Novel Solutions for dealing with a Novel Virus
Eric Rosenfeld - March 2020
Our thoughts are with our doctors and nurses working long hours; our parents and grandparents feeling isolated and scared; our families with children adjusting to life without school, extracurriculars, sports, and play dates; our employers facing abrupt losses and changes in demand; and pretty much everyone adversely impacted by this virus.
In times like this, it is important to remember the long-term nature of venture investing. We enjoy the privilege of investing in visionary founders and innovative projects that have the potential to solve the world’s most vexing problems and create enormous value in the process, regardless of the market’s cycles. Usually, the startups we back succeed or fail based on the hard work, skill, and execution of the founders, and not based on whether the public markets happen to be up or down a given year.
Except now. With voluntary and mandatory bans and shutdowns, the economic shock and uncertainty may be too great for even the most promising of startups. Despite a great deal of good work, some companies may not make it.
We are doing everything we can to help our portfolio companies weather the storm. Companies offering consumer discretionary products and services will likely be hit hardest – e.g., popular brands like Wildfang and Salt & Straw.
While there is really nothing positive to say about the coronavirus, a few of our portfolio companies are in a strong position to positively impact how our society and economy respond. Some are adjusting to changing demands, others are ramping up to meet sharply increased demand:
Lumencor makes the most powerful - and environmentally sustainable - light engines for the microscopes and analytic instruments used in pathology and clinical diagnostic labs.
Brandlive enables video-first, enterprise-wide training for sales support, employee onboarding, and company communications that eliminates the need for in-person meetings and travel.
Bigleaf, in partnership with Citrix and others, helps employees easily, securely, and reliably work from home.
Bright.md helps hospitals keep their emergency rooms clear and enables doctors to diagnose and treat patients remotely through its virtual care platform. The company offers remote coronavirus screening via its upper respiratory infection SmartExam module and has been offering a free COVID-19 evaluation, screening, and escalation tool for all US hospitals.
Lumen Learning provides affordable, all-digital, adaptive personal learning tools, open-source curriculum, and assessments for colleges and universities. Lumen makes it possible for those schools suspending in-person classes to seamlessly and quickly switch to online instruction.
AbSci has developed a patented protein-expression platform that can dramatically accelerate the discovery and development - and reduce manufacturing costs - of antivirals, among other next-generation biologic drugs.
Green Zebra is bring fresh and healthy food – and natural hand sanitizer and sustainably sourced toilet paper (!) – to underserved, walkable neighborhoods.
The Wild offers an augmented and virtual reality solution for design teams and their clients anywhere in the world to collaborate in real-time in shared virtual spaces, without having to travel.
Qualtik helps banks and real estate funds survive down markets and recessions by valuing, stress-testing, and modeling their assets and loan portfolios in real time.
Hubb, an event management and conference planning software platform, has a live streaming option that enables event organizers to easily transition from in-person gatherings to virtual tradeshows, conferences, and events – the new normal.
And for those who just want to stay home and curl up with a Rumpl, you can always ask Postmates to deliver some Salt & Straw.
Knowing we’re supporting the above companies with their missions and good work may help us all breathe a little deeper...for now!