NORA

What NORA does

NORA (Nationwide Organ Recovery Transport Alliance) is a US-based organ transportation and logistics company founded in 2012 and headquartered in St. Charles, Illinois. The company provides urgent time-critical transport services for organs, surgical teams, tissue donors, and medical specimens through three primary service lines: air transportation (private charter via dedicated aircraft and an FAA Part 135 network, organ-only flights, and TSA-certified Onboard Courier services on commercial airlines), ground transportation (procurement team and organ transport via Chevrolet Suburbans and Equinoxes equipped with GPS, electronic tablets, lights and sirens), and donor transportation (first-to-market refrigerated Donor Transport Vehicles for tissue donor transport). NORA holds TSA certification as an Indirect Air Carrier and TSA-Known Shipper status, enabling commercial airline cabin transport of organs, tissues, and blood specimens across all major US carriers.

The company's underlying technology platform consists of proprietary dispatch software with personalized customer profiles containing preferences, procurement coordinator contact details, and mission instructions, supported by GPS-based fleet management, nationwide flight tracking, and redundant backup data systems. NORA operates a 24/7/365 Communication Center staffed by transplant-trained dispatch coordinators, with no voicemail or answering service. The company's revenue model is usage-based B2B service fees tied to transport type (air, ground, courier), distance, urgency, and specific mission requirements, delivered through direct sales relationships and multi-year contracts with Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs), transplant centers, tissue recovery organizations, and academic medical centers. Customers include Infinite Legacy, Lifecenter Northwest, LOPA, Lifeline of Ohio, Gift of Life Philadelphia, ARORA, National Kidney Registry, and University of Wisconsin among others.

NORA operates 72 bases across 31 states with over 1,000 transport specialists, providing nationwide coverage with local responsiveness. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds or revenue figures. Cole Bachelder serves as President. The business is differentiated by its 13+ years of specialized focus, regulatory certifications, proprietary refrigerated DTV technology, and deep integration into the organ donation and transplantation ecosystem through long-tenured partnerships and branded vehicle fleet programs.

Name

NORA

Legal name

Nationwide Organ Recovery Transport Alliance

Website

https://noratrans.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

NORA is a US organ transportation and logistics provider founded in 2012, offering air charter, ground transport, commercial airline courier, and refrigerated donor transport services to Organ Procurement Organizations, transplant centers, and tissue recovery organizations across 31 states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Transportation & Logistics

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

akta.pro primary industry

Interfacility Transport (IFT) & Patient Transfer Services (HLAFANAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Facility-Based Patient Transport (Hospitals, SNFs, Dialysis Centers) (TLAFAKAG), Paratransit & NEMT Vehicle Upfitting / Accessibility Equipment Providers (TLAFAKAL)

Keywords

• Organ transportation services
• Medical courier services
• Transplant logistics
• Tissue recovery transport
• Air ambulance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Charles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Organ Transportation Services: NORA provides urgent organ and surgical team transport via air and ground transportation. Revenue is generated through service fees for time-critical medical transport missions.
2. Ground Transportation: Ground transportation specialists provide procurement team transport and courier services. Fees based on transport type and distance.
3. Air Transportation - Charter Services: Dedicated aircraft and network of FAA part 135 air charter operators serving 24/7/365 multi-aircraft availability for organ transport.
4. Commercial Air Services - Onboard Courier: TSA-certified Indirect Air Carrier (IAC) enabling transport of organs, tissues, and blood specimens on all major airlines via Onboard Courier (OBC) service.
5. Donor Transportation - Tissue Services: Refrigerated Donor Transport Vehicles for tissue donor transportation with custom tissue vans featuring commercial refrigeration.
6. Courier Services: Nationwide network of on-call couriers for urgent sample and organ movement between facilities or to commercial air carriers. TSA-Known Shipper status ensures priority handling.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NORA provides urgent organ, tissue, and surgical team transportation via dedicated aircraft, a nationwide FAA Part 135 air charter network, commercial-airline Onboard Courier service, ground transport fleet, and refrigerated Donor Transport Vehicles — all coordinated through a 24/7 proprietary dispatch software platform with GPS fleet tracking. The company sells mission-based transportation services to Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs), transplant centers, and tissue recovery organizations across 31 US states.

