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Updated May 10th, 2021 at 17:34 IST

OYO founder salutes startups' resolve to help India battle COVID; Paytm, Zomato in the mix

As India continues to grapple with the dreaded second wave of COVID-19, the country has found support in startups, entrepreneurs and investors.

Reported by: Sudeshna Singh
COVID
@Paytm/@Zomatoin/@OYOrooms/Twitter | Image:self
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As India continues to grapple with the dreaded second wave of COVID-19, the civic authorities of the country have found support in startups, entrepreneurs, and investors in numerous forms, starting from extending funds to helping with resources. Some of the pertinent names in this long list are- OYO, Paytm,  Amazon India, and  Zomato. 

Startups extend support in fight against COVID-19 

OYO's COVID-19 contribution:

Indian hospitality chain OYO has not only been providing a safe place to quarantine COVID- infected people and has also been collecting funds, in association with Give India, to provide a safe quarantining place, along with meals. Informing about this initiative and seeking help, the founder and CEO of the startup Ritesh Agarwal said, "Give India and OYO Care are raising funds to give free stays + 3 meals a day to those who need it. Help us provide for all. 

Besides this, the startup has also procured oxygen concentrators to donate and help those who are in need. 

Ritesh Agarwal also gave a shoutout to the startup community for their efforts and how they are doing it against the odds:

Paytm's COVID-19 contribution:

The Indian e-commerce payment system Paytm has taken to the job to help with oxygen concentrators amid oxygen shortage in the country and targets to raise Rs 10 crore for the same. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm, in a tweet said, "We have sourced supplies for oxygen concentrators of different sizes while we place the order using our own money. We want you to join hands in solving oxygen shortage."

Amazon India

Amazon India, though hardly a startup, is helping the country by providing medical equipment like oxygen concentrators, BiPAP, and ventilators among others. In association with ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation, Pune Platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR), the online shopping platform is airlifting over 8,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore, the cost of which will be entirely borne by the company and its associates. It has also got airlifted 100 ventilators, in association with Medtronic and US Indian Business Council. 

Sharing the news on its official Twitter handle, Amazon wrote, "To help India fight COVID19, Amazon is coming together to purchase medical supplies & leverage our global logistics network to send them to those in need across the country."

Zomato 

Food tech company Zomato along with Delhivery rolled out the 'Feeding India' program under its 'Help Save My India' initiative to source oxygen concentrators and related supplies and supply to hospitals and families in need. The company aims to raise Rs 50 crore to help save hundreds of thousands of lives ravaged by the virus. Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal tweeted out details of the fundraiser and said that if they raise over Rs 50 crore, the money would be used to get more oxygen.

COVID-19 tally in India

The support of the start-ups holds relevance at a time India is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Since April 15, India has been witnessing a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. On April 4, the country recorded over 1 lakh cases, which doubled in a span of ten days and has been seeing a rise ever since, with now, over 3-lakh to 4-lakh cases being reported every day.

Hitting a new high, India on Monday registered a record  3,66,161 new infections and 3,754 fatalities, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,26,62,575 and the death toll to 2,46,116. The active cases have increased to 37,45,237 comprising 16.53  percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 82.39 percent. 

(Credit-@Paytm/@Zomatoin/@OYOrooms/Twitter)

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Published May 10th, 2021 at 17:34 IST

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