Harsh Mariwala And Vani Kola On Fighting The Covid-19 Battle With Innovation
Industry urges efforts to find innovative solutions to the core and peripheral problems of Covid-19.
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only prompted corporate groups to announce large donations to augment healthcare facilities and ameliorate accompanying socio-economic problems, but some are also encouraging innovation-led solutions.
The Marico Innovation Foundation, A.T.E Chandra Foundation and Harsh Mariwala have launched #Innovate2BeatCOVID—a nationwide hunt for innovative solutions to combat short-supply of ventilators, personal protective equipment and other respiratory solutions that can aid the medical fraternity. On offer is a Rs 2.5 crore grant to fund such efforts.
The startup ecosystem, too, has joined hands to launch a Covid-19 focused grant. The Action Covid Team Grants is an initiative involving top investors including Sequioa Capital, Kalaari Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and entrepreneurs like Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Oyo founder Riteish Agarwal among others.
ACT will give grants worth Rs 100 crore to ventures that look to provide Covid-19 solutions like scaling up testing, at-home disease management, mental health support and procurement of protective equipment.
Watch | BloombergQuint speaks to Harsh Mariwala of Marico and Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital on these efforts.