Lifelines

What Lifelines does

Lifelines is a non-profit Dutch research infrastructure operator that runs the largest population-based biobank and cohort study in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Roden (with the Lifestore ultra-low-temperature biobank facility in Groningen), the organisation tracks more than 167,000 multi-generational participants from Northern Netherlands across research rounds held approximately every five years, capturing both questionnaire data and biological samples (blood, urine, faeces, hair). Its operational core is the Lifelines Cohort Study & Biobank, anchored by the robotised, automated -80°C Lifestore facility in Groningen housing 8 million blood tubes, and complemented by sub-studies such as Lifelines NEXT (newborns), ImaLife (CT imaging) and ActiveLIFE (accelerometry). The asset has produced 750+ scientific publications and supports roughly 300 ongoing projects and 250 active researchers, including through add-on datasets such as the Lifelines Corona Onderzoek (1 million+ questionnaires across 31 measurement points between March 2020 and October 2022) and the Dutch Microbiome Project.

The company serves three primary user groups: (i) academic and institutional researchers in the Netherlands and abroad who access longitudinal health data and biological samples through the lifelines-biobank.com application portal, (ii) Dutch national and regional policymakers who use the data for population-health monitoring, evidence-based policy design and policy evaluation (including via dashboards such as Dashboard Brede Welvaart and Monitor Doelgroepen IZA), and (iii) participants in Northern Netherlands who contribute data and biosamples roughly every five years. Distribution combines self-serve researcher access, direct engagement with government agencies, and an intermediary channel network of GGDs, regional plan bureaus (CMO STAMM, FSP, Sociaal Planbureau Groningen) and advisory organisations.

Revenue is structurally mixed rather than commercial: regular research rounds and biobank operations are funded by annual government subsidies (notably 4 million euros per year from the Ministry of VWS for the 2019-2023 third round and 3 million euros per year jointly from UMCG and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen for basic infrastructure), supplemented by fee-based services for researchers (data-preparation and secure-workspace access, custom quotes for biosample use) and supplementary research financed through grants, public-private partnerships and sponsorship. Ownership rests with two academic shareholders (UMCG and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) as a non-profit BV, with no venture capital or private equity investment indicated in the data.

Name

Lifelines

Legal name

Medische Biobank Noord-Nederland B.V.

Website

https://lifelines.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lifelines is a Dutch non-profit operator of the Netherlands' largest population-based biobank and multi-generational cohort study, tracking 167,000 Northern Netherlands participants and providing longitudinal health data and biological samples to academic researchers and public-health policymakers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Population Health Research and Biobanking Services

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare Utilization, Claims & Administrative Data Analytics (HLAJAJAK)

Keywords

• Population health research
• Biobanking services
• Longitudinal cohort study
• Biological sample storage
• Public health data

Headquarters

HQ city

Roden

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government Subsidies: All work related to inviting participants and collecting and storing data and body materials in regular Lifelines research rounds is funded by subsidies. The Ministry of VWS invested 4 million euros per year from 2019 through 2023, and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and UMCG contribute 3 million euros per year together for basic infrastructure.
2. Research Data Access Fees: Researchers pay for the costs of preparing necessary data and for working in a secure environment. Custom quotes are made for the use of body materials or conducting supplementary research.
3. Supplementary Research Funding: Additional research can be financed by research departments, supplementary subsidies and/or sponsorship through public-private partnerships.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lifelines operates the largest biobank and databank in the Netherlands, a multi-generational prospective cohort study following over 167,000 participants from Northern Netherlands via questionnaires and research rounds approximately every five years. It collects and stores health data and biological materials (blood, urine, hair) at -80°C in the automated Lifestore facility, and makes the resulting data, biosamples, and biomonitoring capabilities available to academic researchers, policymakers, and healthcare organizations for population health research and policy development.

Product overview

Lifelines is a large-scale population-based cohort study and biobank representing the largest longitudinal biobank in the world. The core offering is the Lifelines Cohort Study & Biobank, which tracks over 167,000 multi-generational participants from Northern Netherlands through questionnaires and physical examination rounds every five years. This is supported by the Lifestore (robotized -80°C frozen storage for biological samples) and a secure digital research environment for data access. Specialized sub-studies include Lifelines NEXT (newborn tracking), ImaLife (CT imaging), and ActiveLIFE (accelerometry). The Lifelines Corona Onderzoek captured pandemic-era data across 31 measurement points. For policy and public health, Lifelines offers data access services, biosamples and biomonitoring, and add-on monitoring studies, alongside digital tools such as the Dashboard Brede Welvaart (with Sociaal Planbureau Groningen) for broad prosperity monitoring, the Monitor Doelgroepen IZA for care target groups, and the Datawerkplaats Mentale Gezondheid for mental health policy support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lifelines Cohort Study & Biobank Large-scale, multi-generational prospective cohort study tracking over 167,000 participants from Northern Netherlands every five years, collecting health questionnaires and biological samples for scientific research into healthy aging, disease prevention, and health determinants.
• Lifelines NEXT Sub-cohort following newborns and their parents from the original Lifelines cohort, tracking early-life health and development factors.
• ImaLife Add-on imaging study within Lifelines involving low-dose CT scans of the chest for participants aged 45 and older, examining lung nodules and cardiovascular health.
• ActiveLIFE (Beweegmeter) Physical activity monitoring using wearable accelerometers worn by participants for 8 days to measure motion patterns and physical activity levels.
• Lifelines Corona Onderzoek (COVID-19 Research) Longitudinal COVID-19 study conducted between March 2020 and October 2022, collecting 31 measurement points with over 1 million completed questionnaires examining long-term physical and mental health impacts of the pandemic.
• Dashboard Brede Welvaart Interactive online dashboard co-developed with Sociaal Planbureau Groningen, providing policymakers with visualized indicators on health, housing, well-being, participation, and social cohesion at municipal and neighborhood levels in Groningen.
• Datawerkplaats Mentale Gezondheid Collaborative data workspace integrating Lifelines longitudinal mental health data with regional data sources, featuring an interactive dashboard to help municipalities and GGD Drenthe identify early signals, risk groups, and trends in mental health.
• Datawerkplaats Noord Collaborative data workspace led by UMCG in partnership with Sociaal Planbureau Groningen, Zorgbelang Groningen, GGD Groningen, and Datapoort, supporting organizations in Northern Netherlands with data-driven health policy development.

