How Our Portfolio Companies Stepped Up to Meet the COVID-19 Challenge
[This blog originally appeared on Scrum Ventures’ Medium on May 4, 2020.]
Introduction
We are experiencing an unprecedented time in history with the threat and upheaval caused by COVID-19. While there is much fear, there are also many heroic stories and incredible efforts by strong and compassionate leaders to help us all get through this.
We are proud and heartened to see companies in our portfolio rise to the occasion making swift changes so they can contribute to COVID-19 relief efforts by providing services to support healthcare providers, patients, essential businesses, and critical supply chains. We want to give a shoutout to some of the great work our portfolio companies are doing during this pandemic.
Portfolio Company COVID-19 Initiatives
ORIGIN
San Francisco, California / 3D Printing, Manufacturing
What they are doing:
Origin worked with Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to run clinical trials and validation for creating COVID-19 test swabs with their large-scale 3D printing resources. Normally geared towards automotive and footwear products, they now dedicate 100% of their production to the test swabs that are complex to make because they require a rigid handle and flexible neck. They are partnering with Stratasys to print and distribute millions of swabs.
Considering widespread testing for COVID-19 is one of the most effective ways to manage and control the outbreak, Origin’s work is key to the healthcare industry’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to the current crisis. If you need test swabs, check their site here.
SPIRE HEALTH
San Francisco, California / Wearables, Healthcare
What they are doing:
Spire Health’s tags are regularly used to monitor sleep patterns, stress indicators, and pulse rates. People wear them to track themselves or patients use them to send data to their doctors for remote monitoring. With COVID-19, these tags are being offered to large outpatient pulmonary groups and critical care specialists to help monitor their patients while keeping them safe at home, thus reducing risk for infection. In addition, Spire Health is partnering with hospitals to use the tags to detect elevated respiratory rates in patients who may be experiencing early signs of symptoms which are often underreported. This helps with early intervention for at-risk patients.
You can read more about Spire Health’s initiative here.
Miles
Redwood City, CA / Transportation, Lifestyle, and Rewards
What they are doing:
Miles is a platform that rewards users like airline miles but for all modes of transportation. It rewards more for green modes, such as walking, and rewards all the time whether commuting, shopping, or traveling. Rewarded miles can be redeemed for a variety of products. However, COVID-19 is forcing us to stay home which makes it difficult to earn any miles.
The Miles team got creative and first launched a charity campaign where the Miles community could donate their miles for Feeding America with a target of 5,000 meals. In the end, they were able to donate 10,000 meals. With that success, they created a new campaign that successfully donated $10,000 worth of supplies, such as N95 masks and PPE, to the Good360 charity organization. And now, they have changed how they approach and incentivize users by rewarding x20 miles for walking, running, or biking if they also maintain social distancing. Read the details here.
Zippin
San Francisco, California / Retail, Automation
What they are doing:
Zippin provides brick and mortar retailers with cashierless checkout technology. Using white label modular systems, the Zippin technology is reasonably priced and can be installed in 2 weeks, making the cashierless experience accessible to small to medium businesses.
Food stores and their employees are on the front line as essential workers in a risky environment. Moving quickly to cashierless checkout is positive for everyone as it decreases the number of staff required and overall person-to-person interaction. To encourage this shift, Zippin is waiving setup fees for any retailer who wants to use their technology for stores selling essentials and safety products. If cashierless checkouts felt odd to consumers before, this experience will help shoppers understand the value. Read more about the initiative here.
Littlstar
NYC, NY / Entertainment, VR/AR, Consumer Media
What they are doing:
Littlstar provides on-demand premium consumer content in immersive virtual reality and augmented reality platforms. During this crisis, they have donated 50 headsets to senior healthcare facilities for therapy, targeting seniors who are suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. With families unable to visit such facilities, Littlstar is helping combat isolation.
They also have two new content initiatives in response to COVID-19. First is they are live streaming concerts to TVs, Mobile, Web, and VR with Digital Mirage raising $300,000 for musicians who need help during this pandemic. They are planning more live streaming and concerts on the platform. Second, they have introduced fitness and wellness content to help people stay healthy and energized within the confines of their homes.
