A technology giant is committing $225 million to assist in efforts aimed at combating the coronavirus while the rest of Silicon Valley initiates an investment blitz to help in the fight.Â
Cisco, which focuses on crafting telecommunications equipment and networking hardware, is putting up the massive investment, CEO Chuck Robbins said in a blog post Sunday night.
The $225 million is "in cash, in-kind, and planned-giving to support both the global and local response to COVID-19," Robbins said.Â
"As part of our commitment, we are allocating $8 million in cash and $210 million in product to the global coronavirus response. We are focusing these resources on supporting healthcare and education, government response and critical technology," he said. "Part of this will go to the United Nations Foundation's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, supporting the World Health Organization's (WHO) worldwide efforts to help prevent, detect, and manage the spread of COVID-19."
The effort comes as Silicon Valley starts to invest into a variety of groups looking to fight the coronavirus.
Robbins recently hosted a call with Silicon Valley business leaders to discuss ways they can use their money and vast resources to help fend off the coronavirus.
CEOs and executives from Facebook, Apple, the San Francisco 49ers, Twitter, Netflix, Alphabet and Salesforce were invited to take part.
Since then, Facebook has announced it will offer $100 million in cash grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses. The social media giant is also giving $1,000 bonuses to each of their employees as they work remotely.Â
"We heard directly from them that they were in need, very nervous, and not able to pay a lot of their employees, and worried their doors would shut," Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told CNBC last week. "We're trying to help businesses pay their employees but also shift their businesses online."
