The three Foundations have joined ACT Grants as donorsand will extend the outreach of the initiative, it said in astatement.
Gates Foundation will be a part of the projects'selection process and will support the project execution, witha focus on States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Wadhwani Foundation will also provide grants forselected projects, with a focus on immediate impact as well asimprovement of the long term Indian healthcare system.Further, the Foundation will provide pro-bono consultingservices to these projects to facilitate capacity, stabilityand growth, it said.
ACT Grants said it has brought together the collectivestrength of over 50 venture capital firms, 40 start-ups andsome of India's entrepreneurs in the fight against COVID-19.
"ACT has disbursed grants to 39 start-ups in 43 days.These grants fall in the areas of telemedicine, mass scaletesting, patient tracking, suspect monitoring, contact tracingand manufacturing of PPE kits, all geared to combat COVID-19,"the statement said.
Mohit Bhatnagar, a spokesperson from ACT Grants, said,"We share the same philanthropic outlook of all thefoundations involved, and look forward to working with andleveraging their experience and expertise to serve ourobjective."
Geeta Goel, Country Director, Michael and Susan DellFoundation, said: "Our partnership with the ACT Grants teamwill enable teams to address quick local solutions to minimizethe risks created by COVID-19."
ACT is a coalition of VCs, start-up communityfounders, entrepreneurs, investors and other industryveterans, according to the statement.
The team has come together to provide grants betweenRs one lakh and Rs ten crore to start-ups and initiatives thatare harnessing technology to create large-scale impact in thedetection, prevention and eradication of COVID-19, it said.
ACT Grants is an initiative set up by VC firms such asSequoia India, Accel Partners, Lightspeed Ventures, SAIFPartners, Matrix Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, KalaariCapital, Chiratae Ventures, and Omidyar Network along withentrepreneurs like Mukesh Bansal and Abhiraj Bhal in order tosupport the fight against COVID-19 by leveraging technologyfor scalable impact, it was stated. RS SS