Seven pivots and highlights from our Activator community

At times like this, the entrepreneurial spirit always rises to the top, with new solutions and horizons which others have yet to imagine:

1. Working from home opened a new market for this tech startup 

The Beta Launch team started working remotely back in March, with many of their members returning to their hometown of Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

Amidst the nation-wide lockdown, they found a gap in medicine delivery services. In seven days, they partnered with the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka and built OsuSala Online – an ecommerce platform for people to order medicine online. 

In just five days, they registered 10,000 users from Colombo and Galle and recorded 4000 online orders. OsuSala Online continues to grow exponentially since their launch in April, serving an essential need in trying times. 

2. Chatbots enable hospitality services to go online

Building on their existing chat bot technology for hospitality businesses, Convo created Order Today – a powerful all-in-one digital platform that automates ordering (delivery and takeaways) and marketing on social media platforms that their customers are already using, such as Facebook messenger.

“Our goal is to empower hospitality businesses to go from brick-and-mortar to digital ready,” said co-founder Chelsea Ho. 

Their solution eliminates the hassle for businesses to develop their own apps as well as a reliance on third-party food ordering platforms. 

3. Bringing guided meditations to your home

Before social distancing, Rosie Jean was teaching yoga full-time in Melbourne. As the safety measures kicked in, she started a weekly schedule of online meditation classes for mental health through her business, I Live in Balance.

Classes are pre-recorded and emailed each day and are based on modern psychology and traditional yogic practices. She also runs live workshops via Zoom to help connect people to their inner-strength.  

4. Upskilling job-seekers for the future of hospitality

Initially designed as an efficient recruitment platform for hospitality venues to identify the right talent, HospoHire saw significant value in creating an interim platform for applicants to develop their skills and assets. 

This involves providing a set of tools for upskilling, webinars on relevant skill sets, resume updating, and interview skills.

“We are able to help job-seekers highlight their strengths while working on their weaknesses,” said co-founder Tom McAll.“This helps us put each applicant forward to the right venue when they’re ready.”

5. Community initiatives for car owners 

Repairy offers a new and hassle-free way for car maintenance. 

In light of the current situation, they’ve launched the Essential Workers Program special discount to critical frontline staff, including medical professionals, grocery store & delivery workers and government employees to keep those essential vehicles running smooth. 

In addition, they’ve also launched a community initiative to cover the cost for car owners who have experienced financial hardship due to the loss of employment. This is open to the community and available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

6. Huge boost to help teen girls cultivate mental well-being  

Co-founders of The Big Sister Experience, Kritz and Bianca Sciessere, managed to secure $26,000 of grant money in a single week! 

The entrepreneurial sisters received financial support from the Melbourne City Council COVID-19 grant and the Bumble Community Grants Program to continue building projects for teen girls that nurture self-love, gratitude and mental well-being in times of uncertainty. 

“This money will really allow us to further develop our online presence and come out the other end of COVID-19 bigger, better and more secure than we were before,” said Kritz. 

7. Using A.I to guide organisations into the future of work

Voop.Global is a workplace culture assessment tool powered by Machine Learning. 

As the global pandemic accelerates our progression towards ‘the future of work’, founder Kristin O’Brien and her team have created a COVID dashboard focusing on conversations taking place online in Australia. Using their state-of-the-art deep learning and neural embedding models, this dashboard aims to help leaders make sense of how their own organisation is evolving.