Squarepoint Foundation

Charity Number: 1195690

Annual Expenditure: £3.2M
Geographic Focus: Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Switzerland, United States ... [1 more]

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Quick Stats

  • Annual Expenditure: £3,232,284 (2024)
  • Annual Income: £3,369,984 (2023)
  • Geographic Focus: International (UK, US, Canada, France, India, Singapore, and crisis zones)
  • Grant Range: £25,000 - £100,000 (university scholarships)
  • Application Process: No public applications accepted
  • Founded: 2021

Contact Details

Address: CityPoint, 1 Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9HU

Email: trustees@squarepoint-foundation.com

Phone: 020 3695 7224

Website: https://squarepoint-foundation.com/

Overview

Squarepoint Foundation is a UK-registered charity (CIO - Foundation) established in September 2021 by Squarepoint Capital, an international quantitative investment management firm. With an annual expenditure exceeding £3.2 million, the foundation operates across three strategic pillars: supporting communities in need, advancing STEM research and education, and providing humanitarian crisis relief. Since inception, the foundation has partnered with 22 community charities, 14 universities, and 19 youth STEM programs across seven countries where Squarepoint Capital maintains offices (UK, US, Canada, France, India, Singapore, and Switzerland). The foundation operates through an employee-driven nomination model and proactive partnership identification rather than accepting unsolicited applications, making it a unique institutional funder in the UK charitable landscape.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The foundation does not operate traditional grant programs with open applications. Instead, it makes strategic funding decisions across three core areas:

People in Need

  • Community Partnerships: Since 2022, partnered with 22 charities active in communities where Squarepoint Capital has offices (London, New York, Boston, Houston, Montreal, Paris, Bangalore, Singapore, Madrid, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Zug)
  • Focus Areas: Food banks, children's services, healthcare foundations
  • Grant Amounts: Not publicly disclosed

Research & Education in STEM

  • University Scholarships: Partnerships with 14 universities globally
  • Oxford University: Up to four partial scholarships of £25,000 each annually for MSc in Mathematical and Computational Finance, with preference for students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds (partnership since 2023)
  • Carnegie Mellon University: $100,000 annually to support five students in the Master of Science in Computational Finance program
  • Georgia Tech: $100,000 for five Computer Science majors demonstrating financial need ($10,000 per year for two years each)
  • University of Toronto: Scholarships for six Master of Mathematical Finance graduates
  • IIT Delhi: Rs. 1,00,000 (approximately £9,500) per annum for B.Tech/Dual degree Mathematics students with family income below Rs. 10 lacs, based on JEE Advance rank and minimum CGPA of 8.0
  • Youth STEM Programs: Partnerships with 19 organizations including Code.org and Scratch Foundation
  • Grant Amounts: £25,000 - £100,000 per partnership

Crisis Relief

  • Humanitarian Response: Rapid deployment funding for global crises since 2021
  • Previous Recipients: British Red Cross, UNICEF, UN agencies
  • Crisis Events Supported: Ukrainian war humanitarian relief, Libyan flooding (2023), Morocco earthquake (2023), Turkey and Syria earthquakes (2023)
  • Grant Amounts: Not publicly disclosed

Priority Areas

  • STEM education at leading quantitative and computational finance programs
  • Financial need-based scholarships with focus on socio-economic disadvantage
  • Community organizations in locations where Squarepoint Capital operates
  • Humanitarian disaster relief with established international agencies
  • Youth coding and computational thinking programs

What They Don't Fund

The foundation's explicit exclusions are not publicly documented, but their pattern of giving suggests they do not fund:

  • Organizations outside their three core pillars
  • Individual applicants (except through university scholarship programs)
  • General operating costs for organizations without strategic alignment
  • Projects in locations without Squarepoint Capital presence (for community grants)
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Governance and Leadership

The foundation is governed by three trustees who receive no remuneration, payments, or benefits from the charity. Individual trustee names are not publicly disclosed. The foundation's charitable purpose is broadly defined as “to advance such charitable purposes (according to the law of England and Wales) as the trustees see fit from time to time,” providing maximum flexibility for strategic grantmaking decisions.

The foundation receives funding from Squarepoint Capital and operates as an independent charitable entity while maintaining strong links to the parent company's employee engagement programs.

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

Critical Information: Squarepoint Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications for support. According to their official website: “Squarepoint Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications for support.”

All funding decisions are made internally through:

  1. Employee Nominations: Squarepoint Capital employees can nominate organizations to become charitable partners
  2. Proactive Identification: Trustees proactively identify and approach organizations for partnership
  3. Employee Matching: The foundation operates a donation matching program for employee contributions to causes of their choice
  4. University Partnerships: Universities are approached directly by the foundation to establish scholarship programs

For Students: Scholarship opportunities are available by applying to the standard programs at partner universities (Oxford, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, University of Toronto, IIT Delhi). No separate foundation application is required - students are automatically considered through their university applications.

Decision Timeline

Not applicable - no public application process exists. University scholarship selection occurs according to each institution's academic calendar, typically during the standard admissions cycle.

Application Success Factors

While organizations cannot apply directly to Squarepoint Foundation, understanding their funding patterns reveals strategic insights:

For Organizations Seeking to Be Noticed

Geographic Alignment: The foundation shows clear preference for organizations operating in cities where Squarepoint Capital has offices. Charities in London, New York, Boston, Houston, Montreal, Paris, Bangalore, Singapore, Madrid, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Zug are most likely to be considered.

Employee Connection: Having Squarepoint Capital employees actively engaged with your organization (as volunteers, board members, or donors) appears to be the primary pathway to consideration, given the employee nomination model.

Crisis Response: For humanitarian organizations, demonstrated expertise in rapid crisis response and established infrastructure for international deployment positions organizations favorably when disasters occur.

STEM Excellence: Universities with distinguished quantitative finance, computational finance, mathematics, or computer science programs aligned with Squarepoint Capital's business focus are natural partners.

For Students Seeking Scholarships

Financial Need: All university scholarship programs explicitly prioritize students demonstrating financial need or from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Academic Excellence: Strong JEE Advanced ranks (for IIT Delhi) or competitive admission to highly selective programs (Oxford MSc, Carnegie Mellon MSCF, Georgia Tech CS) is required.

Automatic Consideration: Simply apply to the academic program by the standard deadline - scholarship consideration is integrated into the admissions process.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Not a Traditional Funder: This foundation cannot be approached through standard grant applications, making it unsuitable for most grant-seeking organizations unless you have internal connections to Squarepoint Capital employees.
  • Employee-Driven Model: Cultivating relationships with Squarepoint Capital employees in your local community is the only viable pathway to consideration for community grants.
  • Geographic Targeting: Focus efforts on locations with Squarepoint Capital offices - there is no evidence of funding outside these geographic clusters.
  • Crisis Relief Organizations: If you are an established international humanitarian organization (Red Cross, UNICEF, UN agencies), you may be approached during major crisis events without prior relationship.
  • University Partnerships: These appear strategically selected to align with Squarepoint Capital's recruitment pipeline in quantitative finance and computational fields.
  • Student Pathway: For students, this represents a valuable funding source accessible through standard university applications to partner institutions - no special networking required.
  • Transparency Limitations: Limited public reporting on specific grant amounts, partners, and decision criteria makes it difficult to assess fit beyond the broad categories described.

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