Product overview

NORA (Nationwide Organ Recovery Transport Alliance) is an organ transportation and logistics company founded in 2012, operating as a unified platform with multiple integrated services. The core offering consists of the proprietary Donor Transport Vehicle (DTV) for tissue donor transportation, Custom Dispatch Software powering 24/7/365 dispatch operations, and a comprehensive suite of air and ground transportation services including Private Air Charter, Organ-Only Flights, On Board Courier (OBC) Services, Ground Transportation, and Courier Services. The DTV represents a first-to-market proprietary solution, while the Custom Dispatch Software serves as the operational backbone. NORA's TSA certification as an Indirect Air Carrier and Known Shipper enables seamless commercial airline integration for organ, tissue, and blood specimen transport across the United States.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Private Air Charter

Quantifiable outcome

• Extended tissue donor recovery capabilities through refrigerated DTV transport maintaining constant morgue temperatures
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AirMed International: Air ambulance and medical transport operator with fixed-wing capability across the US and internationally. Comparable to NORA in providing time-critical medical transport (organs, patients, specialty teams) via dedicated aircraft, though its portfolio is broader than the organ-recovery niche.
• Angel MedFlight: Air medical transport provider specializing in long-distance, fixed-wing patient and medical team transport. Overlaps with NORA's air charter and surgical-team transport services in mission profile, dispatch coordination, and FAA Part 135 operating model.
• MedFlight: Air and ground medical transport operator with critical care transport capability. Comparable to NORA in air-medical logistics, time-critical response, and trained transportation specialist workforce, though more concentrated regionally.
• American Medical Response (AMR): Largest US medical transport company with nationwide ground and air ambulance footprint. Comparable to NORA in scale, national dispatch infrastructure, and B2B relationships with healthcare systems, but transports patients rather than organs and teams.

Direct peers

• Transplant Logistics Services (TLS): Specialist organ and surgical team transport provider serving OPOs and transplant centers. Directly comparable to NORA in customer base (OPOs/transplant centers), service mix (air, ground, courier), and 24/7 dispatch model.

Emerging players

• Stratos Jet Charters: On-demand private jet charter broker with healthcare/medical transport experience. Comparable to NORA's air charter leg and Organ-Only Flight offering in fleet access model, but lacks NORA's dispatch specialization and clinical hand-off protocols.
• Patient Airlift Services (PALS): Non-profit air medical transport network providing free or low-cost transport for time-sensitive medical needs. Overlaps with NORA in using volunteer/dedicated pilots and small aircraft for urgent, mission-driven medical missions, though without the commercial courier and DTV scope.
• Quick Courier / QuickSTAT (Specialty Couriers): Specialty medical courier serving clinical trial, cell & gene therapy, and time-sensitive specimen logistics with on-board courier capability. Comparable to NORA's commercial airline OBC and TSA-Known Shipper services for biospecimen movement.

Regional players

• LifeSource: Upper-Midwest OPO that operates its own ground fleet and charter relationships for organ transport. Comparable because it both buys from competitors of NORA and acts as an in-house competitor in its DSA — making it a relevant benchmark for vertical integration risk.
• Network for Hope (formerly Indiana Donor Network): Multi-state OPO providing organ and tissue recovery services that include in-house or contracted transportation logistics. Comparable to NORA as both a customer type and, where it self-provides transport, a regional competitor for cross-DSA movements.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@NORA-sn9ni
• Facebookfacebook.com/NationwideOrganRecoveryTransportAlliance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nora----nationwide-organ-recovery-transport-alliance
• Instagraminstagram.com/nora.trans

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NORA