In a sterling COVID relief effort, The Indus Entrepreneurs' (TiE) Singapore chapter has raised almost SGD 2.5 million (USD 1.8 million) ahead of the planned virtual fundraiser tomorrow. Reaching the figure in under three days time.
Sources close to the development shared the amount raised so far with Connected to India adding that the donations have come from many mainstream financial institutions, startups and entrepreneurial firms including Deutsche Bank, Basil Partners, Livspace, Turtlemint, Builder.ai, Leap Finance, Tookitaki, Moglix, Jungle Ventures, LightHouse Canton, Apar Technology, Nityo Infotech, RNS Technology Services DMCC, Govin Holdings as well as high net-worth individuals.
"Tallying the funds collected and committed thus far it stands at around SGD 2.5 million (USD 1.8 million) including the USD 1M from the seed donor as well as online collections, cheques, bank transfers and verbal soft commitments," they said.
The money raised will be pledged to help India accelerate the fight against the COVID-19 crisis it is facing, with a devastating second wave of infections sweeping across the country in the past six weeks.
TiE, along with non-profit organisation GiveIndia and the IIT Alumni Association Singapore, is set to host a global celebrity fundraiser 'I Breathe For India'.
The two-hour event will be hosted by Bollywood actress Lara Dutta and sports scientist and performance coach Shayamal Vallabhjee who will interact with prominent Indian and Indian-origin artists, sportspersons, corporates and philanthropists from 8:30 pm SGT (6 pm IST) tomorrow.
Some of the celebrities announced their participation in the event on their social media pages in a bid to boost fundraising efforts and create more awareness.
"We join hands to come together for one cause – to help India fight against COVID-19," Bollywood star Kriti Sanon posted on Instagram. Others such as cricketer Shikhar Dhawan and actor Rana Daggubati also posted about the upcoming event.
Support for the strained healthcare system has been pouring in from across the globe, with Indians living abroad playing a prominent part in securing critical supplies and leading donation drives. TiE Singapore is collaborating with two platforms, Singapore registered non-profit Giving.sg and global crowdfunding platform Milaap to raise funds. The funds raised will be used for the procurement and distribution of medical supplies and humanitarian aid.
TiE is a nonprofit global network of entrepreneurs, investors and industry captains, especially representing successful business leaders of Indian-origin across the US, Europe and APAC.
