus are now on their way to be developed and implemented. So this can be done in India too. Many revolutionary products emerged exactly at these events and we now desperately need more of them to combat not only the emergency circumstances but effectively manage the post-crisis period and prevent further isolation and loneliness.

    Host free online webinars, podcasts or Q&A sessions

    In light of the latest developments, many event organisers are shifting their conferences online. It’s uncertain until when we’ll all be at home. So, people have enough time. This is the right time to stay connected. This can be done in many ways. One can go live – whether it’s alone, with your team or maybe with professionals from other startups. Online event, webinar, podcast, YouTube video, Q&A and what not available to keep in touch & increase the network. These platforms  can be used to give advice based on your expertise and help people to stay motivated.

    Offer your advice on remote working

    Majority of the companies have asked their employees to work from home. As a member of a startup, you are probably very well acquainted with the ‘working from home’ concept. But, bear in mind that millions of people have just had their first day working remotely. The newly-created situation has given thousands of managers no other choice but to lead their teams online, completely unprepared. This situation can be used to help them with tips in a blog, LinkedIn post, webinar to encourage people to get in touch by recommending them video conference tools & software.

    Also Read: 8 Tips to Stay Productive while Working Remotely

    Just Keep Marketing even in Crisis

    One of the biggest mistakes companies make in times like these is to cut back on marketing. It will be the end of you. At best, a slow death. Although, it is difficult to sell products & services in this time but it is a good opportunity to market your services & products. Do demand a better ROI on your marketing. This may be the right moment to expand and pick up the slack from your competitors and seized their market share.

    Check your coverage

    Business interruption coverage covers income lost when you close down your business due to a disaster. However, it typically doesn’t pay out unless there is physical damage to the business. Talk to your insurance agent to see what, if any, coverage you would have if coronavirus forces temporary closure. If got, this can be used to keep the money flow going.

    Have Patience

    This is the time wherein many entrepreneurs can lose their hope due to things not going well. It is hard to predict how long this is going to last. However, it is the most important to not give up. Though it may look difficult to put the things back on track, it is essential to have patience because like any other time, “ This too shall Pass.” Have faith.

  • How is Narendra Modi helping Startups Fight against the Coronavirus Outbreak?

    Due to Coronavirus outbreak, every aspect of business is suffering through many problems and challenges. Flight, hotel booking firms are the worst hit. There is stupendous drop in demand of gig economy. Whereas, at the same time, video conferencing providers and online education companies, messaging platforms and of course healthcare & pharmaceutical companies are witnessing a boom in demand but the situation has become for worse for the startups & small scale businesses as they have limited sources and capital.

    Effect of COVID-19 on Startups

    With reduced revenue and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, various tech startups not just in India but across the globe are temporarily letting go of workers to help keep their businesses survive during this collapsing economic period. In the past couple of weeks, the situation has become more extreme with a ‘State of Emergency’ being called in some countries, leaving other regions unsure of what’s to come next. Social distancing mandates are forcing businesses to shut down and heavily reduce staff during COVID-19 outbreak. The labour department is facing a rush of unemployment insurance claims which is likely to increase in the next few weeks.

    Coronavirus crisis is also affecting many aspects related to startups. For instance, postponing the EU-Startups Summit to April 2021. The EU-Startups Summit gathers over 1,500 founders, startup enthusiasts, corporates, angel investors, VCs, and media from across Europe. The two-day event is a great opportunity for networking, and a meeting point for aspiring entrepreneurs and investors who are aiming to build international tech companies. This summit was planned to take place on May 28-29 this year but now it is postponed to April 2021.

    Government’s Aid to Startups

    Today, the world is collectively dealing with the spread of Covid-19 and taking emergency measures to contain and eventually eliminate the virus. One such measure was taken by Indian government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw the power of the digital medium that can be utilised to serve the country and encouraged many of us to go all out to build a nationwide digital infrastructure. Modi’s ‘Digital India’ mission enabled India to build a robust mobile broadband infrastructure which accelerated the rise of technology startups in a short span of time. This is now coming to play a very vital role in supporting the PM’s call on social distancing while keeping the country moving during coronavirus pandemic.

    According to reports, a mega exercise to increase Indian startups’ visibility globally is in the works. For this, the government planning to hire a consulting firm to evaluate the progress of the Startup India programme to chalk out an action plan to attract investment and identify bottlenecks which prevent businesses and high-net-worth individuals from investing in them. The consultant will identify challenges in\ regulatory approvals, taxation, ease of doing business, global expansion and facilitate startups in getting access to markets such as in private and public procurement, both in India and abroad.

    COVID-19 Solution Challenge

    The government of India has realised the need to open up the search for solutions to the startup ecosystem with the ‘Covid-19 Solution Challenge’. On March 16,2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the challenge on the Twitter and urged startups and entrepreneurs to come up with their technology-backed solution to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to public to share any technology-driven solutions for strengthening the fight against COVID-19, saying such efforts can help the government and make public join the mission against the virus.

    PM Narendra Modi announced the Challenge on Twitter on March 16

    PM Modi said, “Harnessing innovation for a healthier planet. A lot of people have been sharing technology-driven solutions for Covid-19. I would urge them to share them on the government-citizen engagement platform MyGov.in.”

    According to the MyGov platform, startups and individuals can send their ideas to help the government in fighting the coronavirus outbreak. Suggestions sent in will be evaluated by the government and some of the ideas will be adopted. The last date of submission of ideas for the Covid-19 Solution Challenge is on March 31. Participants can either send a document or a YouTube video of the idea using the MyGov Platform. The solutions that are deployed by the government will also receive rewards. INR 1 Lakh, INR 50K and INR 25K have been promised to the top three ideas respectively. This amount can be used as funding in startups. So it’s a good opportunity to earn funding just by pitching the idea.

    The government said that it has already started to get inputs from individuals and startups that have developed technologies and innovative solutions in areas such as bioinformatics, datasets, applications for diagnostics and more. These technologies are expected to soon become part of the government’s efforts in the fight against the coronavirus.

    Also Read: These Brands will Generate Massive Revenue During the Coronavirus Outbreak

    With increasing cases of people getting infected by the novel coronavirus, a group of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting a lockdown starting as early as March 20 across the impacted cities for two to three weeks; to which PM Modi has taken action by implementing Section 144 on account of which only allowed shops can remain open till March 31. So, it has become almost ceased all the operations for startup till March 31.

    According to experts, there are still ways to keep the operations going during lockdown too. According to top venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from India and China, overcommunication, keeping a cash runway and having a fixed routine despite working from home are some of the keys for startups to deal with the fallout from the novel coronavirus. While China is returning to normalcy and business as usual, the experiences of Chinese firms and entrepreneurs can serve as a reference point for Indian founders, where cases of the virus are still rising rapidly.