Federal Government Intervenes to Provide Relief to Tech Industry After Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

The tech industry was thrown into turmoil over the weekend after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, one of the industry’s top lenders. The bank’s failure was the second largest in U.S. history, leaving many small businesses and startups in a precarious position.

In response, a prominent startup accelerator convinced thousands of CEOs and founders to sign an “urgent” petition calling for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others to offer “relief.”

Vanessa Pham, co-founder of Omsom, an Asian food business, said she was still waiting to get access to cash locked up at the bank as of Monday afternoon.

However, late Sunday, federal officials stepped in to guarantee that all customers of the failed Silicon Valley Bank would have access to their full deposits on Monday. This was done through emergency measures to cover any funds beyond the federally promised $250,000 per depositor limit.

The tech community is still reeling from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, but the federal government’s intervention has provided some much-needed relief. It remains to be seen how the industry will recover from this “extinction-level event.”