A new pooled fund in Asia, coordinated by the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, will support strengthening healthcare systems in Southeast Asia. The AVPN Philanthropic Pooled Fund is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chevron, Johnson & Johnson, Macquarie Group Foundation, and Sequoia Capital India – all of which have come together to pool $825,000 in a first round of funding. KKR has also committed to funding.

AVPN expects the fund to raise $1.5 million total with second-round funders and commitments to multi-year funding.

‘The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has long believed in the power of collaborative philanthropy to mobilize capital and unite partners to achieve a common goal. We are happy to join this effort to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and strengthen primary healthcare services across Asia,’ said the Gates Foundation, in a statement.

Many Southeast Asian countries have been under pressure as they struggle to manage needs that have arisen during the Covid crisis. India, in particular, has been battling an almost vertical rise in Covid-19 cases over the past month, and the stress on resources to fight the pandemic there have caused the death toll to tragically spike.

AVPN hope their new pooled fund will help provide support for short-term needs in these situations, as well as bolstering straining systems in the medium term.

There has been a ‘severe bottleneck in delivering primary healthcare services across the region,’ AVPN said in a statement.

The new pooled fund will benefit charities and non-profits in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, who can seek support for work that includes building the capacity of frontline healthcare workers, improving clinics’ distribution channels, and access to healthcare technology. The grants will be between $100,000 and $300,000.

Beyond the recently launched fund, AVPN plans to explore the potential for pooled funds to tackle other critical social issues in Asia.

‘The potential for collaborative philanthropy in Southeast Asia is immense,’ said Naina Subberwal Batra, Chairperson and CEO of AVPN. ‘Philanthropic collaboratives are in a unique position to pool resources from like-minded stakeholders. No one organisation can achieve impact at scale – partnering with unusual allies from across the social investor ecosystem reveals opportunities for delivering greater impact in innovative ways.’

To learn more about the AVPN Philanthropic Pooled Fund, visit philanthropicfunds.avpn.asia.