Tanoto Foundation

What Tanoto Foundation does

Tanoto Foundation is an independent family philanthropy organization founded in 1981 by Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto and formally established in Singapore in 2001. It operates across three verticals: Education (early childhood development through SIGAP in Indonesia and HOPE in China; basic education through PINTAR; university scholarships including TELADAN in Indonesia and BEACON in Singapore), Healthcare (medical research professorships with SingHealth Duke-NUS in diabetes, oncology, and cardiovascular medicine; child and maternal health programs with KKH; the Diabetes Reversal Programme with NHG; and a national stunting reduction program in Indonesia), and Leadership Development (the TELADAN and BEACON scholarships, the Tanoto Foundation Fellowship Programme, Government Capacity Building with LAN, and the Belt & Road Talent Development Program with Tsinghua University). The foundation delivers programs through grants, scholarships, and fellowships implemented via partnerships with government ministries, universities, and international organizations including UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, and the Gates Foundation.

The foundation's operating geographies span Indonesia (Jakarta office, Jl. M.H. Thamrin No. 31), Singapore (headquarters at 80 Raffles Place, UOB Plaza 1), and China (Beijing office, East Fortune Time Plaza). It maintains a workforce of 101–250 employees and reaches millions of beneficiaries — 1,360,741 students through PINTAR, 76,556 children through SIGAP, 8,803+ TELADAN scholars since 2006, and 15M+ people through its UNICEF stunting partnership. Documented impact metrics include a 39% student performance increase and 27% teacher quality improvement under PINTAR, and Indonesia stunting prevalence reduced from 30.8% (2018) to 19.8% (2024).

The foundation has no commercial revenue and does not sell products or services; it is funded through endowment and ongoing contributions from its founders. Governance is provided by a Board of Trustees composed of family principals (Andre, Imelda, Belinda, Anderson Tanoto, You Ning) and an external medical advisor (Dr. Ng Choon Ta). Its only technology-mediated product is the e-PINTAR digital learning platform, launched in 2021. Core revenue model is philanthropic giving deployed through direct implementation partnerships rather than commercial channels, and pricing is not applicable as beneficiaries receive grants, scholarships, and fellowships at no cost.

Name

Tanoto Foundation

Legal name

Tanoto Foundation

Website

https://tanotofoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Tanoto Foundation is an independent Singapore-based family philanthropy founded in 1981 that funds education, healthcare, and leadership development programs across Indonesia, Singapore, and China through grants, scholarships, and partnerships with governments, universities, and international organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Foundation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family Offices & Philanthropic Advisors (Grantmaking) (BPAGAKAD), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

Keywords

• Family philanthropy
• Education grants
• Healthcare research funding
• Leadership scholarships
• Human capital development

Headquarters

HQ city

Jakarta

HQ country

Indonesia

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Giving: As an independent family foundation, Tanoto Foundation generates no commercial revenue. It operates through endowment and ongoing contributions from founders Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto to fund education, healthcare, and leadership development programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Tanoto Foundation is an independent family philanthropy that funds and operates programs across three pillars: Education (early childhood development and basic education improvement), Healthcare (medical research professorships and public health initiatives), and Leadership Development (scholarships, fellowships, and government capacity building). It delivers impact through grants, scholarships, fellowships, and multi-stakeholder partnerships with governments, universities, healthcare systems, and NGOs in Indonesia, Singapore, and China.

Product overview

Tanoto Foundation is an independent family foundation that operates a portfolio of interconnected programs across three focus areas: Education, Healthcare, and Leadership Development. In Education, the foundation offers early childhood development through SIGAP (Indonesia) and HOPE (China), and basic education improvement through PINTAR (Indonesia). In Healthcare, it funds medical research professorships and initiatives in diabetes, oncology, and cardiovascular medicine through SingHealth Duke-NUS, while also addressing public health through stunting reduction programs. In Leadership Development, the foundation provides scholarship programs TELADAN (Indonesia) and BEACON (Singapore), a one-year fellowship program, government capacity building initiatives, and the Belt & Road Talent Development Program. The foundation operates across Indonesia, Singapore, China, and Brazil, with partnerships spanning government agencies, academic institutions, international organizations, and NGOs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 39% increase in student performance over 3-year PINTAR intervention
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

