$33.7m Aid Package Helps Cushion Impact of Pandemic on Startups

The state-run Iran National Innovation Fund has loaned 8 trillion rials ($33.75 million) to startups after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in mid-February 2020 to cushion the impact of the pandemic on tech-based companies. 
Siavash Malekifar, the fund’s deputy for development, said financial aid packages were prepared to help virus-hit businesses normalize their operations, IRNA reported.
The arrival of Covid-19 in the region, according to the official, disrupted the daily operations of many knowledge-based businesses.
INIF vowed to make amends, allocating 500 billion rials ($2.1 million) in loans between January and March 2020.
“As the losses caused by the virus started increasing, the fund decided to buttress the tech firms and startups against the disease,” he said.