Startups from NSRCEL have responded proactively to combat the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic using their current resources, technology and expertise.

To support the healthcare infrastructure, two of NSRCEL’s startups CHMI and PupilMesh, from the IICDC program have deployed their technology to support India’s healthcare infrastructure.
CHMI, a manufacturer of advanced affordable prosthetics founded by Humza Shaikh now has employed 5000 migrant laborers to manufacture large-scale personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and low-cost ventilators. Currently, the team is manufacturing over 40,000 kits a day from four factories
PupilMesh, founded by Milind M Manoj &Mohammed Hazique Kola is using their 3D printing expertise to meet the demand of face shields, ventilator mask and ventilator valves in the country. They have successfully manufactured the first set of face shields, aerosol boxes and also deployed a couple of testing booths in Bangalore.

The startups of NSRCEL from Social Program are battling this pandemic at the forefront to serve the most vulnerable populations using their ingenuity to confront the problems on the ground. Some remarkable startups are mentioned below.

Mitti Cafe, run by differently able staff is providing cooked meals and drinking water to 3000 daily wage earners and the homeless every day. Alina Alam, founder of Mitti Cafe and her team has served 1,93,000+ meals in Bangalore, Bihar and Kolkata till now through their ‘COVID Hunger Relief Program’.

Anthill, a social venture, founded by Pooja Rai that makes play accessible to all by building low cost and sustainable playscape, has contributed for relief by serving over 1800 people by providing essential food packets and medical kits worth Rs 1000 to migrant labor communities in Bangalore.

Meraki Foundation is a social startup by SeemantDadwal and Ghazal Gulati is working with parents from low-income households to deepen their engagement in their children’s education at home and the school. They have announced a collaboration with Delhi Government and have put together episodes for a chat show to discuss and find solutions to the challenges of “Parenting in the time of Corona”

Mantra4Change, a social startup founded by Khushboo Awasthi & Santosh More enabling the under-resourced school to deliver quality education, believes learning should not stop during the time of crisis. Mantra4Change is now the implementation partner of the Shikshalokam platform (Bodh) which is been accepted as a learning platform by AP government. The company has onboarded more than 50K teachers who are undergoing capacity building in a planned manner.

Let’s Be The Change (LBTC)is a non-profit organization from Bangalore founded by Anirudh S Dutt that aims to build a cleaner and healthier society by working with citizens and the Government. They are mobilizing their volunteers to connect residents to the nearest provision stores, police stations and medical stores in Bangalore through online maps.

ThinkZone, founded by Binayak Acharya is using accessible technology to work with low-income families on developing positive parent-child relationships. During the time of crisis, ThinkZone has been implementing their home-based model of learning for the low-income group families where parents can enable their children to learn over a phone call free of cost. So far, they have been able to help more than 8000 families.

Suicide Prevention India Foundation (SPIF), a social venture by Nelson Vinod Moses that facilitates community-based interventions for suicide prevention through pieces of training and workshops. SPIF connecting people with mental health professionals who are offering free counseling to combat the increasing numbers of mental issues during the lockdown. SPIF collated a list of 100 plus mental health professionals for the people to take help from.

Taxshe, headed by Vandana Suri with a mission to make India a safer place for our families to commute by providing women drivers, for the women, children and senior citizens. The team is now driving senior citizens, pregnant women and children in need of sanitized drives for the emergency situation during the lockdown.
Many startups of NSRCEL from the Launchpad program have deployed cutting-edge technology to solve the various challenges with the corona outbreak in the country.

Fabric Monde, founded by Ranjith J N, Jyothi Dakkumalla & HemalathaKanneganti is a b2b platform connecting SME textile mills to fashion brands across the world. The company is leveraging its strength and now manufacturing Quality Certified Surgical Masks made of non-woven textile and high-quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Kits for hospital chains. So far manufactured and delivered 50,000 PPE kits across India.

MedPiper Technologies, headed by Nitthin Chandran Nair connects authenticated, verified doctors & healthcare professionals to duty opportunities at nearby hospitals and healthcare organizations. During these challenging times they have pooled in locally available doctors to enable a functional medical camp in Chikmanglur, Malapurram, and Hassan, to look at 300-350 patients every day and have catered to more than 3000 patients since March 20. They have launched a free marketplace for connecting PPE, essentials & sanitiser manufacturers in Bangalore with hospitals in need via www.corvid.glideapp.io

Yobny Tech, founded by Saurabh Vyas is building a marketplace platform using machine-learning algorithms and BlockChain technology. Their product QueueOne, is a next-gen crowd-management platform that saves time for individuals & increases business value for vendors. It allows users to join virtual queues via the mobile/web app, and avail services without waiting for them in long queues. With their technology, they are helping hospitals/clinics/retailers and trying to move their customer queue to a digital avatar and promoting social distancing.

Gordian Technologies founded by Prajwal P, a startup delivering valuable goods and confidential documents securely using IoT enabled devices. To help the healthcare infrastructure in the current situation, they have developed a product to facilitate the process of safe transportation of testing kits and medicines between hospitals or to homes of patients and to provide easy tracking and continuous surveillance of potentially contagious swab samples.

As a silver lining in this grim situation, some of the women entrepreneurs of NSRCEL are doing exceptionally well to combat the situation.

Canectar Foods, a startup of NSRCEL from Goldman Sachs 10k Women Program is Maharashtra’s largest Agro-based Farm Direct Company in the organized cane juice sector founded by KirtyDatar, and Milind Datar. Amidst Covid-19 crisis, the company has started an initiative, ‘Donate Meal Pune’, to feed police officials, stranded migrants, daily wagers & labour camps till the Lockdown continues. They have donated 113152+ meals until now. Besides meals, they have also donated masks, gloves, sanitizers, PPE Kits, etc. to police officials, health care workers, Indian army and central railways.

Spudnik Farms, a startup of NSRCEL from Women startup program founded by Sumeet Kaur, is a community of local farmers growing and supplying organic vegetables directly to consumers. During the lock-down, Spudnik Farms is providing pesticide-free, fresh, local vegetables (standard box) to Bangaloreans through contact-less delivery.

Nativ Chefs, another startup from Women Startup Program founded by Leena Dixit is delivering authentic home-cooked dishes right at the doorstep of customers in Nagpur. Amidst the crisis, the company has distributed over 13000 meal boxes made by home chefs to the underprivileged in Nagpur.