As COVID-19 continues to move through the Charlotte community, a new reality has seemingly set in for its residents. Last week, the city watched as the restaurant and bar industry transitioned from in-person experiences to curbside pickup and delivery options. This week, Governor Roy Cooper announced the extension of school closures until May 15, and ordered additional businesses to close in order to maintain social distancing efforts. An order to "stay at home" will go into effect on Thursday, March 26th according to the latest announcement.
For the startup community, the pandemic has influenced organizations in a variety of positive and negative ways. While some organizations are experiencing a boom in business due to product or service demand, others are making difficult decisions when it comes to the future of their company. Regardless, there remains a desire for all leaders, founders, entrepreneurs and teams to find new ways to support one another as things continue to change day-by-day.
Charlotte Inno recently surveyed our startup community leaders and advisors to better understand what they're seeing about how businesses are being impacted during this time and discuss practical ways to support those in need of it most. Here are a few of the responses given by Charlotte's ecosystem leaders from varying aspects of the startup community.
Hear From Charlotte's Startup Ecosystem Leaders
Katie Knish, director of operations & innovation at Carolina Fintech Hub
How has COVID-19 impacted your business, either for better or for worse?
Our activities center around fostering local tech talent, enhancing innovation in Fintech, and expanding the ecosystem through business recruitment and deal-making facilitation. COVID-19 poses challenges to the default way this type of business has been done in Charlotte historically, but we are approaching this as an opportunity to get creative in how we continue to help lead the community through these trying times.
What are you currently doing to support the larger Charlotte business community?
We’re activating all areas of our network of banks, Fintech startups, and talent in an effort to lean into the community, focusing on 1) economic relief efforts, 2) communication and 3) visibility:
1) In an effort to support local residents and businesses, our founder Tariq Bokhari worked with Doug Lebda, CEO of LendingTree, to launch arguably the most significant relief fund in the history of Charlotte amid this coronavirus outbreak. This $1M contribution from LendingTree kick started a wave of local giving to help individuals in desperate need, and once again demonstrates how the Charlotte Fintech ecosystem leads in times of great crisis.
2) We're taking the Fintech Moshpit podcast in a new direction and partnering with Charlotte Business Journal to expand our reach, as well as our ability to provide meaningful content and interaction opportunities to a community that is hungry for information and feeling increasingly isolated. The new format will be daily interviews with compelling community leaders to discuss 1) how they are leaning in to help the community in these new trying times, and 2) what they are seeing and how they are reacting to forces of disruption within their business sector. They will both be live-streamed and available on demand. Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed.
3) We're transitioning ‘Deal Week’ to a virtual experience. Deal Week is one of Carolina Fintech Hub’s boutique match-making offerings. We facilitate game-changing sessions between innovative startups and decision-makers of Charlotte’s top incumbents. We are now focusing on companies that provide unique solutions to the new challenges that didn’t exist a few months ago for our Charlotte businesses - everything from employees now working remotely to new consumer expectations and needs.
How can individuals or businesses best support you?
Things will be moving very quickly over the next few months, so sign up for our newsletter at www.carolinafintechhub.org to stay informed.
Keith Luedeman, executive director of Innovate Charlotte
How has COVID-19 impacted your business, either for better or for worse?
Although I am not as affected as other folks that are still hustling, I made it through the dot-com crash and the financial crisis, so I've had my share of stress in times like these. It's a time for founders to pivot their model to the new normal as fast as they can. Lessons learned from surviving this crash can help your business model for years to come.
What are you currently doing to support the larger Charlotte business community?
I am currently volunteering as executive director of Innovate Charlotte. We run a mentor program with startups, currently serving 26 companies with 57 mentors. We've quickly pivoted to online remote mentor sessions. This is a time where our founders need advice and counsel more than ever, and we want to be there to help them.
I'm also involved as an investor in startups with the Fintech Fund and a few others. It's a tough time to be raising funds, but there are always companies that can benefit from a stressed economic environment. We're still early, and it will be interesting to see how business changes after this has run its course.
I’m in a bit of a unique position, having been a founder, being an investor, and also working in the startup ecosystem. For the most part – I’m on the other end, trying to do my best to support founders and the local Charlotte ecosystem. It’s amazing what has happened in less than two weeks. Folks are moving at entrepreneurial speed to adjust. My hope is that they have the stamina to keep it going for the duration.
Angel Rutledge, advisor for Queen City Fintech
How has COVID-19 impacted your business, either for better or for worse?
Although I am not currently running a business, I am on the board of several and advise several other businesses. It's affected all of those with everyone needing to work from home. All of my meetings with entrepreneurs and investors have gone virtual.
What are you currently doing to support the larger Charlotte business community?
I’ve been checking in with local startup founders, investors and other community members over the past couple of weeks. Founders are working hard to find the opportunities that exist during this challenging time and navigate the uncertainty with their teams. Many are so busy they just need a word of encouragement by text or email. Some need a call to talk through their changing strategy, a potential pivot or to voice their uncertainty in a safe space. Some want to talk through fundraising and how that landscape is changing for startup founders. I’ve added some weekly slots to free advising that I offer for people in the startup community who could benefit from a virtual meeting.
Joey Balistreri, director of Charlotte Venture for America
How has COVID-19 impacted your business, either for better or for worse?
Venture For America has a cohort of nearly 30 fellows placed across Charlotte in various start-ups. My role is to support these young professionals as they navigate their time in the Charlotte Entrepreneurial ecosystem. Given our work across the city, we're beginning our "Match" process for our incoming 2020 fellows. Last year at this time, we were actively matching our incoming fellows with companies throughout Charlotte. Given the impact of COVID-19, we're delaying this process and have rescheduled the kickoff from early April to now May 18th. While this won't impact start-dates as fellows typically start in August or September, it does allow time for both parties to continue to respond to the impact of COVID-19 and ensure businesses are in a position to bring on additional staff.
What are you currently doing to support the larger Charlotte business community?
The Venture For America fellows and I met on Thursday of last week and will meet again this week. We've been diving into our response as an organization and the ways we can bring a unique value-add to the Charlotte community. We are calling on our fellows to compile resources for those struggling to make the transition, specifically technology-wise, to working from home. We'll continue to work through this and hope to continue partnering with Charlotte Inno to allow our fellows the opportunity to quickly and effectively impact our community.
Featured image was taken by Dylan Gillis.
