Interplast

What Interplast does

Interplast-Germany e.V. is a registered German nonprofit association (eingetragener Verein) headquartered in Roxheim that provides free plastic and reconstructive surgery to patients in developing countries and crisis regions. It operates through a decentralized network of 13 regional sections (Sektionen) across Germany, each organizing independent volunteer missions of approximately two weeks' duration to partner hospitals in the Global South. Patients are treated for congenital defects (cleft lip and palate), acquired deformities (burn scars, tumors, accident and war injuries), and related conditions, with surgical specialties extending to ophthalmology, orthopedics, and hand surgery.

The organization's "product" is the surgical mission itself, executed by volunteer plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and allied medical staff who donate their time during vacation. Supporting infrastructure includes a permanent operating center built over 20 years ago at the Catholic mission hospital in Puma, Tanzania (used by over 140 Interplast teams), a new operating station built in Kaseye/North Malawi in 2020, and the INTERPLAST-Akademie, an annual educational conference held in Wiesbaden for capacity-building among medical volunteers. The INTERPLAST-Stiftung, established in 2017, provides a tax-deductible endowment vehicle.

Interplast generates no commercial revenue from patient services. Funding is sourced entirely from donations, charitable contributions, and annual membership fees of 30 EUR per member. Supporting organizations such as Pro-Interplast-Germany cover flight costs for teams, while the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) partially finances infrastructure investments at partner hospitals. The organization is governed by volunteer leadership represented by Dr. André Borsche, with secretariat operations managed by Camilla Völpel.

Name

Interplast

Legal name

INTERPLAST-Germany e.V.

Website

https://interplast-germany.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Interplast-Germany e.V. is a German nonprofit that delivers free reconstructive plastic surgery to underserved patients in developing countries through 13 regional volunteer sections conducting mission-based deployments to partner hospitals across Africa, Asia, and South America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Reconstructive Surgery

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Other Similar Organizations (except Business, Professional, Labor, and Political Organizations) (81399)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical Missions & Global Health NGOs (BPAGACAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE), International & Local Implementing NGOs (HLAJAKAD), Emergency Medical Care & Field Hospitals (BPADADAC), Public Health & Medical Volunteering Programs (EDAIAGAC), Humanitarian Health Coordination & Emergency Response Partnerships (HLAJAOAI)

Keywords

• Humanitarian surgical missions
• Reconstructive surgery services
• Volunteer medical programs
• Plastic surgery charity
• Surgical capacity building

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Kreuznach

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees of 30 EUR per year from members, which flow into the donation pool for ongoing projects and deployments.
2. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization operates entirely through donations. All medical professionals work on a voluntary basis. Donations cover flights, medications, bandages, consumables, and transport of equipment. Corporate donors like Pro-Interplast-Germany also fund flight costs for teams.
3. Foundation Endowments (Zustiftungen): The INTERPLAST-Stiftung accepts endowment contributions to build long-term capital for sustainable project financing. Tax-deductible contributions up to 1,000,000 EUR annually, or up to 20% of income for foundations, with unlimited amounts for inheritances/bequests/s gifts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Interplast-Germany e.V. organizes volunteer medical teams that travel to partner hospitals in developing countries to perform free plastic and reconstructive surgeries, including cleft lip and palate repairs, severe burn scar revisions, skin and head tumor removals, hand reconstructions, and trauma surgery. The organization operates entirely on donated funds and volunteer labor, complemented by a training academy for medical professionals and an endowment foundation supporting long-term capacity building.

Product overview

INTERPLAST-Germany e.V. is a decentralized humanitarian medical organization providing voluntary plastic and reconstructive surgery services to patients in developing countries and crisis regions. The organization operates through a network of 14 regional German sections, each independently organizing surgical missions. Core services include humanitarian surgical camps delivering treatments for cleft lips/palates, burn injuries, tumors, and trauma. The INTERPLAST-Akademie provides training for participating medical professionals, while the INTERPLAST-Stiftung (foundation) ensures long-term project funding through endowments. The organization produces annual reports (Jahreshefte) documenting activities. This is not a software product company—it is a charitable medical organization without a digital product, API, or AI capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Humanitarian Plastic Surgery Missions (Humanitäre plastisch-chirurgische Einsätze)

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of patients treated per deployment across multiple countries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Sisters of the Holy Cross (Puma, Tanzania)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with the Catholic mission hospital in Puma, Tanzania. The Sisters of the Holy Cross host Interplast teams and coordinate local patient care. Over 140 teams have used the OP center over 20+ years.
• Friends Welfare Organisation (FWO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Indian NGO in Bengaluru for organizing free plastic surgery camps. FWO handles local patient recruitment through media, print press, and radio. 18th deployment as of 2018.
• Vision for Puma e.V.majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman support organization for eye care missions in Puma, Tanzania. Provides funding and coordination for ophthalmic missions, including equipment donations and volunteer coordination.
• Elektriker ohne Grenzen (Electricians without Borders)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVolunteer electricians who install solar power systems at partner hospitals during their vacation, working alongside Interplast teams.
• Sektion VredencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional section of Interplast Germany managing the Murunda Hospital project in Rwanda as their flagship initiative, demonstrating cross-sectional collaboration.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Facing the World: UK-based charity treating children with severe facial disfigurements in developing countries through volunteer surgical teams. Comparable mission scope (craniofacial and reconstructive surgery) and partner-hospital deployment model.
• German Doctors e.V. Frankfurt-based nonprofit sending volunteer German physicians on multi-week missions to developing countries. Highly comparable in volunteer-only medical professional model, donation funding, and developing-country mission structure, though broader clinical scope.
• Operation Smile: Largest dedicated volunteer cleft lip and palate surgery NGO globally. Directly comparable to Interplast in mission focus (reconstructive surgery in developing countries, volunteer medical teams, free patient care) but operates at significantly larger scale with paid staff and corporate partnerships.
• ReSurge International: US-based nonprofit providing reconstructive surgery and training in developing countries. Closely mirrors Interplast's teach-and-self-help model and volunteer surgical mission structure, with a focus on building local surgical capacity.
• Interplast Switzerland: Swiss sister organization of Interplast, providing reconstructive surgery in developing countries. Near-identical volunteer mission model, decentralized sections, and free-to-patient service structure as Interplast-Germany.
• Interplast Inc. (USA): US counterpart organization with same name and founding ethos (originally the parent Interplast movement founded by Dr. Donald Laub in 1969). Provides volunteer reconstructive surgery in developing countries, directly comparable in mission and structure.
• Smile Train: Global cleft-focused nonprofit funding local partner surgeons in developing countries. Highly comparable to Interplast's surgical mission focus but emphasizes local surgeon training and funding over fly-in volunteer teams.

Broad incumbents

• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): World's largest independent medical humanitarian organization. While much broader in scope (emergency medicine, epidemics, conflict zones) than Interplast's reconstructive focus, MSF shares the volunteer medical professional model and developing-country mission footprint.
• AMREF Health Africa: Largest Africa-based health development NGO, focused on building local health workforce capacity. Shares Interplast's teach-and-self-help ethos in Africa but operates across broader health specialties rather than reconstructive surgery specifically.
• Direct Relief: Major humanitarian medical aid organization providing supplies, equipment, and funding to healthcare facilities in developing countries. Adjacent rather than directly competing, but shares the donation-funded medical mission model and developing-country footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/InterplastGermany
• Instagraminstagram.com/interplastgermany_ev

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries14 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 Interplast