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This study explores the contribution that tech startups can provide in the fight against COVID-19. The Tech4Covid movement is presented to that effect, which has joined several Portuguese tech startups. This initiative gathers more than 5,000 volunteers and 28 ongoing projects in several interdisciplinary areas, including science, technology, health and education.

Two qualitative methods are adopted: the case study and the field research technique. This joint approach allows exploring in-depth the relevance and impact of the different areas included in Tech4Covid movement. Data were collected both from primary sources, namely by the authors' participation in the movement and by the use of secondary sources from each project.

The findings reveal three main areas in which the 28 ongoing projects can be categorized, respectively: support to health professionals and hospital equipment, health and education services and business and leisure. These projects offer direct and indirect contributions to the fight against COVID-19. From a perspective, they were initially designed to support health professionals in gathering protective equipment and supporting screening for suspicious cases. From another perspective, they also offer indirect benefits to citizens and the local economy.

This paper addresses a recent phenomenon with a dramatic impact on public health, social and economic dimensions. The study provides essentially practical contributions by revealing how Portuguese technological startups were organized and worked together to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected this study will serve as a reference for other countries and communities that intend to replicate this model.

Pandemics are a serious challenge for humanity, as their social and economic impacts can be tremendous. This study aims to understand how innovation based in the sharing economy (SE) business models can contribute to overcoming the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following a netnographic approach, the authors studied the computer-mediated social interactions of internet-based virtual innovation communities.

This study found that the SE business models contribute to overcome the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic by redistributing idle resources to lessen the impacts of confinement. This was achieved through process innovations and an innovative use of the network, which enabled fast-open and decentralized innovation processes, and quick implementation of innovations. This innovation process is based on a decentralized decision-making approach, clear rules, informal relationship among community members and open communication channels, as well as in evasive strategies to avoid facing challenges, institutional restrictions and barriers in the adoption of innovations.

This study was limited to a virtual innovation community of highly specialized and educated experts and nine community projects focused on institutional contexts of a developed country. Future research should focus on the institutional contexts of less specialized communities and developing countries and study other community innovation projects in pandemics to understand the processes of fast-open, decentralized and evasive innovation and the importance of relational capabilities for innovation in digital contexts.

The findings can guide innovation managers and public policymakers in implementing effective strategies and policies to overcome pandemic challenges using SE business models. This research also provides important insights into the types and processes of innovation in organizations that create solutions to overcome social and business challenges during pandemics. In addition, this study highlights the contributions of netnographic approaches to conducting research on innovation and in pandemic periods when measures of confinement are in place.

This study uses an innovative framework to map the types of innovation and highlights two different types of innovation processes.