Canva is leading some of the biggest names in Australian tech to help get medical supplies to India

As the number of coronavirus in India surpassed 20 million this week, resulting in more than 220,000 deaths, a group of leading Australian tech and investment companies, led by Canva, have stepped in to launch a fundraising campaign to get much-needed medical supplies to the nation.

Canva, in collaboration with SafetyCulture, Airtasker, Blackbird Ventures and Airtree Ventures launched “Aussie Tech for India” this week, pledging $400,000 in 24 hours for Australian-based organisation Medical Oxygen for All.

The joint philanthropic program is to raise awareness and provide both financial and logistical support to source and purchase oxygen and other medical supplies in India.

Canva’s co-founder and COO, Cliff Obrecht said the tech community had both a social and moral responsibility to do as much as we can to support our community in India.”

“The evolving COVID-19 challenges in India aren’t about a global shortage of oxygen – the challenge is economical. The medical supplies are out there – immediate and decisive action is required to save lives,” he said.

Canva is donating all proceeds from media purchases on its platform to relief efforts in India.. The company has also launched a range of new India-specific templates with information from the local government and World Health Organisation to assist public health officials with sharing accurate and timely information.

The first chartered flight of oxygen supplies arrived in India on Wednesday evening.

Anish Sinha, a co-founder and coordinator for the Medical Oxygen for All (MOfA) program said: “While each oxygen unit costs thousands of dollars, it only takes $92 to provide enough oxygen to save a life. We’ve been amazed by how quickly tech leaders in Australia have rallied together in response to the crisis unfolding in India.”

MOfA has set itself the goal of delivering equipment to serve more than 10,000 patients to districts and cities that “are beyond the spotlight of the mainstream media” and has set itself a target of raising $1 million to achieve that goal.

To support MOfA’s goals, you can donate via their GoFundMe page here.