Groups representing the European technology industry have been increasingly lobbying for the European Union (EU) to support startups that have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.

In a joint letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a coalition of startup community called on the leader of the bloc to give startups “a central role in your decisions regarding the distribution of COVID-19”.

The Brussels-based group Allied for Startups warns of the impact of the upcoming economic downturn on the continent’s once-booming sector. The pandemic has forced many startups to rethink their business models and cut costs, as sales revenues fall dramatically.

“As with previous disasters, this crisis is also an opportunity”, said the industry leaders in a letter. “First of all, it is an opportunity for better cooperation and coordination between countries”, adds the letter. “Beyond this is the opportunity for innovation. When looking for solutions to coping with the coronavirus epidemic, but also when looking for where growth opportunities come from after the economic downturn, startups are key players in both cases”, said also the industry leaders.

All this comes after France and Germany have announced plans to provide billions of euros in emergency aid to their start-up companies. The British government has received calls to take the same action.

In order to prevent start-ups from collapsing, the joint letter recommends that the EU offer rapid funding to companies developing technologies to tackle the pandemic. Among the measures is the postponement of certain tax deadlines and the provision of financial assistance for already planned investment transactions.

“We hope to ensure that startup communities will not be abandoned and will not be in a liquidity crisis in the near future. Startups invest their resources in growth, including in new markets, workforce, and marketing. As such, they have less liquidity than other players in the economy”, the letter said.

The previous year 2019 was another record in terms of venture capital funding – with more than 30 billion USD in investment in Europe. The region is where some of the highest-rated unicorn companies (1 billion USD) have emerged, including Klarna, Revolut, and TransferWise.

But now there are growing concerns that funding for startups in 2020 could be severely affected by COVID-19 pandemic, and some of the startup founders have even faced the cancellation of funding rounds that were planned. This happened because of the panic associated with the virus.

According to Pitchbook, the number of venture capital deals in the top 10 European markets narrowed by almost half in the first quarter of 2020 to 692, compared to 1,363 a year earlier, while the total invested amount fell by 8% from 8,031 to 7,391.