As social distancing is relaxed in some states, people in our tech community seem to have divided feelings and a sense of anticipation.

We will keep sharing good news and remind ourselves that there is constantly good work being done to carry us all through this crisis to the other side. The tech and startup community continues to make both local and global impact with innovative and compassionate responses to the demands of the pandemic.

In other good news, some startups in hubs outside Silicon Valley are still hiring. Our team recently added another 297 tech companies to the Powderkeg Culture Directory, giving insight into the unique company cultures of these remarkable startups.

Check ‘em out below and let me know if there are other companies we need to add to the Culture Directory. Grateful to have you in this community!

Masks for Prevention, Running Simulations for Cure
Austin, TX

Artificial intelligence provider SparkCognition is taking industry-leading risk management and security services into the real world with involvement in two community initiatives.

Looking forward to the first 15,000 #DIY face shields from https://t.co/e8JVvBRfDR!💜Assembly is underway at @ATXConventions w/ volunteers from @UTAustin, @DellMedSchool, @DellEMC, @Google, @SparkCognition, @TravisCountyTX, + @AustinChamber.

👉https://t.co/ooYqqmQoNo#ATXforATX pic.twitter.com/xIhVBVoXPr

— City of Austin (@austintexasgov) April 15, 2020

The first is helping 3D print face masks for the COVID-19 ATX Exchange, a crowdsourcing project for PPE and other necessary supplies spearheaded by the Dell Medical School at UT Austin. The second is that CEO and founder Amir Husain has contributed the SparkCognition computing and server power to Folding@home, an initiative running simulations to research the virus’s protein structure and point to treatment.

Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Real-Time Collaboration
Indianapolis, IN

The Olio app was developed to help acute care physicians and hospital staff stay updated on a patient’s condition after they have returned to their assisted living facility or nursing home. In mid-April the company announced its partnership with 22 hospital systems and 197 nursing homes across Central and Southern Indiana, to put its product to use reducing the spread of the virus.

Thx for your quick action @SenToddYoung! Olio CEO @iambenforrest and COO @swmullins are thankful for your guidance. https://t.co/p1UQveFtur

— Olio (@oliohealth) April 17, 2020

CEO Ben Forrest committed his team to build new product features specific to COVID-19, like alerting the emergency department when a patient does need to be transferred so precautions to protect staff can be taken in advance.

Color Us Impressed at Color’s COVID-19 Response
San Francisco, CA

Population genomics platform Color built its brand helping genetic counselors and healthcare providers like oncologists use DNA to screen for health issues and make clinical decisions. Now, it has put large-scale health technology infrastructure to use for the city of San Francisco’s healthcare workers and other essential front-line workers.

Color is helping distribute tests, process results, and even carry out contact tracing, with the goal of performing 10,000 tests a day in the near-term future. CEO Othman Laraki shared a full statement about the mission in late March, including company plans to open-source their lab design and protocols so other companies can scale up in the same fashion.

New VC Invests in 2 North Carolina Startups
Charlotte, NC

CreativeCo Capital, a growth equity studio launched earlier this year by Christian Czentye, Artem Orlov, and Travis Parsons, announced its first two investments.

The first, SingleOps, is an Atlanta-based SaaS platform to help outdoor services providers like tree and lawn care specialists increase efficiency and do more for their clients. The second is Charlotte startup RentReady, providing multifamily residential property managers with a one-stop solution for all the maintenance required to turn a unit between residents.

Startups Still Hiring Amidst Crisis:

Know someone looking for a new gig? The economy is unpredictable right now, but some startups in the middle of the country are still hiring.

We recently added 297+ tech companies to the Powderkeg Culture Directory, giving insight into the unique company cultures of these remarkable startups. Check out a few of our Top Powderkeg Picks below:

Indianapolis, IN
Greenlight Guru – Quality management software built exclusively for medical devices.

Boardable – Board management software built to help nonprofit boards schedule, meet, and communicate.

Chattanooga, TN
Bellhop – Combines technology with a team of talented workers to provide fun, friendly, and professional moving experience.

Raleigh, NC
Pendo – A product cloud creator for digital products and data-driven product teams.

Dallas, TX
Givelify – A three-tap mobile giving & donation management platform for churches, nonprofits, fundraisers, and donors.

Chicago, IL
ActiveCampaign – An advanced email marketing, marketing automation, and sales CRM platform.

This post was curated by Alexander, Meg, Casey, and myself from the Powderkeg team. These are just some of the amazing stories happening around us every day.

Got 30 seconds? Share some good news with us! Our team will share the best stories in an upcoming virtual event, on social, or in a future blog post.

Let us know!

-Matt