Google Pledges $800 Million for SMBs and Crisis Response Teams

Need to Know 

• Google pledges $800M to help address global challenges experienced by small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMBs), health organizations, and frontline health workers during the coronavirus pandemic. 
• $250M will go to ad grants to help the World Health Organization and other government agencies critical in preventing the spreading of the virus. 
• Google will make a $200M investment to Non-Governmental Organizations that help provide businesses access to capital. 
• They will make $340M in Google Ad credits available to any SMB with accounts active over the past year. 
• A pool of $20M in Google Cloud credits will be made available for academic and research institutions that are working on vaccines and potential therapies. 
• Direct financial support will be given to help increase production capacity for critical medical devices and personal protective equipment in short supply around the globe.

Analysis

As global challenges continue to grow due to the scale of the coronavirus pandemic, Google joins the growing list of companies stepping up to help. 

“To help address some of these challenges, today we’re announcing a new $800+ million commitment to support small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMBs), health organizations and governments, and health workers on the frontline of this global pandemic,” Google and Alphabet SEO Sundar Pichai said in a letter on their website. 

Many frontline health workers and governments around the world are reporting shortages of important life-saving health equipment like ventilators and facemasks. Google’s support plans include a response to this – they will be supplying direct financial support and their expertise to increase production capacity.

Working with supplier and partner Magic Glove and Safety they will increase the production of facemasks to 2-3 million in the coming weeks and provide them to the CDC. Additionally, engineering and supply chain departments across all of Google’s vertices will be working with manufacturers and governments to increase ventilator production. 

In addition to their monetary donations, investments and Google Ad and Cloud credits, Google will be increasing its Gift Match currently available to all employees. With Gift Match, Google matches employee donations to organizations in their communities up to $10,000. 

To help ease the strain on the healthcare system and the resulting equipment shortage, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced via Twitter that its New York Gigafactory will reopen for ventilator production. 

“Together, we’ll continue to help our communities—including our businesses, educators, researchers, and nonprofits—to navigate the challenges ahead,” Pichai said in the letter.