For numerous Munich-based startups, it's not "business as usual" at the moment — instead, they're trying to make a contribution during the coronavirus crisis. This involves not only providing medical support, but also helping companies, families, or caregivers—most of them offering their solutions and services free of charge.
Numerous Munich-based healthcare startups are currently devoting their resources to the fight against COVID-19. For example, Climedo Health offers its web-based platform for clinical data collection, including patient diaries, free of charge to practices, clinics, institutes, and non-profit organizations conducting coronavirus research. With such digital patient diaries, subjects can collect symptoms, side effects, and information about their health status via a mobile device or computer, even while in quarantine. This not only improves the flow of relevant information but also reduces the risk of infection that would otherwise occur during a visit to a center.
Fusionbase, in turn, provides developers and data scientists with a real-time dataset of coronavirus cases in Germany at the district level. The data comes from the websites of the respective state health ministries, making it more up-to-date than the data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). As soon as a health ministry publishes new figures, they are added to the dataset. And NUI Care, a specialist in the development of software solutions for care, is offering free access to its care app for the next three months. This is the startup's response to the fact that the coronavirus crisis is massively disrupting the care of family members.
Help also for helpers
Other startups, which themselves are not from the health sector, have made it their mission to support those who are particularly affected by the coronavirus. For example, the online canteen is donating Bella&Bona, which now also supplies private households with fresh meals and food packages, donates €2 for each food box sold to the hospital in Bergamo, Italy. Niccolo Lapini, founder and CEO of Bella&Bona, and many of his employees are originally from Italy, some of them even from the Bergamo area.
Yfood has taken on the well-being of nurses, caregivers, and doctors. The Munich-based startup gifted drinking meals worth 100,000 euros to medical personnel.
Startups help companies through the Corona crisis
The Venture Client Consulting has developed an offer for all startups and companies 27pilots thought up: On the platform startupsagainstcorona.com Companies with current problems are connected to startups with appropriate solutions. The Grünwald team reviews the inquiries and solutions, and connects startups with the companies.
The travel startup Flyla In turn, it is focusing on the problems facing agriculture caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions are currently leading to a shortage of seasonal workers on farms. With the online portal “Clever Farming” Pupils, students, or people who have lost their jobs during the current period can now register to help with the harvest. These helpers will be recommended to farmers registered on the platform in the region, so they can address their labor shortage. similar platform The machine rings and the Ministry of Agriculture have also launched this initiative with the support of Bitkom.
The home office in focus
The challenges that home office brings for companies have Personio Since solutions for working from home are often lacking, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Munich-based startup is currently offering a free home office tracking solution for companies with 10 to 2,000 employees. This is part of the new “HR Expert Hub”, in which HR professionals and employers can find tips for HR management in times of crisis.
Also Retorio is currently offering its solution free of charge. The startup offers software that analyzes short videos of applicants using artificial intelligence. The AI is designed to uncover personality traits and communication behavior of applicants. According to the startup, the accuracy of the AI is over 92 percent compared to the assessments of several professional recruiters. The application solution from Talentcube Companies can currently use free of charge: In the App Applicants can upload their data and documents and present themselves to the potential employer with a video presentation. They must answer three personalized questions pre-selected by the company without prior knowledge.
In addition, FintechCube offers anyone interested free access to its in-house academy. The Munich-based company is originally active as a digital consultant and company builder in the fintech industry. However, at cubeacademy.de, students, freelancers, and corporate employees can now find webinars for advanced training in areas such as design thinking, Kanban, rapid prototyping, gamification, and Scrum.
The well-being of employees working from home is MindshineThe startup's personal training app helps its users develop new routines and thus navigate their new everyday lives during the coronavirus crisis more effectively and fulfillingly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Munich-based company is offering its app free of charge, and access to the content is unrestricted in any way.
Chatbots in action against Corona
The AI startup Robo AI is investigating the current state of knowledge about the pandemic. With a coronavirus information bot, the young company compiles current information from reliable sources such as the World Health Organization. Machine learning enables targeted data aggregation to continually improve responses. "Cosibot" (COVID-19 Stay Informed Bot) will be available free of charge on channels such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, and voice assistants. Thanks to its voice input and output, this bot is also accessible to people with visual, reading, or writing impairments.
A team of tech and legal enthusiasts has developed another bot as part of the project #WirVsVirus The Corona Legal Chatbot is designed to answer all questions about the legal implications of COVID-19 and thus relieve the burden on authorities—whether an employee has questions about childcare compensation or an employer wants to apply for short-time work benefits.
Help from startups in everyday life during the coronavirus pandemic
The Germany-wide initiative "We Against Corona" was launched to support people in high-risk groups in their daily lives while self-isolating at home. Volunteers are recruited via the internet platform wirgegencorona.de and a hotline to help with shopping and other errands. To protect against potential fraudsters, the identity of the helpers is verified with the help of IDnow The startup supports this process pro bono with its artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution AutoIdent.
Students, on the other hand, are facing entirely different problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though schools in Bavaria are currently closed, they will have to catch up on missed lessons somehow. Some schools offer digital instruction, but not all are able to do so. The learning app provider Simpleclub has therefore put together a free support package for schools. Teachers or principals can contact the startup to receive voucher codes for their students, allowing them to access Simpleclub's offerings for free. Simpleclub goes one step further. StudySmarter — the learning app makes its content available to all students available free of charge, including the offerings of Stark-Verlag, which is known for its books on Abitur preparation.
Further relief efforts
Artists who earn their living primarily through performances have also been hit hard by the lockdown. The Munich cultural scene has joined forces for them: Among others, the venues Bahnwärter Thiel, Jazzbar Vogler, Hidalgo, Trikont, Forum Humor und komoke Kunst, as well as the Impact Hub Munich and others have “Home Festival” The platform supports artists in live-streaming a concert, reading, or similar event from home and compiles these streams into a digital festival. Participants can use the attention to raise awareness for a personal fundraiser, a larger solidarity campaign, or other relief effort.
Many retailers, cafés, and restaurants, as well as service providers like hairdressers, are also currently struggling, as their operations are severely restricted or even completely prohibited due to the lockdown in Bavaria. To help Munich residents support these businesses, photographer Bettina Theissmann has set up a page called "Support your locals." There, you can purchase vouchers or donate to local businesses to help them maintain their financial resources.
