From the start of the COVID-19 crisis at Allied for Startups we have witnessed startups stepping up and providing solutions to the pandemic and the consequences of the lockdown. From medical and health solutions to ed-tech, entertainment and communications. In light of that, we sent  a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the beginning of April, urging her to:  1) Give startups a central role in the solutions to the COVID-19 outbreak 2) support startups through the difficult economic situation in the short run and 3) make startups central to plans for growth in response to the economic downturn. 

In the response, the Commission thanked startup communities “for the support provided by entrepreneurs and startups in this time of crisis” and laid out the measures that the Commission has been working on to support Small and Medium Enterprises. Some of these measures include the call from the European Innovation Council (EIC) for startups and SMEs with disruptive solutions in treating, testing and monitoring, the SME Envoy Network and the activation of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). 

At Allied for Startups, we believe the Commission is headed in the right direction. To do more, there should be separate and distinct policies for startups, which have different needs and expectations from SMEs. 

We would like to thank all the co-signatories of the letter for their support! Good things happen when startup communities speak to policy makers.

You can find the full letter here.