In times of crisis, do good
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For many of us, these past few weeks have been surreal. With the global spread of the COVID-19 virus, the human, economic, and mental impact of these challenging times are hard to grasp and changing exponentially.
As Europe comes to terms with a new reality — with nationwide quarantines, border closures and lockdowns — businesses big and small have taken it upon themselves to help their communities, customers, and employees navigate these uncertain times with various initiatives.
We have already read about how some tech giants have joined forces to combat ‘fraud and misinformation’ about the virus, businesses with the ability to help with the production of hand sanitisers have pivoted their businesses to do their bit, while Pret is giving NHS staff free hot drinks.
Fast Thinking of B2B Startups
While the above companies may have the resources and production facilities that most B2B SaaS companies lack, it has been inspiring to see some of the initiatives coming out of our portfolio companies in the global fight against this crisis.
Below I wanted to highlight some of these acts of good and hope to add more examples in the coming weeks and months.
Collaboration for social good
ForceManager has joined forces with three other technology companies to create Spain’s first official App in partnership with health officials from the Community of Madrid, and supported by Telefonica, Ferrovial, and Google.
The ‘Asistencia COVID-19’ App provides the country’s citizens with a reliable information platform to help users evaluate symptoms, receive official information while at the same time relieving the burden on health systems and allowing authorities to increase the effectiveness of their response.
In the company’s blog post, Oscar Macia, CEO of ForceManager wrote:
“It is inspiring to see how an idea conceived just 7 days ago, was created in record time thanks to the expertise and dedication of three technology companies. I’m proud to be a part of this project, and contribute to the global effort to combat, and help contain the spread of COVID-19.”
The app is available on the AsistenciaCovid19 website and will be available as a free download for iOS and Android users in the coming days.
Education & content to combat social isolation
ABA English — the digital English academy serving more than 30 million students worldwide launched a CSR campaign in the wake of the outbreak in Spain.
As part of the initiative, the ed-tech company will give its students 1 million free premium subscriptions. With millions of Spaniards entering the second week of a nationwide lockdown, ABA wants to empower students to combat the effects of social isolation by encouraging them to improve their language skills and keep busy with the platform’s rich educational content offerings.
“In these days of social disconnection, we feel the responsibility to offer greater digital education to all our students and improve their lives,” explains Marc Vicente, CEO of ABA English
Similarly, ABA is giving away 1 million 2-month Premium courses to schools and universities across the country as well as offering free daily virtual speaking classes to all their students.
Learn more about ABA English here.
Listening & being ahead of the curve
Brandwatch conducted the ‘U.K. Coronavirus Survey’ in February.
Publishing their findings on the 4th of March — nearly two weeks before the Government unveiled a wide range of new measures to limit the further of the spread of the virus in the U.K. — Brandwatch’s survey provided valuable insights about the public’s state of mind.
Taking a step further — and to keep their customers informed — the company has also launched a daily bulletin covering topics including daily trends on online conversations, surveys on consumer needs, wants and concerns as well as up-to-date analysis on effects on different industries and demographics.
Keep up with the latest insights from Brandwatch here.
Remote Communication
With millions of businesses moving their workforce remotely — and most for the first time — software that helps employees communicate, align. and stay informed are more relevant than ever.
Smarp, an employee communication platform that helps businesses create, aggregate and automatically distributes personalised content to every employee, has announced that they will be removing all seat limitations of their platform from their existing customers until the end of May.
In a video announcement, Roope Heinilä, CEO of Smarp said:
“We all have the shared responsibility to minimise the impact of this virus, and by communicating effectively, we have the opportunity to do so.”
Learn more about Smarp here.
It’s everybody’s business
Lastly, Landbot has unveiled a 1-year free subscription offer to non-for profits, and 6 months to profit-making companies.
Under the motto ‘Together is Better’, the no-code chatbot builder explained that stopping the virus was ‘everybody’s business and passivity wasn’t a choice.’
To learn more about how Landbot is helping businesses to fight this battle and apply for the free subscription offer, click here.
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We are sure we will see many more inspiring initiatives, collaborations, and acts of goodwill, and we will aim to highlight those stories in the future.
Stay safe ❤
