When the going gets tough, there’s still work to do. As founders — aspiring or active — figuring out how the roadmap has changed and what to do with new realities and challenges from the COVID-19 crisis, Hypepotamus wants to be a resource to the community by connecting our audience to resources, information and anything else that could help.
While the coronavirus continues to disrupt business and general daily norms, we will be updating this page. And if you hear about anything that you think we should be sharing, please let us know!
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4/29/2020
Tulane University develops web resource for entrepreneurs affected by COVID-19
The Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business has a new website designed to connect small business owners and entrepreneurs beset by the pandemic with individuals who can provide needed resources. According to the center’s website, these resources run the gamut from helping affected entrepreneurs wade through federal COVID-19 relief program guidelines to assisting with tax returns, and more.
Click here for more on Tulane’s online resource page for entrepreneurs.
Launch Tennessee debuts crowdsourcing platform to connect business owners to resources
Launch Tennessee’s new online platform connects small businesses to those affected by COVID-19.
The Tennessee Innovation Crowdsource Platform lets small businesses and startups throughout Tennessee submit proposals to produce pandemic-related items like personal protective equipment (PPE), resource mapping tools, resources for health care workers, and much more. Proposals will be reviewed by LaunchTN and Tennessee’s COVID-19 Unified Command before being passed on for approval by the state.
Click here to submit proposals.
Health Connect South launches web portal for healthcare donations
Atlanta-based non-profit Health Connect South has debuted a web-based portal designed to facilitate COVID-19 donations to healthcare providers across six Southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The organization aims to have a single location where individuals and companies alike can connect with healthcare providers in need of donations.
“The mission of Health Connect South is to serve the health community as a platform to promote regional health collaborations,” Health Connect South CEO and founder Russ Lipari said in a statement. “This pivot is a turn into the direction of helping solve one of the most pressing needs of our health community right now – supplies and equipment for their staff to battle the current COVID-19 outbreak. Many of these health providers are standing in the shadow of the wave right now and need the larger community to step up and pitch in.”
Health Connect South also provides a web-based submission form that lets healthcare providers submit requests to add their own donation-related websites and lists of desired donations.
Click here for a list of state-level donation requests.
BoxLock partners with Meals on Wheels Atlanta to deliver meals to Westside residents
BoxLock, an Atlanta-based company specializing in secure delivery solutions, has announced a partnership with Meals on Wheels Atlanta to deliver meals to residents of Atlanta’s District 3. The company will also provide its smart padlocks and boxes free of charge to Meals on Wheels clients and other district residents in need. The deliveries will not require contact with others in adherence to social distancing guidelines.
Click here to for more information and to see if you qualify.
Vital4 offers free healthcare provider screening service
Atlanta-based healthcare tech company Vital4 has announced plans to offer free subscriptions to its healthcare screening platform in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service screens healthcare providers for red flags like disciplinary actions, sanctions, malpractice, fraud, negative licensure status, and others. The company can also monitor changes and updates to healthcare records and automates screening, monitoring, and reporting services.
Click here for more information.
4/14/2020
CallRail offering free trial to new all customers
Atlanta-based call analytics platform CallRail has announced plans to offer a two-month free trial to all new customers to aid small businesses struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis. The company also plans to extend a two-month free trial of its Conversation Intelligence and Forms products to current customers who have yet to try them.
Click here for more on CallRail’s free trial.
Techstars invites you to an AMA on SBIR grants
Join Techstars and serial entrepreneur Laila Partridge for a live Ask Me Anything session this Thursday. Partridge will talk with Stacy Swider, director of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Center of Excellence, about how to apply for SBIR grants.
Click here to get more details and register to attend.
Experienced CEOs share what they’ve learned about navigating a crisis
Techstars and Foundry Group recently came together to offer startup founders actionable advice from CEOs with experience in navigating economic downturns and crises of all kinds — and how you can apply what they’ve learned to your journey through COVID-19. Speakers included Techstars co-founders David Cohen and Brad Feld, High Alpha managing partner Scott Dorsey, and others.
Click here to watch the video.
4/10/2020
Mailchimp offers free .com domains
Until the end of May, Atlanta’s own Mailchimp is letting people sign up for .com domains and providing a $25 discount, which tends to take care of the annual fees. The discount renews annually for up to five years, as long as you publish a website with Mailchimp within 11 months, but the site says there are limited quantities on the deal, so get your soon.
Click here to get more details on Mailchimp’s domain discount and to sign up.
Hytch launches Shelter in Place app feature to reward employers and workers for staying home
Employers can now use the Nashville-based mobility incentive platform’s Shelter in Place rewards to encourage their employees to engage in safe and healthy habits, ease financial burdens associated with teleworking or being furloughed, and to make sure that people are actually staying home. Governments and corporate brands can also offer cash rewards to incentivize sheltering in place for larger groups.
Click here to access Hytch Rewards’ Shelter in Place app feature.
4/9/2020
OnPay creates resource page for small businesses
Atlanta-based payroll service provider OnPay has created a detailed resource page for small businesses that includes guides to navigating the Payment Protection Program (PPP), understanding the CARES Act, creating remote work policies, and more. The page also shares CDC guidance on workplace safety, caring for COVID-19 patients, OSHA compliance, and health benefits.
Click here to access OnPay’s COVID-19 resource page.
4/6/2020
Sharecare launches Sharecare Telehealth for remote patients
According to Sharecare’s “Flatten the Curve” survey, 42% of Americans feel that the pandemic has negatively affected their healthcare access. Additional research also shows that one-third of all counties in the U.S. have only one medical doctor per 2,000 residents.
To help close these gaps in access, Sharecare has launched Sharecare Telehealth, a comprehensive HIPAA-compliant solution that instantly enables providers, practices and health systems of all sizes to care for their patients remotely. The web-based platform features video chat, text capabilities and access to Sharecare’s larger platform. In light of the pandemic’s effect on the healthcare system, the Atlanta-based company is also making the platform available for free through September 1, 2020, for all U.S.-based healthcare providers that sign up by June 1.
Click here to learn more about Sharecare Telehealth.
4/3/2020
Nikon is offering all its online photography courses for free in April
This is a great opportunity to get a little better at using that DSLR, or learning the basic fundamentals of using a camera in general, be it still photography or video content. From fundamentals to specific subjects, this is a great way to add a little technical skill to your visual branding and marketing efforts, or at least sound smarter when your shutterbug buddies start using initialisms like ISOs and DSLRs in conversation.
Click here to sign up for the online courses.
4/2/2020
Invest Atlanta’s CARES Act PPP for Startups Live Stream w/ Charles Potts of Independent Community Bankers of America (Published April 2, 2020)
Led by featured speaker Charles Potts of the Independent Community Bankers of America, this video will tell you what you need to know about the CARES Act. The plan, which went into law on March 27, is a modification of the traditional 7(a) SBA loan designed to get funds out quickly. Recorded live on Thursday, April 2nd at 10:30 AM, the video runs down the new CARES ACT Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), including what startups and small companies should know — and what they should do — right now.
“If the small business follows the requirements and the parameters, there is forgiveness of these loans,” Potts says in the video, further saying that it behaves like a grant that will help small businesses stay operational and pay employees.
The video is a collaboration between Invest Atlanta, Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), Atlanta Tech Village (ATV), and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MACOC), in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), and Mailchimp.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story will be updated regularly; bookmark this page and come back regularly for the latest helpful information.
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