What Give A Hand does

Give A Hand is a student-led nonprofit organization based at Northeastern University in Boston that designs, fabricates, and distributes affordable 3D printed prosthetic hands to individuals with congenital hand malformations or acquired amputations. The organization is structured into three functional pillars — designers, builders, and social services — and explicitly welcomes students from all majors and disciplines, not only engineering, on the premise that diverse inputs improve prosthetic design. Its stated mission is to reduce the inaccessibility and high cost typically associated with commercial bionic prosthetic devices.

The core offering is a portfolio of 3D printed prosthetic hands developed using computer-aided design (CAD) and additive manufacturing. The organization runs four parallel student-led projects: the Bionic Hand (developed by the CAD Team), the Give a Hand Hand, a Sustainable Plastic Filament materials research initiative, and additional design variants. Pricing is not publicly disclosed because prosthetics are provided at reduced or no cost to recipients, eliminating a traditional revenue model.

Distribution is direct-to-patient within the Boston regional community, bypassing commercial prosthetics channels. Give A Hand operates as the inaugural Boston community chapter of Enabling the Future, embedding it in a global volunteer network of 3D printed prosthetic providers. The organization is not a registered commercial entity: it has no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, no external investment, and no paid headcount beyond its six student leaders (President Isabela Castillo, Director of Design and Build Paul Maurin, Director of Operations Annabel Cleary, Treasurer Tomas Laya, Co-Director of Operations Garrett Button, and Branding and Marketing Ana Urrutia).

Name

Give A Hand

Legal name

Give a Hand

Website

https://giveahandclub.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Give A Hand is a Northeastern University student organization that designs and 3D prints affordable prosthetic hands for individuals with hand malformations or amputations. The volunteer-driven nonprofit serves patients in the Boston area and partners with the global Enabling the Future network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prosthetic Devices

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Industrial Design Services (54142)

SIC

Orthopedic, Prosthetic & Surgical Appliances & Supplies (3842)

akta.pro primary industry

Prosthetic Components & Rehabilitation Accessories (Liners, Feet, Knees, Sockets) (HLAHAMAD)

Keywords

• 3D printed prosthetics
• Affordable prosthetic hands
• Student bioengineering projects
• Volunteer prosthetic design
• Additive manufacturing prosthetics

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Give A Hand is a student-led nonprofit organization at Northeastern University that designs, fabricates, and builds affordable 3D printed prosthetic hands for individuals born with hand malformations or who have suffered amputations. The organization operates four parallel projects — the Bionic Hand (CAD Team), the Give a Hand Hand, Sustainable Plastic Filament research, and the core prosthetic hand program — and distributes the resulting devices directly to recipients in the Boston community at no cost, transforming prosthetics from luxury items into accessible devices.

Product overview

Give A Hand is a student-led organization at Northeastern University that designs, fabricates, and builds affordable 3D printed prosthetic hands. The organization operates as a single unified offering focused on prosthetic hand production, with three main product variants: the Bionic Hand (developed by the CAD Team), the Give a Hand Hand, and the Sustainable Plastic Filament initiative. The core product serves people born with hand malformations or who suffered amputations, with the goal of transforming prosthetics from luxury items into affordable devices. The organization is structured into three pillars: designers, builders, and social services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 3D Printed Prosthetic Hands Affordable 3D printed prosthetic hands designed and built by student volunteers at Northeastern University for individuals born with hand malformations or who have suffered amputations. The core product transforms prosthetics from luxury items into accessible devices and is distributed directly to patients in the Boston community.
• Bionic Hand Advanced 3D printed prosthetic hand project developed by the CAD Team that explores the design limits of what a 3D prosthetic hand can look like, leveraging computer-aided design capabilities for customization and innovation.
• Give a Hand Hand One of the organization's core 3D printed prosthetic hand designs in its portfolio of student-run projects, expanding the boundaries of 3D prosthetic hand technology for the recipient community.
• Sustainable Plastic Filament Research initiative focused on developing sustainable materials for 3D printing prosthetic hands, aimed at improving the environmental sustainability of the prosthetic manufacturing process.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Enabling the FuturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGive a Hand is proud to collaborate with Enabling the Future as the inaugural community chapter in Boston, dedicated to making a positive impact through volunteerism and support. This partnership positions the organization within a global network focused on providing free 3D printed prosthetics to those in need.

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Unlimited Tomorrow: Designer and manufacturer of affordable, custom-fit 3D-printed bionic arms. Directly comparable on using 3D printing to bring down prosthetic costs, but operates as a commercial venture with FDA-cleared products.
• e-NABLE: The foundational open-source 3D-printed prosthetic hand community that Enabling the Future grew from. Directly comparable mission, technology, and patient population; Give a Hand effectively operates as a university chapter of this movement.
• Open Bionics: Commercial developer of 3D-printed bionic prosthetic arms with FDA clearance. Directly comparable on technology (3D-printed bionic hands) and target patient (limb-difference individuals), but operates as a regulated medical-device company rather than a volunteer club.
• Victoria Hand Project: Nonprofit that designs and distributes low-cost 3D-printed prosthetic arms to amputees in low- and middle-income countries. Highly comparable on mission, cost-disruption thesis, and 3D-printing deployment, with broader geographic reach.
• Enabling the Future: Global volunteer community of 3D-printed prosthetic makers. Give a Hand is the inaugural Boston chapter of this network, using the same open-source hand designs and direct-to-patient distribution model.
• Limbitless Solutions: Nonprofit organization creating 3D-printed bionic prosthetic arms for children, founded at the University of Central Florida. Comparable on technology, university-affiliated nonprofit model, and pediatric limb-difference patient focus.

Broad incumbents

• Naked Prosthetics: Specialty manufacturer of functional prosthetic digits for finger and partial-hand amputees. Comparable in the upper-extremity prosthetic niche Give a Hand targets, but commercially priced and clinically fitted.
• Ottobock: Global leader in prosthetics, orthotics, and rehabilitation products. Represents the incumbent medical-device approach Give a Hand is trying to disrupt; useful for understanding the regulated, clinical standard against which the club's devices are benchmarked.
• Össur: Large, publicly traded orthopedic and prosthetics manufacturer. Provides context for the clinical, payer-reimbursed side of the prosthetic-hand market that Give a Hand's volunteer model cannot currently access.

Emerging players

• Atom Limbs: Early-stage company developing next-generation mind-controlled bionic arms. Relevant as a horizon peer on the technology frontier that could shape long-term expectations for what an 'affordable' bionic prosthetic must include.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/give-a-hand-nu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Give A Hand