BENGALURU: Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder and CIO of Zerodha and True Beacon, is supporting small businesses hit of COVID-19 by providing funding, mentorship and extending True Beacon deal flow services, which is usually reserved for UHNI investors, and by tying up with the police to provide food and shelter to the needy.
“About 87.5 per cent daily and weekly wages livelihoods are affected due to the lockdown. It would be reckless for us not to mobilise now and act together as a collective while instituting measures for relief. We are providing meals to migrants and low-income workers, and also looking at providing accommodation for the displaced. Jain University has already offered to accommodate them on their premises,” says Kamath.
“There is negative sentiment across the nation against law enforcement agencies. Our idea was to provide meals for the police.
But they offered to distribute them to the underprivileged,” he adds, asserting that the kitchens adhere to hygiene standards, with temperature checks of all the chefs.
“This is where the police have stepped up, helping us cut down on having additional people on the streets; and taking on the role of delivery partners,” he says, pointing out the challenges about following social distancing during the distribution of food.