Gaming accessories firm Razer has been converting some of its manufacturing lines to produce surgical masks to be donated around the world. The company’s Singaporean boss Tan Min-Liang, who is the chief executive officer and co-founder, said in a Facebook post (mid-March) that his staff had been working around the clock shifts to carry out the conversions. They were all dead set on helping address the global shortage of face masks during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Razer has been organizing the donation of one million masks with various health authorities across multiple countries.
Min-Liang said:
The rest of our Razer global and regional offices will also be reaching out to their respective governments and health authorities to see how we can prioritize our support and donations of surgical masks in the various countries and regions where we have a presence.
Since then, the company made a follow-up announcement saying it had shipped the masks to various government bodies in need. And this support is only the tip of the iceberg of Razer’s commitment to do its part during the pandemic.
In collaboration with other sponsors, Razer installed facemask vending machines around Singapore to further help stop the spread of COVID-19 by encouraging the public to practice hygiene and safety, free of charge. Any resident (16+) can get up to 5 free masks using the Razer Pay App. Thousands of masks were collected by people in May, and the company estimates that as many as 25 million masks will be distributed via these vending machines from now until October 2020.
Many of the face masks are being made in bulk by the country’s first automated mask manufacturing line that pumps out 5 million masks per month. It can even be scaled up if required. They are fully certified masks to national and international standards.
The Razer App includes a Folding At Home feature built-in. Folding At Home is an app that enables you to donate your computer processing power to fight COVID-19. So the Razer App is like two apps in one!
In addition to supporting with supplies, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers has also pledged $50 million towards supporting current and future business partners – to help them make it through the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus lockdowns.
Throughout 2020, Razer will fund companies through three core support arms – Razer Gold, Razer Fintech, and zVentures. Funding will come in the form of cash flow support, financial contributions, and investments. It aims to create a positive business impact through alliances and partnerships. The initiative will also open its unique ecosystem of software, hardware, and services with more than 80 million registered users around the world to these businesses.
Min-Liang said in a press release:
There are many growing implications with COVID-19 on the global economy and it is affecting everyone from all walks of life. We see the best way for us to do our part is to support our business partners starting with our ecosystem.
Each company will receive between US$100,000 and US$1 million. Investments will be granted to firms with technologies dedicated to fighting COVID-19 or supporting communities through the pandemic, such as companies in the healthcare sectors, delivery and logistics, and autonomous food and beverage.