Quantifiable outcome

• 600+ scientific publications and 300 ongoing research projects demonstrate the platform's research output
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UMCG (Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLifelines originated under UMCG and is a shareholder of the company. UMCG provides scientific leadership and co-funds basic infrastructure at 3 million euros per year. Deep operational collaboration including shared facilities, research projects, and personnel.
• Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-shareholder of Lifelines BV, contributing 3 million euros per year for basic infrastructure. Academic collaboration for research projects including the Dutch Microbiome Project led by UMCG/RUG researchers.
• McGill UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partner contributing to international research collaboration and knowledge exchange in population health research.
• Wageningen UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in nutrition and health research, supporting population health studies using Lifelines data.
• CBS (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek)coreTechnology or IntegrationNational statistics agency enabling data linkage and enrichment with socioeconomic data for policy research. Supports monitoring of health trends at national level.
• RIVMcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational public health institute conducting research using Lifelines data for health monitoring, including COVID-19 studies, salt intake research, and menopause/heart health policy studies.
• TNOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerApplied research organization collaborating on public health and prevention research using population health data.
• GGD Drenthe, GGD Fryslan, GGD GroningencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional public health services collaborating on health monitoring and policy support in Northern Netherlands provinces.
• Sociaal Planbureau GroningencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating on data-driven policy development, including joint dashboard development for broad welfare (brede welvaart) monitoring and a 4-year minimum partnership.
• CMO STAMMminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional research bureau acting as intermediary helping formulate research questions, perform data analyses, and translate results into policy recommendations for policymakers.
• Zorgbelang GroningenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare advocacy organization collaborating in Datawerkplaats Noord project for regional health improvement.
• Hartstichting (Dutch Heart Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating with UMC Utrecht on research using Lifelines data to analyze cardiovascular risk factors across Dutch population groups.
• SWOVminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitute for Road Safety Research collaborating on cycling safety policy research using Lifelines longitudinal data.
• Provincies Fryslân, Groningen en DrenthecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThree Northern Netherlands provinces supporting cycling safety research and regional health initiatives using Lifelines data.
• Aletta Jacobs School of Public HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic health research school collaborating on COVID-19 research and broader population health initiatives with Lifelines and UMCG.
• University of CambridgeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partner in health research collaboration.
• Amsterdam UMCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic medical center partner in national research collaboration network.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• UK Biobank: The world's flagship large-scale prospective population biobank (~500,000 participants) with deep longitudinal phenotyping and biosamples. Closest direct comparable to Lifelines in mission, scale of cohort, researcher-access model, and public-good orientation.
• Estonian Biobank (EstBB): National population biobank at the University of Tartu with >200,000 participants and deep genomic/phenotypic linkage. Comparable in biobank scale, prospective longitudinal design, and researcher-access business model.
• Generation R: Dutch population-based birth and pediatric cohort study co-located with Erasmus MC; directly comparable to Lifelines NEXT sub-cohort in mission and prospective pediatric/family cohort design in the Netherlands.
• FinnGen: Finnish population biobank combining genomic and longitudinal health-record data at national scale. Comparable to Lifelines in cohort-based public-health infrastructure with biobank storage and researcher access services.
• All of Us Research Program: NIH-led US precision-medicine cohort of >1 million participants collecting biosamples, surveys, and EHR data. Directly comparable as a national-scale prospective biobank with multi-institutional research access.

Broad incumbents

• CBS (Statistics Netherlands): National statistics agency partnering with Lifelines for socioeconomic data linkage. Comparable as a public-sector data infrastructure player serving policymakers, though at a population-statistics rather than cohort-biosample layer.
• BBMRI-ERIC: European research infrastructure consortium coordinating national biobanks including Lifelines-adjacent Dutch nodes. Comparable as the umbrella over European biobank federation, governance standards, and cross-border data/sample sharing.
• RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment): Dutch national public-health institute that itself consumes Lifelines data for sodium/iodine intake, COVID-19, and policy research. Adjacent as a customer and broader public-health analytics authority on overlapping population-health territory.

Emerging players

• deCODE genetics: Icelandic population genomics powerhouse combining biobanking with population-scale genetic discovery. Comparable in cohort-driven discovery model; differentiated by its commercial structure versus Lifelines' public-good BV status.
• EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition): Multi-country European prospective cohort of >500,000 participants focused on nutrition and cancer; comparable to Lifelines as a long-running prospective multi-country cohort study feeding epidemiological research.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lifelinesnl
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCcSF4HeBXoJCOAfBN0XmoVA
• Facebookfacebook.com/LifeLinesNL
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lifelinesnl
• Instagraminstagram.com/lifelines_nl

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

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 Lifelines