Funding profile · Nonprofit microbiome infrastructure

OpenBiome

OpenBiome is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. There is no cap table, no Form D and no equity round to read. The capital record is twelve consecutive IRS Form 990 filings, showing an organization funded mostly by the fees it charged for material it shipped.

$45.4MTotal revenue across twelve Form 990 filings, fiscal 2013 to 2024
$10.5MPeak year revenue, fiscal 2019
$2.19MFiscal 2024 revenue, 79 percent below the 2019 peak
$7.59MNet assets at the close of fiscal 2024

Data as of September 22, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled. All financial figures are from IRS Form 990 filings for EIN 46-1681862.

Where the money came from

Period Source of funds Amount Counterparty Source
2014 to 2024 Net inventory sales, the fee for material shipped $25,556,702 Hospitals and clinics Form 990
2013 to 2024 Program service revenue $7,051,075 Not itemized Form 990
2013 to 2024 Contributions and grants $4,724,869 Donors, not named Form 990
2017 to 2021 Royalties $3,725,000 Payer not named Form 990
2018 to 2024 Net gain on sales of assets $3,421,838 Concentrated in 2020 and 2021 Form 990
2013 to 2024 Investment income $824,864 Reserves Form 990
Any year Venture or equity financing $0 None No Form D found

What the filings show

Fiscal 2019 · Form 990 · filed Nov 13, 2020

Total revenue
$10,542,189
Net inventory sales
$9,610,021 · 91.2 percent of revenue
Total expenses
$6,108,448
Executive compensation
$801,971 · 13.1 percent of expenses
Net income
$4,433,741
Net assets at year end
$7,321,136

Fiscal 2021 · Form 990 · filed Nov 10, 2022

Total revenue
$6,330,530
Royalties
$1,325,000
Net gain on sales of assets
$2,379,128
Net inventory sales
$364,090
Net income
$3,084,694
Net assets at year end
$9,443,681

Fiscal 2024 · Form 990 · filed Nov 17, 2025

Total revenue
$2,188,887
Net inventory sales
$1,712,357 · 78.2 percent of revenue
Investment income
$325,422 · 14.9 percent
Contributions
$118,937 · 5.4 percent
Program service revenue
$0
Total expenses
$3,364,609
Executive compensation
$697,473 · 20.7 percent of expenses
Net income
Negative $1,175,722
Net assets at year end
$7,593,006
Highest paid
Julie O’Brien, chief executive officer, $238,319 plus $40,452 other
Board
Nine directors listed, all at $0

Reading the filings

  1. There is no equity story here.No Form D appears under OpenBiome or any related vehicle, and none would be expected. A 501(c)(3) has no shareholders and issues no stock. The question is not who owns it but who pays for it, and whether that covers the costs.
  2. It was fee funded, not donor funded.Net inventory sales, the charge for material shipped, came to $25,556,702 of $45,394,764 in total revenue, or 56.3 percent. Contributions were $4,724,869, or 10.4 percent. The bank ran like a cost recovery business under a nonprofit charter.
  3. One year carries the balance sheet.Fiscal 2019 alone produced $9,610,021 of inventory sales and $4,433,741 of net income, more than half the $7,593,006 of net assets on the 2024 balance sheet.
  4. Royalties ran for five years, then stopped.The 990s record $3,725,000 of royalty income from 2017 through 2021 and $0 from 2022 onward, plus $3,421,838 of net gains on sales of assets, concentrated in 2020 at $1,000,000 and 2021 at $2,379,128. The filings name neither payer nor buyer. A license agreement dated November 19, 2020, filed with the SEC by Finch Therapeutics, names Microbiome Health Research Institute, Inc., doing business as OpenBiome, as a counterparty to a broader asset purchase. The 990s do not connect the two, and neither does this page.
  5. Spending did not follow revenue down.From 2022 through 2024 it took in $8,679,799 and spent $10,344,562, a gap of $1,664,763 out of reserves. Executive compensation was 13.1 percent of expenses in 2019 and 20.7 percent in 2024: the denominator shrank faster than the pay.
  6. Twelve years reconcile.Revenue of $45,394,764 against expenses of $37,727,981 leaves $7,666,783, within about one percent of the $7,593,006 of net assets reported for the end of fiscal 2024.

Commercial signals

Signal Detail Source type
Regulatory No approved product. Distribution ran under FDA enforcement discretion from July 2013 until the November 2022 final guidance withdrew that policy from stool banks. Public record
Safety FDA safety alert of March 12, 2020; the April 6 update named OpenBiome and imposed nucleic acid donor testing. Three donors recalled. Public record
Volume 72,507 treatments to more than 1,300 clinical partners. Last shipment December 2024. Company-stated
Current activity Invitation only grantmaking, a biobank and advocacy. No distribution revenue after 2024. Company-stated

What to watch

  • The fiscal 2025 Form 990, the first full year with no distribution. At 2024 spending of $3.36 million, reserves of $7.59 million fund about two years.
  • Whether contributions replace fees. They were $118,937 in 2024 against $785,396 in 2023.
  • Any outcome from the investigational new drug protocol filed on November 29, 2024.

The OpenBiome story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

Related companies

  • Evolvere BioSciences: Also in Therapeutics. An Oxford spinout designing protein based antibiotics meant to stay ahead of bacterial resistance instead of losing to it
  • HepaTx: Also in Therapeutics. A Stanford spinout turning liposuction fat into liver cells, aiming to replace a transplant with an infusion
  • SFA Therapeutics: Also in Therapeutics. A Temple University spinout turning short chain fatty acids from the human gut into oral pills
  • Persephone Biosciences: Also in Therapeutics. It mapped the gut microbiomes of hundreds of American babies, published the findings, then built a supplement out of them

Sources

  1. Public recordIRS Form 990 series, Openbiome Foundation Inc, EIN 46-1681862, fiscal 2013 to 2024IRS via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · accessed Sep 23, 2026
  2. Public recordLMIC license agreement naming Microbiome Health Research Institute, Inc. and Finch TherapeuticsSEC exhibit · Nov 19, 2020
  3. Public recordEnforcement policy on IND requirements for FMT, final guidance, docket FDA-2013-D-0811FDA CBER · Nov 2022
  4. Public recordDonor testing for EPEC and STEC, naming OpenBiomeFDA · Apr 6, 2020
  5. IndependentOpenBiome to wind down stool bank operationsSTAT · Feb 23, 2021
  6. IndependentEasy Access to Conventional FMT Continues, for NowMedscape · 2024
  7. PartnerUniversity of Minnesota collaboration with OpenBiomeUniv. of Minnesota · Jan 20, 2022
  8. CompanyOur Story, Our Impact and grant program pagesOpenBiome · Sep 2026

Compiled from IRS, SEC and FDA public records and published reports as of September 22, 2026. Form 990 figures are as filed and may be amended. OpenBiome is a tax exempt nonprofit corporation and issues no securities. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in OpenBiome. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.