Startups gear up to fight COVID-19

Good morning!

Even as India continues to battle COVID-19, not all is lost. Startup founders across the country are trying to put their best foot forward to help citizens in need. 

Among them is Gurugram-based healthtech startup Meddo that launched COVID-19 L1 care facilities, in partnership with Treebo Hotels, in May first week. 

The startup aims to help patients get access to medical facilities in the initial stage of the infection to avoid further deterioration, which leads to the need for ICUs and hospital care.

Another Delhi-based healthcare and fintech startup Unofin has announced an initiative called Covid Corridor. Through this, the startup aims to assist people looking for oxygen beds across its network of 550+ partner hospitals in Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, and Chandigarh.

People can call at 8955 8955 89 to check hospital bed availability in the Uno partner network or to book free COVID teleconsultation.

Vikalp Sahni, founding member and former CTO of Goibibo, announced the launch of his new startup Eka Care, which is looking to build a digitally-enabled and connected healthcare ecosystem. To begin with, it is providing 24X7 free consultation for COVID-19 patients.

In fact, on the occasion of National Technology Day, we have collated a list of tools created by Indian tech mavericks to help optimise social media searches, cutting down on time wasted on pursuing outdated leads. 

Read about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

Here are some useful tools and links that can help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

The Interview

“A loss of a loved one is called bereavement, the psychological reaction is called grief, and the social reaction to that is called mourning,” says Dr Chaturvedi. In the current scenario, grieving and mourning have become much more challenging.

In a candid conversation, Dr SK Chaturvedi, psychiatrist and former Dean, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), spoke about how the second wave is affecting people’s mental health.

Editor’s Pick: Product Roadmap

As per media reports, close to 70 percent of government job aspirants in India come from Tier II, III, and IV cities. Unfortunately, students from smaller towns do not have access to adequate tech resources to prepare for such competitive exams. 

Spotting a demand and supply gap in the test prep market in the country, IIT alumni Ashutosh Kumar and Narendra Agrawal started Testbook in 2014. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

This Delhi seafood startup became the vendor choice for HORECA

In late 2007, Sanket Gupta had just graduated from Galgotia College of Engineering, Greater Noida. Like many aspiring entrepreneurs, he was brimming with ideas. 

Four years later, after trying his hand at many things, a discussion on how seafood retail was a 95 percent disorganised industry led him to change tack. It led him to helm seafood startup United Industries. Read more.

News & Updates

• A 10-day lockdown will be imposed in Telangana starting May 12, to prevent further spread of coronavirus. Telangana's COVID-19 tally crossed half a million as 4,826 fresh cases were added on May 10 while the toll stood at 2,771 with 35 more casualties.

• Twitter has donated $15 million to help address the COVID-19 crisis in India. Twitter CEO Jack Patrick Dorsey tweeted that the amount has been donated to three non-governmental organisations — Care, Aid India, and Sewa International USA.

• Medi Assist Healthcare Services has filed preliminary papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to float an initial share sale. The IPO will have a sale of up to 28,028,168 equity shares of Medi Assist by promoters and existing shareholders.

• Groww will buy Indiabulls AMC's mutual funds business from Indiabulls Housing Finance in a cash and cash equivalent deal valued at Rs 175 crore. The online investment platform said the acquisition will help bolster the startup's presence in the online investing space.

• 100X.VC announced the launch of its not-for-profit initiative – Entrepreneurship Gurukul. Through the initiative, 100X.VC will provide an education platform to aspiring entrepreneurs with no cost, no equity, and no fee.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“In the ongoing fight against COVID-19, we all need to come forward in ways more than ever before, to ensure that all citizens of our country have access to healthcare and other necessities of life.”

— Rahul Bajaj, Chairman Emeritus, Bajaj Group

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