36 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Foundation partners with SingHealth Duke-NUS to establish Professorships and Research Initiatives in Diabetes, Medical Oncology, and Cardiovascular Medicine. Three Tanoto Foundation Professorships have been established supporting research in these key areas.
• KK Women's and Children's HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Child and Maternal Health Programme (CHaMP) and CRADLE initiative focused on early childhood development and maternal health research and programs.
• National Healthcare GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Diabetes Reversal Programme with Tanoto Foundation funding to control blood sugar levels through behavioral change without medication or surgery.
• Gates FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMOU signed in 2025 to address critical issues in Health, Nutrition and Education in Asia. Gates Foundation co-funds World Bank MDTF for stunting reduction (USD 7.61M contribution).
• World BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrant to World Bank's Multi Donor Trust Fund supporting Indonesia Human Capital Acceleration (IHCA) initiative for stunting prevention and education quality improvement.
• UNICEFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour-year programme 'Unlocking Future Potential with Nutrition: Towards Zero Stunting' supporting government stunting reduction efforts in Central Java and South Sulawesi.
• UNDPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-initiated SDG Academy Indonesia as a learning hub to localize SDGs in Indonesia, in partnership with Bappenas.
• Tsinghua UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMPA-BRI Executive Master's Program partnership for Belt and Road Initiative talent development. Full scholarships provided by Tanoto Foundation for the program.
• Wharton School, University of PennsylvaniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Initiative established at Wharton School for research and education in Asia.
• OceanXminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for ocean education and exploration. Tanoto Foundation supports student participation in OceanX Education programs and onboard ship tours.
• Nanyang Technological University SingaporecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBEACON scholarship program partner for leadership development in Singapore.
• Singapore Management UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBEACON scholarship program partner for leadership development in Singapore.
• Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Scholarship program at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.
• Duke-NUS Medical SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Foundation Medical Research Fund supporting medical research to improve population health in Singapore and beyond.
• Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTELADAN scholarship program partner for leadership development in Indonesia.
• Institut Teknologi BandungcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTELADAN scholarship program partner for leadership development in Indonesia.
• Universitas Gadjah MadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTELADAN scholarship program partner for leadership development in Indonesia.
• Universitas IndonesiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTELADAN scholarship program partner for leadership development in Indonesia.
• National Institute of Public Administration (LAN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment Capacity Building program partnership to improve policymaking effectiveness and government leader competencies.
• Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Indonesia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPINTAR program partnership for improving basic education quality, literacy and numeracy across partner districts.
• National Cancer Centre SingaporecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for tackling Asian-prevalent cancers including breast cancer, T/NK-cell lymphomas, and bile duct cancer.
• Singapore National Eye CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGene therapy research for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in partnership with Singapore Eye Research Institute.
• Singapore General HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for diabetes risk study in young Singaporeans.
• Harvard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Foundation Global Opportunity: Asia Fellowship Fund.
• INSEADcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Research & Learning Hub partnership.
• Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJohn L. Ward Center for Family Enterprises partnership.
• Asia Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMembership and leadership in Holistic and Inclusive Education Community.
• Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of Asia Philanthropy Circle.
• Huaqiao UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTanoto Scholarship program for Chinese students.
• Temasek FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership in philanthropy and social impact.
• Bakti Barito FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPASTI stunting partnership.
• Business ChinacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYES-Tanoto Foundation Award for business leadership development.
• Heartware NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeartware – East Coast Sustainable Youth Leadership Development Programme.
• UNESCOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYAR-TSRA (Youth as Researchers – Tanoto Student Research Awards).
• Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation research and assessment partnership.
• Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs (Indonesia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-sectoral collaboration for stunting reduction, ECED, PINTAR, and TELADAN programs.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Yayasan Hasanah: Malaysian family-linked foundation funding education, community development, and the arts across Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Comparable as a Southeast Asian foundation with multi-sector grantmaking in the same region as Tanoto's Indonesia and Singapore work.

Direct peers

• Temasek Foundation: Singapore-headquartered philanthropic foundation backing programs in education, healthcare, and community development across Asia. Direct strategic partner of Tanoto Foundation and most directly comparable in mandate, geography, and partnership-driven grantmaking model.
• Li Ka Shing Foundation: Hong Kong-based family foundation founded by Li Ka-shing funding education, healthcare, and disaster relief across Asia and globally. Highly comparable as an Asian family foundation with multi-sector grantmaking and a similarly long operating history.
• Mastercard Foundation: Large foundation focused on education and economic inclusion, particularly in Africa and increasingly Asia. Comparable through its scholarship-and-leadership model (e.g., secondary and tertiary education programs) and youth employment mandate that overlaps with Tanoto's TELADAN/BEACON scholarships.
• Lee Foundation: Singapore-based family foundation of the Lee family supporting education and healthcare in Singapore and the region. Comparable in being a family-controlled Asian foundation with education and healthcare focus and Singapore presence.

Broad incumbents

• Aga Khan Foundation: Global development foundation funding education, health, and civil society across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Comparable in running multi-country, multi-sector grantmaking programs targeting education quality, ECED, and leadership pipelines.
• Gates Foundation: Largest global foundation focused on global health, education, and poverty, with major Asia portfolios. Active strategic partner of Tanoto (2025 MOU) and comparable in funding education and public health at population scale, though at vastly greater asset size.
• Rockefeller Foundation: Historic US foundation with major Asia portfolios in public health, education, and food systems. Comparable in partnering with Asian governments on system-level health and education initiatives and in funding research chairs at major academic institutions.

Emerging players

• Wellcome Trust: UK-based independent foundation primarily funding global health and medical research, including in Asia. Comparable in funding endowed professorships and medical research programs (e.g., diabetes, infectious disease) that mirror Tanoto's SingHealth Duke-NUS partnership model.
• Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF): Large global foundation focused on child health, nutrition, and education, with active stunting-reduction and ECED portfolios in Asia and Africa. Closely comparable to Tanoto's SIGAP/HOPE early childhood and stunting programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/tanotofoundation
• LinkedInsg.linkedin.com/company/tanoto-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/tanotoeducation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments2 records

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Frequently asked questions about Tanoto Foundation