What ASAPbio does

ASAPbio (Accelerating Science and Publication in Biology) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is a scientist-led advocacy and community-building organization whose mission is to promote preprints and open peer review in the life sciences, addressing problems such as lengthening time-to-first-publication, opaque peer review, and misaligned research incentives. The organization does not develop proprietary technology products; instead, it operates a portfolio of resources and programs including the Preprint Resource Center, the Preprint Services Directory cataloging 65+ preprint servers, the ReimagineReview catalog of 60+ peer review experiments, the Crowd Preprint Review program, the Preprint Policy Framework (developed with Creative Commons), the Fellows Program, the Residency Program, and Community Projects. Content is delivered via a website, biweekly newsletter, YouTube channel, Slack community, and bimonthly community calls.

The business model is grant-funded philanthropy rather than commercial revenue. ASAPbio is supported by a small administrative team (an Executive Director, contractors in communications and design, and a recently eliminated Associate Director role) and a worldwide volunteer community of 3,000+ members and 200+ trained Fellows. Primary funders are the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Simons Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), with additional support from a Member Advisory Group (Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers at $20,000 to $100,000 per year) and previous funders including Wellcome Trust, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Open Society Foundations, Sloan, Arnold, and Moore Foundations, MRC, and CIHR. Programs, resources, and community membership are free to participants.

Name

ASAPbio

Legal name

ASAPbio

Website

https://asapbio.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ASAPbio is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 that advocates for preprint adoption and open peer review in the life sciences, serving researchers, funders, and publishers through a global community of 3,000+ members, funded primarily by major foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding and Charitable Contributions: ASAPbio operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded primarily through grants and donations. Current funders include Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Simons Foundation, Gates Foundation, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The organization also receives support through a Member Advisory Group with contributions ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 USD/year at Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers.
2. Community Membership (No Fees): ASAPbio community membership is free with no dues or official requirements beyond sharing core values and respecting community guidelines. This is not a revenue stream but rather how the organization builds its volunteer base and advocacy network.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ASAPbio is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes open scholarly communication in the life sciences by advocating for and supporting the adoption of preprints and open peer review. It operates a suite of educational resources, training programs (Fellows Program, Residency Program), searchable directories (Preprint Services Directory, ReimagineReview), community initiatives (Crowd Preprint Review, Community Projects), and policy frameworks (Preprint Policy Framework developed with Creative Commons) — all offered free to the worldwide research community.

Product overview

ASAPbio is a nonprofit organization that operates as a community-focused advocacy and resource platform rather than a traditional software product company. Its offerings include a suite of online resources, programs, and directories centered on preprint promotion and open peer review in the life sciences. Key offerings include the Preprint Resource Center (a library of infographics, FAQs, toolkits, and courses), the Preprint Services Directory (a searchable database of 65+ preprint servers), the Fellows Program (annual training initiative), the Residency Program (support for active community members), Community Projects (funding for member-initiated projects), and Crowd Preprint Review (coordinated peer review). The Preprint Policy Framework, developed with Creative Commons, provides a standards framework for research funders. ASAPbio also hosts ReimagineReview, a catalog of peer review experiments, and facilitates community connection via Slack, newsletters, and monthly community calls.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Preprint Resource Center A searchable online library providing infographics, FAQs, toolkits, courses, videos, and reading materials about preprints for the life sciences community.
• Preprint Services Directory A searchable database cataloging 65+ preprint servers with details on disciplinary scope, ownership, screening processes, indexing, content permanence, and commenting features.
• ReimagineReview A searchable catalog of over 60 peer review experiments, filterable by preprint review features such as who initiates review, reviewer selection methods, public involvement, and whether reviewer identities are disclosed.
• Crowd Preprint Review A coordinated program where discipline-specific crowds collaboratively review preprints, with collective feedback synthesized and posted publicly to support open peer review.
• Preprint Policy Framework A six-component policy framework developed with Creative Commons to align research funders and organizations on preprint policies including open licensing, author copyright, and availability statements.
• Residency Program An invite-only one-year program supporting active community members with access to Zoom and Canva Pro licenses and up to $1,000 in funding for preprint-related activities.
• Fellows Program An annual free training and networking initiative providing education on preprints, communication skills, and advocacy, culminating in Fellows delivering local talks as preprint champions.
• Community Projects Support for community members to run creative projects related to preprints and open peer review, providing funding and resources for member-proposed initiatives.
• Preprints and Publishing Training Course A four-lesson online course covering the evolving publication landscape, understanding preprints, the editorial and peer review process, and responsible research communication.
• Preprint Event Toolkit A 10-step guide for organizing and running preprint events, including templates, email scripts, promotion tips, and ASAPbio support resources.
• Preprint Policy Toolkit for Funders A guide supporting funders to develop and implement preprint policies, including benefits analysis, implementation guidelines, and policy text templates.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.3% of preprint authors reported no scooping problems
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, moderate and core.

• Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026ASAP is a research funder that fully endorses the Preprint Policy Framework, requiring all six policy components including preprint requirement, author copyright, CC BY licensing, submission timeline, funder acknowledgement, and availability statement.
• Wellcome TrustmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Wellcome Trust is a research funder that strongly recommends preprint requirement as part of the Preprint Policy Framework alignment, promoting open access and rapid research sharing.
• European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026EMBL has signaled alignment with the Preprint Policy Framework, recommending CC BY licensing for preprints to promote open access and reuse.
• Michael J. Fox FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026The Michael J. Fox Foundation supports the Preprint Policy Framework alignment, contributing to standardization of preprint policies across research funders.
• ResearchIrelandmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026ResearchIreland has aligned with the Preprint Policy Framework, encouraging preprints, author copyright, and requiring availability statements and data sharing plans.
• Templeton World Charity FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Templeton World Charity Foundation strongly encourages preprint requirement, CC BY licensing, and submission timeline as part of Preprint Policy Framework alignment.
• Astera InstitutemoderateStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Astera Institute has signaled alignment with the Preprint Policy Framework components, promoting diverse research outputs beyond traditional scholarly papers while supporting availability requirements.
• Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving with Bipolar Disorder (BD2)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026BD2 is a research funder aligned with the Preprint Policy Framework, requiring availability statements and recommending availability of research outputs.
• DORA (Declaration on Research Assessment)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ASAPbio co-convened a workshop in Pisa, Italy with DORA, International Science Council, and CWTS Leiden to advance coordinated reform in publishing and research assessment. ASAPbio serves as convener for multi-organization action groups including Beyond the Article, Trust Indicators, and Global CAM.
• International Science Council (ISC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025ISC co-convened the Pisa workshop with ASAPbio, DORA, and CWTS Leiden to form action groups for research assessment and publishing reform coordination.
• CWTS LeidencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025CWTS Leiden co-convened the Pisa workshop with ASAPbio, DORA, and ISC to advance coordinated reform in publishing and research assessment.
• NISO (National Information Standards Organization)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025The Trust Indicators action group will operate through NISO to produce a Recommended Practice providing definitions and framework for trust signals in scholarly content.
• Creative CommonscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ASAPbio partnered with Creative Commons to launch the Preprint Policy Framework in 2024, collaborating with several research funders to align preprint policies and create a standard framework. The framework consists of six policy items including preprint requirements, author copyright, CC BY licensing, submission timeline, funder acknowledgement, and availability statements.
• EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019ASAPbio collaborated with EMBO to create Review Commons, a platform that manages peer review of preprints for authors and connects them with participating journals. Centralizing review through Review Commons reduces review burden on the scientific community.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ORCID: Nonprofit persistent identifier for researchers, deeply embedded in scholarly publishing workflows. Operates as a fellow research-infrastructure nonprofit that intersects with ASAPbio's contributor-recognition agenda.
• bioRxiv / medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory): Operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, bioRxiv and medRxiv are the dominant life-sciences preprint servers that ASAPbio's advocacy drives traffic toward. They are the largest-scale incumbents in ASAPbio's core focus area.
• DataCite: Nonprofit that registers DOIs for research outputs including preprints. Functions as adjacent scholarly-communications infrastructure and shares ASAPbio's nonprofit funding model and community-led mission.
• PLOS: Large open-access publisher whose preprint and peer-review policies (including preprint posting and open review experiments) overlap with ASAPbio's advocacy agenda across the life sciences.
• eLife: Open-access publisher that pioneered public peer review of preprints and now publishes reviewed preprints directly. eLife embodies the open peer-review future ASAPbio advocates for and is a key player in the same publishing-reform conversation.

Direct peers

• EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization): Co-developer of Review Commons with ASAPbio since 2019. EMBO operates at the intersection of life-sciences publishing reform and policy that ASAPbio targets, making it a directly comparable partner/peer in the preprint and peer-review ecosystem.
• Research Square: Operates a major preprint platform (Research Square preprint) and In Review workflow integrated with Springer Nature journals. Directly competes with ASAPbio's influence over preprint adoption and review practices in life sciences.
• Creative Commons: Nonprofit that develops open licensing frameworks. ASAPbio partnered with CC to launch the Preprint Policy Framework in 2024, making CC a co-developer of ASAPbio's flagship policy asset and a fellow open-science advocacy nonprofit.
• Center for Open Science: Nonprofit that operates the Open Science Framework and advocates for open practices including preprints, registered reports, and open data. Directly comparable as a fellow 501(c)(3) advancing open science infrastructure and policy in the same researcher community.
• DORA (Declaration on Research Assessment): Global initiative that reforms research assessment by reducing reliance on journal-impact factors. ASAPbio's Recognition & Rewards work and 2025 Pisa co-convening put it in overlapping territory with DORA on incentives and assessment reform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ASAPbio_
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCgJk0CirQM-76vVbuci11uw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/asapbio
• Facebookfacebook.com/asapbio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 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 ASAPbio