“Venture capital” brings to mind Silicon Valley and the Scrooge McDuck piles of money created by the lucky few who made early bets on Uber or Facebook. That traditional approach, in which VCs make a number of equity bets in one portfolio in hopes of finding a unicorn, is great for high-risk, high-reward ventures with huge potential markets. But it’s not a good fit for funding many of the emerging solutions to the myriad elements of the coronavirus pandemic. The lived experience of the coronavirus varies even from county to country, meaning that needed solutions will also vary — and require more than one type of investment.
