Purpose

Growth

Ethos

People

How We Evolved

Octava Foundation started in 2016, founded by individuals who believe in equitable education for every child.

Today, the Foundation takes a venture philanthropy and social innovation lens to building programs, organizations and ecosystems in Singapore and the Southeast Asia region, focusing on education equity, student finance and mental wellbeing of children and youth.

2025

Taking the chair of the International Education Funders Group (IEFG) and hosting its Annual Meeting -IEFG Together 2025- in Singapore

2024

  • First in-country investment for Thailand in partnership with Starfish Education
  • Seed-funded the Wonder Arc Fund in Singapore through The Majurity Trust to attract matched funds to boost young learner equity
  • Started groundwork for a new domain in Mental Wellbeing

2023

  • Conducted a landscape assessment of Thailand, seeking investments aligned to our education goals in foundational literacy and numeracy
  • Kickstarted the Octava Knowledge Series – to share what we’ve learnt and encouraging further sharing amongst implementing stakeholders
  • Conducted a landscape assessment of literacy and numeracy initiatives existing outside of Singapore schools, as a key investment interest area for Young Learners Fund

2022

  • Launched the Young Learners Fund – for Singapore, and the Social Innovation Fund, our index fund for the region. Both funds deploy a venture philanthropy approach, identifying social-purpose partners solving for specific inequities in education in Singapore and the region
  • With a regional emphasis on social innovation – partnered MIT Solve to launch a prize challenge for accessible and affordable ed-tech solutions for underserved learners in Southeast Asia
  • Conducted a landscape assessment of foundational literacy and numeracy support initiatives existing out of schools, in Singapore as a key investment interest

2021

  • Commissioned first research – ‘Towards Greater Equity Among Young Learners in Singapore’ and ‘Edtech in Southeast Asia’, investigating issues and solutions upfront as part of Octava’s new strategic approach
  • First investment for student finance in the region– income-sharing agreements for under-resourced youths in Southeast Asia

2020

  • Launched a short-term emergency student finance scheme in response to tertiary students impacted by Covid19 (E2 Fund)
  • COVID-19 shutdowns slowed the progress of work, giving opportunity for a strategic review. The Octava steering team re-assessed priorities to deepen focus in two key grantmaking verticals of Student Finance and Education, re-aligning resources to intentions for both our portfolios in Singapore and the region

2019

  • First regional grant in Vietnam (OneSky)

2018

  • First collective impact grant (Singapore Youth Impact Collective)
  • First open grant-call – Dare to Dream – focusing on the educational, socio-emotional, financial, training and employability needs of underserved children and youth

2017

  • Founded in 2016, became a registered grantmaker in 2017
  • First grantmaking vertical – Student Finance, awarding bursaries to local tertiary students.