Although startup companies are all too familiar with the ebb and flow of change, recently COVID-19 has upended the vast majority of the economy placing many out of work and investments on hold. However, despite mass change, startups are familiar with persevering through the peaks and valleys of transformations.
Whether working toward helping the pandemic situation or currently formulating a new plan, here are a few public and private funding resources that can help startups during COVID-19:

Federal Funding for COVID-19 Countermeasures:
Eva Garland Consulting, LLC, is a consulting company that specializes in identifying and securing resources to support scientific advancement. The company lists a wide variety of federal funding opportunities for those who are working on COVID-19 countermeasures, such as funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research Department of Authority, Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health and Department of Agriculture, to name a few.

Private Grant Funding:
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University recently announced a series of prize funding for those who are working on combating COVID-19. The school is offering funding in six different categories, ranging from ‘best policy writing’ to ‘best effort to find a good treatment rapidly’ and ‘best innovation in social distancing’ – each category ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 in private grant funding. No application is necessary, as Mercatus will award the work as they discover them.

Funding and Resources for Small Businesses Affected by COVID-19:
Alice, a platform powered by artificial intelligence that acts as a personal business advisor to women-, minority- and veteran-led startup companies, has a dedicated landing page specifically to help small businesses during COVID-19. The COVID-19 Business Resource Center provides small businesses access to information about many items ranging from emergency grants to anxiety and mental health support.

Private Funding for Small Businesses Affected by COVID-19:
Facebook for Business offers a Small Business Grants program where they are offering $100 million in cash grants and credits for ads on Facebook and Instagram to help small businesses during COVID-19. Up to 30,000 small businesses in 30 countries where Facebook operates can receive a grant to help cover operational costs, rent, and customer connections and maintain a strong workforce.

Grants for Small Businesses
Protocol Labs Research, a team of scientists dedicated to researching more about life science, is dedicating $200,000 toward an accelerated grant program that supports innovation around the prevention of COVID-19 and future pandemics. Individual grants of $20,000 will be gifted to those applicants who are contributing to improved technical solutions around testing and treatment mitigation of COVID-19.

*Main graphic: Amy Vong & Julie Kennedy, UCI Beall Applied Innovation