SUMMARY
ACT is looking to raise funds through donations from individuals living in India and abroad
Zomato-owned non-profit Feeding India and Delhivery have kickstarted an initiative to source oxygen concentrators
Zomato is looking for INR 50 Cr in donation to support these initiatives
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As India is undergoing the worst possible healthcare crisis due to the rising Covid-19 cases, the Action Covid-19 Team (ACT) is accelerating its efforts to provide all possible facilities to the country by raising another fund. The initiative, launched by a group of prominent Indian startup founders and investors in early March 2020, is looking to raise another INR 75 Cr through donations from people living in India and abroad.
ACT aims to provide home health management and oxygen solutions as well as supplement medical workforce. The company has already raised INR 50 Cr through its network, and continues to look for donations to raise another INR 25 Cr.
Those interested can donate up to INR 50 Lakh (domestic donation) or $70,000 (international donations) on ACT’s website. For donations larger than the above mentioned account, individuals or companies can email ACT at [email protected].
You Can Donate To ACT Fund Here
Even Zomato’s not-for-profit initiative Zomato Feeding India has kickstarted the “Help Save My India” initiative in association with logistics startup Delhivery to source oxygen concentrators and related supplies to help hospitals and families in need. The company is looking to raise INR 50 Cr for this initiative. The company has also invited startups and companies to join hands in this initiative by writing to [email protected] or [email protected]. Besides this, Zomato has also launched priority delivery for customers battling Covid-19 to ensure smoother and faster services.
Meanwhile, other startups are doing their bit to support the on-ground efforts. Financial services giant Razorpay cofounder and CEO Harshil Mathur has offered the company’s office space in Koramangala/Adugodi in Karnataka to carry out vaccination drives in the state.
ACT’s 54 Startup Touch 50 Mn Lives
ACT had started off by setting up an INR 100 Cr fund to support innovators working on solutions to control the spread of Covid-19. With this, the startup community issued grants to 54 startups, which are solving challenges like shortage of medical equipment, helping in monitoring the situation, providing mass and affordable testing solutions, and more.
According to an update shared by ACT, the grants have enabled impact across 10 solution tracks for prevention, fighting and enabling long-term capacity building. The startups supported by ACT have helped by tracing 32 Mn high-risk individuals and helping them prevent Covid-19, conducting 230K Covid-19 tests, donating PPE kits worth INR 21.2 Cr, commision 8.5 Mn masks. Besides this, the grants have also supported 5.6 Mn people with its telemedicine and home quarantine solutions.
“The innovation of ACT is enabling but no matter how good, would be an empty exercise if it can’t reach the people who need it. We are just a group of private citizens who have come together, but it is governments, at various levels, who play an important role in making sure the right solutions are accessed by the people, who need it the most. For ACT’s projects to be truly impactful, we need to work in conjunction with government initiatives,” Vani Kola, managing director of Kalaari Capital, has said.
The group had started off by focusing on few priority areas like Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Now it has expanded its initiatives to 27 states and three union territories over the last one year, touching 49 Mn lives.
The grant is supported by 44 mainstream funds, including Accel, 3One4 Capital, BEENEXT, Blume Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Lightspeed India, LetsVenture, Sequoia Capital, Unitus Capital, Trifecta Capital, SoftBank, Tencent, Greenoaks and more. About 24 founders and corporate leaders are also part of these initiatives, such as Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Dream11’s Harsh Jain and Unacademy’s Gaurav Munjal.
Earlier in March, ACT had also announced that it plans to raise a INR 500 Cr philanthropic fund over the next two years to back solutions that generate social impact across education, healthcare, environment and women’s participation in the workforce.
