Susquehanna Foundation
Susquehanna Foundation is a large private grantmaking foundation in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, not a water fund. Endowed at roughly $599 million and run by the founders of trading firm Susquehanna International Group, it has touched water only twice, backing flood-sensor maker Hohonu and circular-sanitation startup Wasted. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional as of 2026.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Susquehanna Foundation is not a water investor in any normal sense of the phrase. It is a roughly $599 million private grantmaking foundation in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, run by Arthur Dantchik and Jeff Yass, the billionaire co-founders of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group, and named, like the firm, after the river that runs down from New York through Pennsylvania. Its day job is philanthropy: education, human services, and the unglamorous machinery of giving money away.
Susquehanna Foundation reaches water the way a generalist foundation usually does, through the side door of climate and impact. Its two water bets are Hohonu, a Hawaii startup whose solar-powered sensors read coastal water levels in real time to warn of flooding, and Wasted, a Vermont company that pulls fertiliser nutrients back out of human urine. In both, Susquehanna wrote a small cheque inside a crowd of dedicated climate funds, among them Builders Vision, Elemental, Echo River Capital and the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, rather than leading the deal itself. The lead is the investor who sets the terms and puts up the biggest cheque, and Susquehanna has led none of its water rounds.
Susquehanna Foundation is, in short, an occasional water backer rather than a water strategy, which is exactly how (don't) Waste Water scores it: two companies, two deals, last money in 2023, water commitment Occasional. The useful read for a newcomer is what kind of water it likes: not pipes and treatment plants, but the data-and-sanitation edge of the climate movement, the sensor on the seawall and the nutrient pulled from waste. If a third water cheque ever lands here, expect it to look like those two, and to ride alongside the same climate crowd rather than out in front of it.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- Does Susquehanna Foundation invest in water?
- Susquehanna Foundation is a general private foundation, not a water fund. It has backed just two water-related companies, the flood-sensor startup Hohonu and the sanitation startup Wasted, both in 2023. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional, reflecting that limited, side-of-the-desk exposure.
- What does Susquehanna Foundation invest in?
- Susquehanna Foundation is primarily a grantmaking foundation focused on education, human services and philanthropy across Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia. Its rare direct startup cheques skew toward climate and impact, including two water companies working on coastal flood sensors and recovering nutrients from waste.
- Who runs Susquehanna Foundation?
- Susquehanna Foundation is run by Arthur Dantchik as president and Jeff Yass as vice president, the co-founders of the Bala Cynwyd trading firm Susquehanna International Group. The foundation is their philanthropic vehicle, established in 1994 and named, like the firm, after the Susquehanna River.
- Where is Susquehanna Foundation based?
- Susquehanna Foundation is based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the same suburb of Philadelphia where the trading firm Susquehanna International Group is headquartered. It is a United States private foundation, established in 1994, with an endowment of roughly $599 million as of 2026.
- Is Susquehanna Foundation the same as Susquehanna International Group?
- No. Susquehanna International Group is a global trading firm, while Susquehanna Foundation is the separate private charitable foundation set up by its founders. Neither should be confused with Susquehanna Health, a Pennsylvania hospital system, or with river-conservation groups that share the Susquehanna name.