Wuon

What Wuon does

Stichting WUON (Stichting Weefsel Uitname Organisatie Nederland) is a Dutch nonprofit foundation (stichting) established in 2018 by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and the sole nationally mandated organization for postmortem tissue retrieval in the Netherlands. Operations commenced on 1 January 2019. WUON deploys mobile teams of 2–4 trained personnel — including nurses, paramedics, doctors, and medical students — nationwide on a 24/7 basis to retrieve four categories of donor tissue (eye/cornea, skin, bone, and heart valve) from deceased registered donors within 24 hours of death, under sterile or ultra-clean conditions. Retrieved tissue is transported to Dutch tissue banks (ETB-BISLIFE in Beverwijk and Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam) for testing, processing, storage, and eventual distribution to treating physicians for patient transplantation. The organization's core operational technology consists of standardized retrieval procedures differentiated by tissue type, an internally developed and Hobéon-certified "Uitname" training programme, and logistics infrastructure enabling time-critical nationwide response.

WUON holds ISO 9001 quality certification, complies with the Wet op de orgaandonatie (Wod) and Wet veiligheid en kwaliteit lichaamsmateriaal (Wvkl), and is subject to regular audits by the NTS, the Inspectie Gezondheidszorg & Jeugd (IGJ), and partner tissue banks. Marc Vieten serves as the foundation's bestuurder (administrator/board member). Headquarters are located in Oude Meer, Netherlands, and the organization employs between 101 and 250 staff.

The business model is government-commissioned services under public mandate with no profit motive. WUON operates exclusively under contract to the Nederlandse Transplantatiestichting (NTS), which is funded by the Dutch Ministry of VWS. There are no commercial revenue streams, no published pricing, no traditional sales or marketing motions, and no private capital funding. Annual reports and WNT accountability reports are publicly disclosed, and operational partnerships span tissue banks, hospitals providing operating theatres, mortuary operators (CMO mortuaria), and ICT providers (PWA ict).

Name

Wuon

Legal name

Stichting WUON

Website

https://wuon.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Stichting WUON is the sole Dutch government-mandated nonprofit organization performing nationwide postmortem retrieval of eye, skin, bone, and heart valve tissue from registered donors within 24 hours of death, commissioned by the Nederlandse Transplantatiestichting and serving Dutch tissue banks and ultimately transplant patients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tissue Procurement Services

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGACAJ

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Health & Medical Nonprofits

SECONDARYTLACAJAE

Human Remains & Medical Specimens Forwarding

Transportation & Logistics/Freight Forwarding & Customs Brokerage/Specialized Cargo Forwarding (Perishables/Pharma, Dangerous Goods, Live Animals)

Keywords

• Tissue procurement services
• Postmortem tissue retrieval
• Donor tissue transplantation
• Healthcare foundation services
• Human tissue donation

Headquarters

HQ city

Oude Meer

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government-Commissioned Healthcare Services: WUON is a nonprofit foundation (stichting) established by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) in 2018 and commissioned by the Nederlandse Transplantatiestichting (NTS). The organization has no profit motive (geen winstoogmerkt) and operates on public funding. Revenue is derived from government commissioning contracts with NTS, which is funded by the Ministry of VWS. No commercial revenue streams exist.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

WUON retrieves eye, skin, bone, and heart valve tissue from deceased donors within 24 hours of death and transports the tissue to Dutch tissue banks for testing, processing, and storage. Mobile teams of 2-4 trained personnel perform retrievals under sterile conditions at the location of the deceased donor. The organization operates nationwide 24/7 under a government mandate from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

Product overview

WUON operates as a single unified service focused on postmortem tissue procurement. The core service is tissue retrieval from deceased donors, performed by specialized mobile teams that collect eye tissue, skin, bone tissue, and heart valves within 24 hours of death. Retrieved tissue is transported to partner tissue banks (Rotterdam, Leiden, Beverwijk) for testing, processing, preservation, and eventual distribution to treating physicians for patient treatments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Postmortem Tissue Retrieval Service (Postmortale weefseluitname)

