13 May Supporting Social Enterprises Through COVID-19

The changes related to COVID-19 has created several challenges for startups and social enterprises in the subcontinent. In a few cases adapting to working remotely has proved to be challenging and in other cases changed government regulation has placed roadblocks. With all services other than essential services staying open, cash flow and cash reserve have been impacted. According to an article on Quartz, over 80% of India’s small businesses expect to scale down, shut shop, or sell off in six months. While we are also working closely with our venture partners and portfolio companies to extend the assistance they require now, in this blog post, we have also curated a set of resources to help startups in our network deal with challenges created by the pandemic.

We have listed financial resources, crisis management tools, and remote working tools that could help make changes to your way of functioning. We will keep this post updated periodically with new resources.

Funding Opportunities

• Startups Vs COVID lists several grants for startups addressing challenges created by COVID-19
• Omdiyar Network India welcomes applications to its Rapid Response Fund, including for community outreach and mobilisation initiatives. This is now closed to new applications. 
• United States–India Science & Technology Endowment Fund announces a call for proposals under the category of Ignition Grants. USISTEF encourages out-of-the-box, innovative ideas from the community to address the COVID-19 challenge. The submission deadline has now crossed. 
• Aavishkaar Group announces an INR 2 crore grant under the Aavishkaar Group Facility for Humane Actions in response to Covid-19 challenge
• The International Youth Foundation (IYF) has announced the creation of a new fund to speed support to young entrepreneurs and community leaders who are taking on the COVID-19 crisis around the world.
• COVID-19 Energy Access Relief Fund is a concessionary debt fund that seeks to enable off-grid energy companies in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia to both maintain their customers’ existing energy services and retain the staff required to deliver future services to these customers.
• ACT Grants has set aside Rs. 100 crore and are seeking capital-efficient, scalable solutions from NGOs and innovative startups which need an initial seed grant to fight the spread of the pandemic.

Business Planning, Crisis Planning, and Leadership

• The Miller Centre for Social Entrepreneurship has a series of video tutorials on crisis business planning.
• Mulago Network put together a blog post for early-stage enterprises based on their interviews with startup CEOs themselves, on how to weather the current crisis.
• Global Trade Professionals Alliance lists a series of forums that hosts expert-moderated interactive online discussions on maintaining a healthy business during crises. 
• Video on what every small business owner needs to do to survive the crisis.
• A real-time review of country-specific measures on social protection and jobs responses to COVID-19
• Lessons for social enterprises at the forefront of COVID-19 from Acumen Ideas.

Working Remotely 

• Yourstory has published a piece on how to overcome the struggles of remote working in the wake of COVID-19
• Zapier has a comprehensive list of remote worker’s toolkits, they list 15 tools for all your organisational needs.
• Social Media Today has a more comprehensive list of remote working tools that lists several free tools for project management, team management, and reporting.
• Forbes published this interesting piece on 15 useful tips for beginner remote managers – these tips are from 15 members of the Forbes Business Development Council.
• Hubspot has a list of 35 tools for better communication, collaboration, and organisation.