Chicago tech hubs and accelerators are coming together to find ways to fight the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
mHUB, MATTER and 1871 revealed a website this week that’s aimed at recruiting ideas to fight the illness. The organizations said they plan to tap into their networks of industry experts, entrepreneurs and software developers to source ideas, including local companies like Jiobit, Impossible Objects and Manufacturing x Digital. The site also makes an open call for solutions from health officials, policy makers, advocates and other administrators.
So far, mHUB, a manufacturing startup accelerator, says that it has pulled together a team of engineers and entrepreneurs to develop low-cost solutions to help address the country’s ventilator shortage.
Earlier this week, 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler launched what she’s calling the ZEO Support List, which aims to provide entrepreneurs with information from the Small Business Administration, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and others that can help with financial education and support.
“Our founders and our growth-stage companies are struggling,” Ziegler said. “This is a very difficult time for them right now.”
The list is designed to give founders advice on how to manage customers during economic turmoil and how to find financial resources that could help keep a small startup afloat during the crisis. Any startup company, even if it is not an 1871 member or based in Chicago, is encouraged to sign up, Ziegler said.
This week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker applied for federal loans to help small businesses and non-profits impacted by the coronavirus. The state is applying for a statewide Injury Declaration with the U.S. Small Business Administration, and if it's approved, up to $2 million in low-interest loans would be available to companies.
Coronavirus has impacted the economy significantly since it began spreading, with the stock market plummeting this week and talks of a recession being “inevitable.” Economic downturns and uncertainty affects all industries and workers, but startups may be particularly vulnerable because of the nature of an early-stage business.
“If customers delay making decisions on signing contracts and if venture capitalists pull term sheets, then these companies start to run out of cash,” Ziegler said. “It’s going to be a very tough time, but the best companies will emerge even stronger.”
Internally, 1871 has issued a mandatory work from home policy to its staff, as most other local tech organizations have, and has shifted its operations to virtual platforms. Ziegler said it has been an adjustment to figure out what the new normal is.
“I’ve been working for 26 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” she added.
