As we start a new month with the coronavirus pandemic still looming large in our lives, much has changed in just 30 days.
Here in Colorado, startups and technology companies have stepped up to help us get through these challenging times.
To help you keep track of all that’s going on in the startup community, we put together a roundup of the COVID-19 related stories and resources we came across in April.
You can read daily updates on how coronavirus is affecting the local tech and startup ecosystem in our newsletter The Beat.
News You Need
When the coronavirus pandemic began to spread here in Colorado, state and local officials shared their apprehension about a shortage of personal protective equipment. Organizations like Make4COVID, Titan Robotics and Vortic Watches have stepped-up to fill in the gaps. More here.
Denver-based custom software development company AppIt Ventures has developed a digital solution for restaurants looking to incorporate curbside pickup orders. AppIt officially launched Curbside, a solution connecting customers and restaurants for curbside pickup orders, on April 2. More here.
As a company that put puns first on its rise to popularity, the coronavirus pandemic has forced Denver’s Sheets & Giggles to switch gears. Sheets & Giggles donated 228 twin and twin XL bed sheets to the City of Denver to use for emergency homeless shelters created ahead of the anticipated COVID-19 overflow. More here.
As the coronavirus pandemic impacts businesses large and small, a Denver tech unicorn is the latest to report layoffs. Ibotta, a mobile rewards platform, told Colorado Inno that it has scaled back its staff to accommodate for an uncertain economic climate. More here.
From brainstorming sessions over Zoom and virtual pitch events, to a focus on pivots and sustainable growth, the coronavirus pandemic has forced Colorado accelerators to be nimble during this crisis. With a number of local accelerator programs doing their best during COVID-19, we checked-in to see what’s working and what’s next. More here.
Free or Reduced Price Resources
Fruition, a Denver-based digital design, development and marketing agency, is offering free web hosting to any U.S. based company affected by the coronavirus, and has committed one-third of the technology team's time to support government and healthcare organizations through website support. If your business or organization has been impacted by COVID-19, Fruition is providing its enterprise level hosting platform at no charge for 180 days for Drupal and Wordpress sites. More here.
During the coronavirus pandemic, scooter company Spin is providing free 30-minute rides and helmets to health care professionals in cities across the country, including Denver. The benefit is available to all health care workers in the cities where Spin is operating in at this time: Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington D.C. Access the discount here.
Intelivideo, a video on-demand tech platform in Broomfield, announced a new package to their platform for businesses who want to quickly go live with a digital streaming solution. The company developed the newest pricing tier, IV Snap, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced most fitness businesses to close down their brick and mortar locations to comply with government orders. More here.
Denver's Gearo, a curated outdoor gear marketplace and software platform, launched its COVID-19 Outdoor Retailer Relief Program, offering its software platform for free to outdoor retailers for the next six months. Gearo's platform allows outdoor retailers to manage their rentals online with booking capabilities and has the functionality to manage e-commerce businesses as well as services. More here.
Denver-based REACTIV, an online platform listing vacant or underutilized commercial properties for rent, announced it will be providing services free of charge to any organizations working to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The company plans to use its network of landlords and vacant spaces to help organizations requiring space for emergency accommodations, temporary medical facilities, storage and logistics. More here.
Denver's Granicus, a provider of cloud-based citizen engagement technologies and services for the public sector, announced a new set of embeddable web tools that aggregate, curate and present factual COVID-19 content from trusted government sources. More here.
In an effort to connect workers to essential jobs, University of Denver has partnered with colleges across the state to launch the Colorado COVID Corps. So far, the university has partnered with 14 other colleges and universities to identify where there are positions. Jobs range from sales associate and warehouse worker to hospital administration staff and roles in food management. More from CBS4 here.
Boulder's TextUs, a business texting platform, announced that it is offering TextUs for Essential Businesses, a complimentary service during Q2 to help essential businesses communicate via text messaging with their customers and employees. More on the complimentary service here.
To help businesses navigate the COVID-19 crisis, CU Boulder's Deming Center for Entrepreneurship launched the COventure Forward initiative. COventure Forward supports Colorado-based small businesses by offering mentorship and support from university faculty and community members. Small businesses can apply for mentors by visiting the website here.
Greenwood Village-based Beyond Campus Innovations, an e-learning development and consulting company, is offering free faculty development materials and webinars to create online learning experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. More on the free resources here.
Louisville, Colo.-based Gaia, a video streaming subscription service for guided yoga, meditation and other content, is providing free resources to support Coloradans while they're at home. Gaia is offering free yoga, fitness, meditation and healthy cooking classes for both kids and adults. More here.
Fort Collins-based fintech startup BillGO, a provider of bill pay and payments systems, has launched an online hub highlighting financial institutions and companies offering payment relief to people impacted by COVID-19. More here.
Denver's Locai Solutions, a software startup for the ecommerce grocery industry, announced that it is offering PowerPick, its fulfillment management software, to grocers for free in light of operational challenges stemming from the coronavirus. More here.
Denver's BeverageX launched a new web-based application to help liquor stores improve social distancing related to the COVID-19 pandemic. All employees and distribution personnel can remotely login to access the store's portfolio of products and quickly find which ones require immediate stock counts, need re-ordering or have inventory performance issues. More here.
Contributing to Health Care Efforts
Westminster's Health Scholars, a startup using VR to train medical professionals, announced a $1 million grant for surge provider training to help combat COVID-19. The grant will provide approximately 14,000 providers ACLS Desktop Simulation Training to assist health systems with preparedness training. More here.
Boulder-based snack and oat bar company Bobo's pledged to donate a minimum of 20,000 “Bobo’s Bites” to health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis. The natural foods brand launched its “Healthcare Heroes Chocolate Chip Oat Bar” on its online market. For every $19.99, 3 ounce, six-bar box purchased, 20 oat bites will be donated. More here from BizWest.
Denver food startup, reBLEND, donated over 800 frozen smoothie pops to health care and delivery workers across Denver, and the company is calling for additional requests. More on reBLEND here from our 2019 story.
Denver's DispatchHealth, a provider of tech-enabled in-home health care, announced a new partnership with Tivity Health, a provider of nutrition, fitness and social engagement solutions, to deliver healthy meals for DispatchHealth patients. In coordination with DispatchHealth, Tivity will deliver customized meals directly to the patient's home within two business days, for up to five days of meals per shipment. More on the partnership here.
Golden's PharmaJet, a maker of needle-free injection technology, announced that its needle-free injection system will be used to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Maryland-based Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI). The company's needle-free injection system was chosen because it precisely targets delivery to the intradermal tissue depth. More here.
Colorado Springs-based Chromatic Technologies has partnered with Ohio's American Thermal Instruments to donate new printable temperature, tampering and authentication technology to protect all new COVID-19 drugs. More here.
Denver-based telemedicine startup CirrusMD announced new clinical resources to expand access to virtual care, as it looks to address the needs of partners and their members and alleviate pressure on the broader health care system. The new features include a self-assessment triage tool to assist in analyzing a patient's risk of COVID-19. More here.
Denver-based BurstIQ, a provider of blockchain-based data solutions for the healthcare industry, announced a partnership with HeroX, a crowdsourcing and collaboration platform, to launch an open-and-secure platform for collaborative research and innovation during COVID-19. More on the collaboration here.
MuscleSound, a Denver based healthtech startup, announced that it is offering free access to its proprietary, non-invasive ultrasound technology to hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. More on the technology here.
