Announcing the COVID-19 Coalition

Investments in entrepreneurs responding to the COVID-19 crisis are critical for global recovery and resilience. We're excited to announce a new initiative with Sorenson Impact Foundation: the COVID-19 Coalition. Read more and join now.

The past few weeks have exposed how fragile our economies and healthcare systems are – and how many gaps exist for the most vulnerable.

As Allie Burns wrote last week, anyone who has spent time around impact-driven entrepreneurs wouldn’t find this surprising: It’s all they can talk about.

Entrepreneurs provide the hustle, ingenuity and foresight needed in the response to a major crisis. While some people picture startup founders as recent college grads in hoodies, so many of them are doctors and economists, medical supply chain experts and people from marginalized communities solving problems they see facing their families and neighbors. In just the past few weeks we’ve seen startups using telehealth to screen vulnerable patients; setting up rural pop-up healthcare clinics; and offering emergency financial aid to college students.

We need this hustle more than ever. But a lot of impact-driven startups are struggling right now. We’ve heard horror stories from Village Capital alumni: investors pulling out of deals, or citing a several-month “pause” on investing.

Now is not the time to hit pause. Deliberate investments in impact are needed now more than ever. That’s why our Abaca team is excited to announce a new project with Sorenson Impact Foundation: the COVID-19 Coalition, a coalition of entrepreneurs responding to COVID-19, and investors actively looking to support big, urgent ideas. Join the coalition today.

The heart of this coalition is Abaca’s growing COVID-19 Response Pipeline list. Abaca is a platform where impact-driven startups can share information about their company and progress. The pipeline is a living and growing list of Abaca companies that are responding directly to the crisis.

Investors: Join our coalition if you’re interested in finding and supporting companies that are responding to the COVID-19 crisis, whether they’re working in health care, economic resiliency, or any impact field. You’ll get tailored recommendations on who you should talk to based on the sectors and regions that you invest in, and you’ll get updates as we grow the Response Pipeline.

Entrepreneurs: Let us know if your business is contributing to solutions to the COVID-19 crisis in health care, economic resiliency, or another sector. Complete your Abaca self-assessment to apply to be on the Response Pipeline list and get your company in front of the coalition.

And anyone who knows about entrepreneurs responding to urgent problems - send them our way.

Our goal is to help route capital to companies that are best positioned to respond to the crisis now. We're all fighting an exponentially growing disease. Venture capital has always been about building exponentially growing companies. It's time for investors to step up and help rapidly scale the solutions that will carry us through the crisis. Join the coalition and find your opportunity to contribute to the fight.