This is a special format for our startup news. We will keep you updated on the developing Covid19 story and its impact on the German startup scene.

If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recording and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

Reach out to us, here is our audience survey, to give us feedback, suggest topics, interview partners share links or just to say “Hallo!” https://forms.gle/mLV6mVKwGwKuut8BA 

Find the host here:

Jörn “Joe” Menninger joe@startuprad.io / Twitter  / LinkedIn / Video Interview (2018)

Intro

Hi there,

This is Joe from Startuprad.io. Since the Corona outbreak in Europe, we surpassed 150.000 subscribers. I would like to thank you all and keep you up to date with the current development. 

Public life in Germany is now  greatly reduced. In most of Germany’s sixteen states the opening hours of bars and restaurants are severely limited and only selected stores (think groceries, pharmacies, …) remain open during normal hours.

This has a great impact on startups in Germany, from changing to remote-only work, to a heavy drag on revenues, to finding emergency funding. We thought we would give you an overview, as a short flash update.

We want to provide you with collections of links and reports, that point you where to find information, help and can read more. 

German Startup Association's Link Collection

“This is a list of *public* coronavirus // Covid-19 communications/measures and resources.

Disclaimer: The content below is crowdsourcing content, so it is not independently verified. It is intended as a resource for founders and management teams who are currently discussing their own actions on SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and want to learn from the ecosystem. “

SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Collected Best Practices of the German Startup Scene - German Startups Association

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UKRxxg3SiOH7hBUnS8Tn81zAqoG4KcWBpSPBTpfidzk/preview

Some highlights from the document:

• Guide to support measures for startups affected by coronavirus | Sifted https://buff.ly/2QqjAXh
• COVID-19 Symptoms and what to do, incl. list of links and phone numbers in relevant geographies - 15.3.20
• Kurzarbeit is in Germany short term measures to support companies, where part of the employees pay is taken over by the government. Find more information here: Very Detailed Frequently Asked Questions on Kurzarbeit - 17.3.2020
• Obligation to file for insolvency due to corona suspended for companies in Germany - 16.3.2020
• Global collection of VC resources, measurement lists, blog posts and other communications - 18.3.2020

Other Link Collections

What to consider?

Time to plan now. Consider this situation going on for weeks, even months and make plans accordingly. For all startups cash is king!

Here are examples of measures put together by the German government.

• Measures of the German Federal Ministry of Economics: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/S-T/schutzschild-fuer-beschaeftigte-und-unternehmen.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=12

• Employment law, what to consider in Germany https://www.bmas.de/DE/Presse/Meldungen/2020/corona-virus-arbeitsrechtliche-auswirkungen.html

• Kurzarbeitergeld Application for companies in Germany: https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/unternehmen/finanziell/kurzarbeitergeld-uebersicht-kurzarbeitergeldformen
  
  https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/unternehmen/finanziell/kurzarbeitergeld-video
  
  https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/coronavirus/bundestag-kurzarbeitergeld-1729626

• Here is a list and hotline for companies with (potential) Liquidity Problems from the German Ministry of finance, mostly listing regional economic development banks - Fördermittel-Hotline (030) 18615 8000 des Bundeswirtschaftsministeriums https://www.foerderdatenbank.de/SiteGlobals/FDB/Forms/Suche/Expertensuche_Formular.html?submit=Suchen&filterCategories=FundingOrganisation&filterCategories=FundingProgram&cl2Processes_Foerderbereich=corona
• Corona Information for Companies by Technologieland Hessen https://buff.ly/395yqsA Links to updates, sources for short term financing and FAQ lists
• Frankfurt-based fintech Fastbill has a great collection of corona related links, tailored to freelancers (German only): Corona-Pandemie: Hilfen und Tipps für Selbstständige https://buff.ly/2WorQuN
• There is also a great collection by our friends of Penta, the Berlin-based challenger bank https://buff.ly/3b6HyPl They have application forms for the German Finanzamt, to lighten the tax burden to application forms for short term work (Kurzarbeit from above).

Related News

Startups developing tech to combat COVID-19 urged to apply for fast-track EU funding – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/2WtqyyL 

Good news from the German federal government, they promise up to 40 bn Euros in aid and loans to freelancers and SMEs - DER SPIEGEL - Wirtschaft https://buff.ly/2U5wlc9?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0- Keep in mind, this will not all go to startups, but we will keep you updated on the measures, as well as when and where to apply.  

Potential Time Frame

A snapshot of China, the epicenter of Corona right now from the NY Times: China Hits a Coronavirus Milestone: No New Local Infections https://buff.ly/2Ux9S6T Drastic measures have been taken there, since January 22nd. This gives us a potential time frame of almost 60 days. Keep in mind without proper vaccination the virus could re-emerge after restrictions are lifted.

There is a paper by the Imperial College UK, which focuses on the UK and US, but is a guide for the duration of potential measures. This paper forecasts the height of deaths in the UK mid/end of May and in the US at the beginning/mid of June. Keep in mind, even though we will be through the Corona crisis, we may face another outbreak in the coming winter, without vaccination. This does not mean, there will be one. None the less you should factor this in as one potential scenario in your plans https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf