We cannot sit still and wait for death. We must act extremely quickly.

Today, SOSV announced millions of dollars in additional immediate funding for life sciences entrepreneurs working to develop novel solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic (IndieBio will fund up to eight COVID-19 startups over the next six weeks company).

We have teams and staff in place who are working tirelessly to help. Scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, investors. What’s more, we’ve supported hundreds of deep tech startups over the past eight years who are turning their sights on COVID-19.

We are helping them meet their challenges with necessary emergency funding. We may invest approximately $10 million in response to COVID-19 in the coming months, and investors in our syndicate may invest an additional $50 million.

Startups are already battling the virus.

A dozen startups in our portfolio are literally on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, working on diagnostics, treatments, prevention and disinfection technologies, test automation, and some simply improving the daily lives of those trapped at home. Here’s a quick look at some of them:

• Renegade Bio reduces the 4 steps of the CDC COVID-19 test to 1, shortening the 2-hour testing process, cutting the cost in half, and increasing the throughput of qPCR testing by 4x.
• Caspr.bio is rushing to launch a diagnostic test based on "Crispr Cas12" that is cheap and easy enough to use in the office or at home, and can report results within 1 hour.
• Verdex has developed a nanofiber material to create more breathable and safer masks for caregivers.
• OACP's reagents are 20% faster than US FDA/CDC reagents, cheaper, and available in sufficient quantities.
• OpenTrons has a liquid-handling robot for small and medium-sized labs that can automate testing to perform thousands of tests per day in hospitals anywhere.
• Youibot has disinfection and inspection robots that can be deployed in public areas or workspaces.
• Strados provides a COPD feedback monitoring system that automatically reports abnormal lung activity to physicians.

See the full list here: sosv.com/covid-startups.

Through our accelerator programs – HAX, IndieBio, Chinaccelerator, MOX, Food-X and dlab – we support passionate entrepreneurs who want to make the world a better place. We are deeply grateful for their efforts, their ingenuity, and the dedication in their hearts to solve some of the world's most difficult and pressing problems.

If you or someone you know needs funding for a life sciences startup providing COVID-19 solutions, apply by April 10 at indiebio.co/indiebio-covid-response.

Through IndieBio, we support entrepreneurs who want to use biological technologies to solve humanity's biggest and most pressing problems. Now, let's keep working together to find solutions.