Since the global COVID-19 pandemic initially impacted our province, life and business have been turned upside down. Startups are particularly vulnerable to global disruptions to the economy. Such times leave businesses no choice but to change their operations entirely; cut staff hours, lay off employees or even shut down. Entrepreneurship is a challenge in the best of times, let alone amidst a global pandemic. At times, however, a business’s offering may be the perfect solution for the current circumstances The silver lining is that startups have the opportunity to act quickly and creatively to meet the pressing demands of a crisis. Genesis clients have stepped up impressively to help their communities. Learn how their efforts are impacting our fight with COVID-19.  

Polyamyna Nanotech develops next-generation antimicrobial technologies to prevent infections caused by deadly pathogens. Their groundbreaking proprietary polymer can be used in healthcare environments and can be sprayed on items such as medical equipment, furniture, flooring and walls to help fight spread of infection. Their polymer not only kills bacteria instantly, but the coating (once it sets on the surface) remains potent in killing bacteria for years. The team has been working with healthcare authorities in a number of provinces to address COVID-19. For more information, visit: https://www.polyamyna.ca/

Castr is a powerful live-streaming solution, allowing users to stream from multiple channels at once. With clients ranging from news outlets to educational institutions, Castr has now focused their services on the rising demand for live-streaming platforms since the onset of social distancing. Have you been watching the daily COVID-19 briefings from the Newfoundland and Labrador government? All that is made possible by Castr. From helping the Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer, to helping educators continue classes online, Castr has never been more crucial. To find out more, visit: https://castr.io/

Granville Biomedical designs medical simulation models that provide advanced hands-on teaching and learning opportunities. As a response to the current shortages for protective equipment for healthcare workers, Granville has pivoted to produce face shields and solutions to reduce hard surface contact for hospital staff and first responders, which includes 100 push button adapters for the Paramedic Association of NL. With a focus on providing as many as possible where most needed, Granville is actively looking for ways they can continue to help. To learn more, visit: granvillebiomedical.ca

Cyno is a virtual healthcare marketplace which connects users with NL-based healthcare professionals that meet their needs. With the overwhelming need for social distancing, Cyno allows users to access services including nurse practitioners, mental wellness counselling, personal trainers and more from the comfort of their home. Ultimately, this will greatly reduce the spread of COVID-19, save time and resources for the healthcare industry, and allow vital continuity of care for patients. For more information, visit: https://prelaunch.cyno.ca/

Mentic is a platform which connects families with professional autism care providers. Primarily designed for ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapists, Mentic’s cloud platform eliminates needless hours of travel, repetitive paperwork, and disruption to care. It also provides child focused tools and support to parents, therapists, and healthcare providers. Mentic will provide their collaborative ABA product free of charge to clinics or healthcare organizations in need for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. To learn more, visit: https://mentic.co/

TotalIQ is a management platform, leveraging the collective intelligence of an organization’s employees to help win projects, save time and money, and increase revenue. They have recently launched Safety-iQ, aimed at occupational health & safety professionals and organizations. Safety-iQ will allow employees, managers and occupational health & safety professionals to share best practices, templates, lessons learned, Q&A and more, while it auto-generates an inventory of each user’s areas of expertise so collaborators can identify experts in specific topics within this online community. To learn more, visit: https://yourtotaliq.com/