As more people are turning to VR/AR to keep themselves entertained, Littlstar plans to provide meaningful entertainment through its streaming platform.
LemonBox
Beijing, China / Health, Wellness, Nutrition
What they are doing:
LemonBox is an e-commerce startup in China that creates personalized vitamin and supplement packs for consumers and provides targeted nutritional advice. As China was the epicenter of the global outbreak, LemonBox acted quickly to support local healthcare operations. In February, LemonBox took the initiative to donate 2000 N95 masks to hospitals in Hunan, China. They also started a promotional campaign by including an immune system vitamin pack for orders over $15 and have since sent out 1000 orders of immune system booster combo to people in Hubei province which is one of the areas that was hit hardest by COVID-19.
With no vaccines for COVID-19 currently available, individuals often have to take precautions and manage their immune health to decrease the risk of developing serious reactions to the virus. If you are interested in their vitamins, you can order from here.
Empowerly
San Francisco, CA / Education, Information Technology, Data Analytics
What they are doing:
Empowerly is an online student counseling platform that has built a strong community through their innovative and personalized approach. They offer guidance to students entering high school all the way to graduates looking for their first job, focusing on each student’s strengths and weaknesses beyond just academics.
Since COVID-19 hit just when students were deciding on which schools to go to or finishing up their academic year, the Empowerly team knew they had to find a way to make counseling more accessible. In order to achieve this, Empowerly is currently offering students a free digital toolkit with complementary services, which includes full access to all databases and tools, a free essay edit service, a free school research request, one-on-one discussions with former UC Berkeley admissions staff members and access to focus groups and communities on the platform. Sign up for the digital toolkit here and use the code “MEDIUM2” to get free access to two group sessions.
Coast
San Francisco, CA / Mobile, Collaboration, Remote Teams
What they are doing:
Coast is a messaging and collaboration platform for the frontline remote workforce. As more businesses consider implementing permanent flexible work schedules due to COVID-19, team communication becomes more critical than ever. This is especially applicable to healthcare teams on the frontlines that are scrambling to maintain consistent communication channels and operational workflows due to the overwhelming number of COVID-19 cases they are treating. In order to help teams like these, Coast is providing free access to their full service and platform offerings to teams in need.
In addition, Coast wants to help save local restaurants and bars that have been hit hard by quarantine orders. To do this, they built the Takeout COVID initiative, which is a public service tool aiming to connect local businesses to their communities. They have active lists for 26 cities and counting, so if you’re looking for food, wine, and drink options for delivery and takeout, check their list and support a small business.
Noom
NYC, NY / Healthcare, Wellness, Nutrition
What they are doing:
Creating long-term habits for a healthy lifestyle is challenging. Noom is an award-winning behavior change program that encourages healthy eating and exercise habits through personalized, remote, one-on-one guidance from health coaches. In our current world, where the “new normal” involves social distancing and less active lifestyles, it will be more important than ever to develop sustainable habits for overall health and wellness. In this crisis, Noom remains committed to helping people by currently offering the Noom service free of charge for two full weeks. To take advantage of their at-home curriculum and virtual services, you can learn more here.
Conclusion
We work with incredible founders in our portfolio and continue to be moved by their resourcefulness, strong leadership, and commitment to helping their communities. We remain committed to investing in and supporting ambitious and globally-focused founders with a vision to build a better future. If you are interested in learning more about or want to support these companies, please let us know at contact@scrum.vc
Jonathan is a VC investor dedicated to helping impact-driven entrepreneurs scale and grow their business. Jonathan is regularly invited to host pitch competitions, at events like the Forbes Summit and SXSW, and speak on-stage about his experiences in VC, entrepreneurship, the Silicon Valley startup landscape, and his interest in the AgriFood space. In addition, Jonathan has been invited as a speaker at the Forbes Under 30 Summit, was selected as part of the 2019 AgGrad 30 Under 30 class, is an advisory council member for Gold House’s Gold Rush Accelerator, and hosts a podcast called Capitalist (Ad)Ventures that explores the diversity of thoughts and backgrounds in the entrepreneurship space. Jonathan has a BA in History from Rice University and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University.
