Beauty Backer today announced COVaid, a new category on its crowdfunding platform. COVaid provides access to zero-fee fundraising for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups to keep their businesses afloat as the world fights the Coronavirus and offers a way for communities to support local small businesses.

Beauty Backer is a reward-based crowdfunding platform exclusively for cosmetics and personal care campaigns. To help other small businesses, who may not qualify for other forms of COVID-19 funding, Beauty Backer created a new category and made it accessible to all!

COVaid is a donation-based category on Beauty Backer, open to small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups of all industries – brick and mortar, direct-to-consumer and online. Jacqueline Gutierrez, CEO of Beauty Backer states: “We’ve carved out a very specific place for small business owners to raise funds without paying fees, we don’t want it to be difficult to get the support you need, we want to make it as easy as possible.”

Beauty Backer is not collecting any fees on contributions to businesses made through COVaid, however, Stripe processing fees will still apply. Gutierrez has reached out to Stripe, without response, to partner on this initiative in hopes that they will waive their processing fees.

COVaid allows these businesses to quickly set up a crowdfunding campaign and start collecting donations from family, friends, loyal customers and anyone else who wants to keep local businesses functioning, and serving the community, when social restrictions are lifted. Gutierrez says: “We want to be sure that our favorite hair salon, pizzeria or bakery is ready, willing and able to reopen when all of this is over. That they are able to raise the funds they need and keep 100% of the contributions.”

Campaign creators are verified by Trulioo, an external 3rd party verification company, before they are approved to launch a campaign to avoid potential fraud risks. Contributors should support local businesses or known brands and conduct their own due diligence to ensure safe transactions.

“This is an opportunity to help your neighbors. The longer they go without support, the more likely these businesses will close their doors and never reopen them, we’re trying to prevent that from happening.” – Jacqueline Gutierrez, CEO – Beauty Backer.