How are startups helping combat the virus?
The world has come to a screeching halt.
While 2020 seems like a year written straight out of a dystopian apocalyptic era, with articles and news reports citing numbers have been doing the rounds, what seems to escape from people’s foresight is HOPE.
With markets crashing, the economy slowing down, employees staring down the layoff barrel, the end of this grim tunnel seems nowhere in sight. However, amidst this pool of despondency, there is an uproar from the ecosystem, both corporate giants and small-time businesses alike to contribute to the relief strategy in any which way beyond monetary and technological capabilities.
The big conglomerates have gotten their share of media coverage with their pledges ranging from Apple donating millions of masks to the healthcare workers to Elon Musk, Tesla CEO hitting the nail at the gravest pain point of the supply of ventilators with a shipment of 1,000 ventilators to Los Angeles. Speaking of Ventilators, the was the brave attempt of Dyson was also brought to the forefront when the company famous for its high-end vacuums and hand dryers, introduced a brand-new bed-mounted ventilator that runs on a battery and can be used in field hospitals like those being constructed in major cities like New York within a matter of 10 days.
The attempt of billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg to bring more testing to Seattle and San Francisco, respectively coupled with Ford’s strategy of working with other companies like GE to help increase the pace of building ventilators all testaments the fact that it is the ecosystem which has partially shouldered the burden with the health care officials to tackle the repercussions of this novel coronavirus head-on.
While these attempts are that of immense bravado. This shouldering of responsibility goes beyond these big techs. Startups across the nation and around the world at every stage are looking for ways to relieve shortages of much-needed personal protective equipment and sanitizers used to halt the spread of COVID-19, so much so that companies have steered away from their day to day technological capabilities to provide for equipment and aid during these trying times.
Following are a list of startups predominantly from two industries that have shifted their core focus to address the pandemic response at hand
Alcohol and Beverage Industry
One of the most non-anticipated adversities in the eye of this pandemic is the shortage of supplies in some of the areas hardest hit by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Apart from toilet paper hoarding, the hand sanitizer shelves were cleaned within a matter of hours. Online aggregators ran out their inventories, despite the emphasis on the alcohol levels required within the sanitizer to protect the audience from the virus.
This is when a large number of alcohol companies and distilleries shifted their supply framework to manufacturing hand sanitizers.
AirCo
A CO2 based vodka startup, that developed technology that extracts carbon dioxide from the air and combines it with water to create vodka has redirected its entire production capacity toward producing hand sanitizer, every bottle of which will be donated through collaboration with NYC officials, and potentially to local restaurants who employ delivery personnel providing critical service as social distancing and isolation measures continue.
Endless West
With a splashing, 1800 square foot lab, Endless West is known for its attempt to refurbish artificial whiskey and producing wine without grapes and fermentation, has also officially announced its shift in production away from its distillery to begin making hand sanitizers. The World Health Organization approved its sanitizers, which the company will produce in its warehouse in San Francisco.
The two-ounce bottles will be donated to local restaurants and bars that remain open for delivery so that employees can use them and distribute them to customers. Bulk quantities will be distributed to healthcare organizations and facilities that need them.
Speaking about the idea behind the shift, a company representative from Bev, another alcohol startup following the same footsteps shared, ‘As an alcoholic beverage company, Bev is very lucky in that we are licensed to purchase ethanol directly from our suppliers, who are doing their part by discounting the product to anyone licensed to purchase it, thereby making the manufacturing almost imperative from our end.”
3D Printing Industry
The first responders to this pandemic have been the health care workers, and what the pandemic has brought forth is the ugly truth of the shortage of supplies even for them. Hand sanitizer is one sorely needed item in short supply, but there are others — including face masks, surgical masks, face shields, swabs, and ventilator equipment that other startups are now switching gears to produce.
Masks and protective gear became a rare commodity in the initial days of the outbreak which motivated multiple startups with 3D printing capabilities to innovate.
Markforged
As a response to the pandemic, Markforges is pushing ahead with benefits of 3D printing on the immediate problem of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers through
Nasal Swabs
The company is looking to develop nasal swabs to be used for drive-thru testing in California. According to the official statement issued by the company, ‘It’s imperative that we test and identify COVID-infected patients, as it is the number one way to slow down the spread of the virus. By providing nasal swabs on time, we will be able to increase the number of tests, isolate those who are infected and keep fighting.’
Face Guards
The company also created a design for a faceguard to be used in hospitals and healthcare facilities to protect against COVID-19. The team will distribute the faceguard to local healthcare institutions, and has reached out to Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s, and Lahey Health/Beth Israel Deaconess to understand their need.
source: https://markforged.com/blog/markforged-covid-19-efforts/
Voodoo Manufacturing
In Brooklyn, Voodoo Manufacturing has repurposed its 5,000-square-foot facility to mass-produce personal protective equipment. The company has set up a website, CombatingCovid.com, where organizations in need of supplies can place orders. Voodoo aims to print at least 2,500 protective face shields weekly and can scale to larger production volumes based on demand, the company said.
The ability to spin up manufacturing more quickly than traditional production lines using 3D printing means that these companies are in some ways better positioned to address a thousandfold increase in demand for supplies that no one anticipated.
Enterprise Technology
While there have been collective efforts to combat the virus, the strides made to introduce some much-needed sense of normalcy in these trying times cannot go un-noticed. Now more than ever, companies have been turning towards digitization and innovation to not only keep themselves afloat but also support their employees irrespective of the privilege.
With Amazon announcing 100,000 new roles in the wake of this lay off-loom that wanders large today, along with incentives such as an additional $2 per hour worked through April from the current rate of $15/hour or more, depending on the region, C$2 in Canada, £2 per hour in the UK, and approximately €2 per hour in many EU countries, and Google donating more than $800 million in ad credits and loans to help government organizations and small businesses respond to the COVID-19 crisis, are a true indication of how the mobilization is at every level of the ecosystem.
Cabify
Under the “Cabify for Heroes” vehicle category, the leading ride-hailing company Cabify has rolled out a free mobility scheme for healthcare professionals who are providing care to those in need over the coronavirus crisis. In collaboration with Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid, these vehicles started serving 44 medical centers particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19.
“We aim to highlight the work of the real heroes, the healthcare professionals of our country, who fill us with great pride and are carrying out an outstanding job, while simultaneously helping our employees on board,” shared a company representative.
The above-mentioned sectors form the tip of the iceberg, that is the mobilization that the industry has witnessed in the past few weeks to combat this novel coronavirus.
Right from the thrust towards digital transformation to the perspective garnered over time about the impact analysis of such pandemic on both economic and sociological levels form the template of where the world stands in its most technologically advanced stage.
During this time somehow, the core of the ecosystem has gone back to value that births entrepreneurs and startups which is, innovation lying the core of the solutions of a recurring problem statement in the name of COVID-19.
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