Quantifiable outcome

• Tissue retrieval completed within 24 hours of death, without damage or contamination

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Nederlandse Transplantatiestichting (NTS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe NTS is WUON's primary commissioning authority (opdrachtgever). WUON works on behalf of and under contract to the NTS, which is responsible for donor coordination, donor screening (donortoetsing), and overall organ and tissue donation policy in the Netherlands. Daily contact occurs between WUON and NTS. The NTS is funded by the Dutch Ministry of VWS.
• ETB-BISLIFEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerETB-BISLIFE is one of the Dutch tissue banks that receives donor tissue retrieved by WUON. The tissue bank tests, processes, stores, and distributes the tissue. WUON has daily contact with ETB-BISLIFE as part of the tissue donation chain.
• Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam (AER)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam (AER) is a Dutch tissue bank specializing in eye/cornea tissue. WUON retrieves eye tissue and transports it to AER for processing, testing, storage, and distribution to ophthalmic surgeons for cornea transplants.
• CMO mortuariasupportingOthersCMO mortuaria supplies and manages mortuary facilities and services used by WUON for tissue retrieval. WUON teams perform retrievals at mortuaries where deceased donors are located, in some cases working with CMO mortuaria infrastructure.
• Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (VWS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport established WUON in 2018 via ministerial mandate and provides the public funding through which WUON operates. The Ministry sets the policy framework for tissue donation under the Wod and Wvkl laws.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Centro Nazionale Trapianti (CNT): Italian national transplant authority coordinating organ and tissue donation nationwide. Comparable as a publicly mandated national donation coordinator, structurally similar to NTS and serving as a peer reference for European tissue procurement frameworks.
• Agence de la biomédecine: French national agency governing organ, tissue, and cell procurement and transplantation. Comparable as a state-mandated French tissue donation authority with procurement coordination responsibilities similar to those performed alongside WUON in the Netherlands.
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gewebetransplantation (DGFG): German national tissue transplantation society coordinating tissue donation and procurement across Germany. Directly comparable in function (national tissue procurement coordination) but serves a different national jurisdiction.

Direct peers

• NHS Blood and Transplant (UK): UK statutory body coordinating organ and tissue donation, including tissue retrieval services. Most comparable international peer — both are publicly mandated, monopoly-positioned national tissue procurement organizations operating under government health ministries.
• Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam (AER): Specialized Dutch eye/cornea tissue bank that receives corneal tissue retrieved by WUON. Comparable as a single-tissue specialist in the same Dutch donation value chain, governed by the same regulatory regime.
• ETB-BISLIFE: Dutch multi-tissue bank (heart valve, skin, bone, musculoskeletal) that receives tissue retrieved by WUON and processes it for transplantation. Highly comparable as a downstream counterpart in the same Dutch donation chain, operating under the same Wvkl regulatory framework.

Emerging players

• RTI Surgical: US-based commercial tissue processor and supplier of sterile tissue-based implants (bone, soft tissue, sports medicine). Comparable in handling post-mortem donor tissue for downstream clinical use, though commercially oriented rather than nonprofit.

Broad incumbents

• Nederlandse Transplantatiestichting (NTS): Dutch Transplant Foundation is WUON's sole commissioning authority and oversees the full organ and tissue donation policy framework in the Netherlands. While WUON executes retrievals, NTS coordinates donors, screening, and policy — making it the most comparable public-sector body governing the same donation chain.
• LifeNet Health: US-based non-profit tissue banking and procurement organization handling musculoskeletal, cardiac, and skin tissue. Comparable as a vertically integrated tissue procurement and distribution operation, though commercially oriented and US-domiciled.
• Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF): US non-profit tissue bank specializing in musculoskeletal, cardiac, and dermal tissue recovery and processing. Comparable in non-profit tissue banking operations, though it operates across the full value chain rather than as a pure retrieval organization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stichting-wuon

Compliance2 records

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 Wuon