Temasek Trust’s Philanthropy Asia Alliance Expands India Network

Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA), the Asia-focused collaborative philanthropy initiative by Singapore’s Temasek Trust, announced support for two India-based impact ventures: Rocket Learning, an early-age education project, and Frontier Innovations’ She Leads Bharat: Udyam, which connects rural women shopkeepers with commerce platform Frontier Markets through an AI-powered app, Meri Saheli.

PAA also onboarded Mumbai-based strategic philanthropy organisation Dasra, adding to existing Indian members Aditya Birla Education Trust, Shiv Nadar Foundation and Bharti Airtel Foundation. The alliance has a network of around 110 funder members, network and programme partners across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and West Asia.

In three years of operations, PAA has mobilised about $615 million across more than 300 programmes, focused on its three mandates: health, inclusive development and climate.

Shaun Seow, CEO of PAA, said the alliance groups members into communities around specific areas such as energy transition, ocean philanthropy or health, with five such communities currently active. He cited examples of PAA-backed projects scaling across borders, including OneSky, a STEM education pedagogy project from Vietnam now adopted by the Vietnamese government and being explored for the Philippines, and a climate-friendly rice cultivation project with the Gates Foundation running pilots in South India, Indonesia and Laos.

On expanding Rocket Learning beyond India, Seow said the model would need local adaptation rather than direct transfer. PAA has also held talks with Piramal Foundation on tuberculosis work, given the shared challenge across India and Indonesia.

On AI, PAA is funding a pilot with the Gates Foundation and Temasek Foundation across five Southeast Asian countries to build a machine-learning model for infectious disease surveillance, using contextual data to trace outbreak origins faster.

“India offers a very rich tapestry to develop solutions. It is multifaceted. There are challenges, but there are also many interesting solutions emerging,” Seow said.