What Spine does

Spine is a Dutch non-profit tech NGO founded in 2022 and operating as a dedicated team within Fier's Knowledge and Innovation Center, headquartered in Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands. Its mission is to combat sexual and criminal exploitation and online sexual violence by developing and deploying digital tools that allow care professionals, OSINT investigators, and law enforcement partners to identify, reach, and support victims more effectively than traditional in-person methods permit. Core products include Online Outreach (a proactive digital program that contacts potential victims on sex advertisement platforms), Digital Vault (a secure online vault for storing exploitation evidence until victims are ready to report), and Watchful Waiting (an application that helps case managers monitor psychological symptoms during the first month after victimization). In addition, Spine runs an exploratory cyclical research program with CKM and Keerpunt on how vulnerable youth are recruited online for criminal tasks.

The organization's core technology combines OSINT tradecraft, software development, and forensic ICT, supported by a 12-person multidisciplinary team of forensic IT specialists, software developers, researchers, and project managers. Spine's go-to-market is community-led: it collaborates with anti-trafficking organizations, governments, tech companies, aid workers, policymakers, and law enforcement agencies, and operates a direct-to-victim outreach function on internet platforms. The organization does not sell its tools commercially; services are free to victims and partner professionals, and operations are funded through grants and donations from Dutch institutional funders, including the Nationale Postcode Loterij, Stichting Achmea Slachtoffer en Samenleving, SIDN fonds, and the Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid.

Spine reports measurable impact from its outreach operations, including 6,500+ contacts made on sex advertisement platforms over two years, 700+ substantive conversations, and 98 individuals with specific help requests (covering housing, sexual health, finances, and treatment), alongside a 15% response rate to outreach messages. The organization has stated international ambitions to share its methods and tools with partners in other countries and received the ChildX Award 2024 in Sweden for its innovative approach.

Name

Spine

Legal name

Spine

Website

https://spine.ngo

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Spine is a Dutch non-profit tech NGO (founded 2022, part of Fier) that builds digital tools — including Online Outreach, Digital Vault, and Watchful Waiting — to help care professionals and law enforcement identify, reach, and support victims of sexual exploitation and online criminal recruitment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Anti-trafficking social services technology

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Health, Wellness & Patient Communities (MPACAJAL)

Keywords

• Anti-trafficking technology
• Online victim outreach
• Digital evidence preservation
• Human trafficking prevention
• Sexual exploitation intervention

Headquarters

HQ city

Capelle aan den IJssel

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. NGO Grants and Donations: Spine is funded through grants and donations from Dutch organizations including the Nationale Postcode Loterij (Dutch Postcode Lottery), Stichting Achmea Slachtoffer en Samenleving, SIDN fonds, and the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid). The organization was established with support from the Postcode Lottery.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Spine is a Dutch tech-NGO that develops and deploys digital tools to combat human trafficking and online sexual exploitation. Its core offerings are four programs/tools: Online Outreach (proactive digital contact with potential victims by care professionals on internet platforms), Digital Vault (secure online storage of exploitation evidence that can later be exported for police reports), Watchful Waiting (an application for case managers to monitor psychological symptoms during the first month after victimization), and a research program studying how vulnerable youth are recruited online into criminal exploitation.

Product overview

Spine is a technology NGO (founded 2022, part of Fier) that develops and deploys digital tools to combat human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and online sexual violence. The organization operates four core products: Online Outreach (proactive digital contact with potential victims on internet platforms), Digital Vault (secure evidence storage for victims), Watchful Waiting (psychological symptom monitoring application), and a Research Program on youth recruitment into criminal exploitation. The products work together to provide a comprehensive approach from prevention and early intervention through evidence preservation to victim aftercare.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 15% response rate to proactive outreach messages to potential victims on sex advertisement platforms
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FiercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpine is part of Fier's Knowledge and Innovation Center. Fier is an ambitious care organization where employees are strongly driven by passion for target groups. Spine serves as Fier's dedicated team focused on digital tools, providing the technological backbone for anti-trafficking work.
• Centrum tegen Kinderhandel en Mensenhandel (CKM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCKM is a key collaborator with Spine on research and online outreach. The Online Outreach project was created as a co-production between CKM and Fier with funding from the Nationale Postcode Loterij. CKM and Spine jointly conduct research on recruiting youth into criminal exploitation.
• KeerpuntminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKeerpunt collaborates with Spine and CKM on an exploratory, cyclical study regarding the recruitment of young people into criminal exploitation through online platforms.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Trace Labs: Nonprofit that crowdsources OSINT to locate missing persons, including trafficking victims. Comparable in applying open-source intelligence techniques to find exploited persons, though uses volunteer crowdsourcing rather than employed care professionals.
• Stop It Now: International organization focused on prevention of child sexual abuse, with helplines and prevention programs. Comparable in victim and prevention focus, though uses helpline-based model rather than proactive digital outreach.
• Marie Collins Foundation: UK charity supporting children who have experienced online sexual abuse and providing professional training. Comparable in addressing online sexual harm against children and developing digital support tools, though UK-focused and smaller.

Direct peers

• Centrum tegen Kinderhandel en Mensenhandel (CKM): Dutch national expertise center against child trafficking and human trafficking and Spine's core research and outreach partner. Directly comparable in anti-trafficking mission, Dutch jurisdiction, and victim outreach work.
• Internet Watch Foundation: UK-based nonprofit hotline and reporting body for online child sexual abuse content, operating a reporting service and producing intelligence on online threats. Comparable to Spine in mission focus on online exploitation and victim identification, though UK-jurisdiction.
• Thorn: US-based tech nonprofit that builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse, including tools for identifying victims and disrupting online exploitation. Thorn is the closest international analogue to Spine's combination of software development and anti-trafficking mission.

Broad incumbents

• ECPAT International: Global network of organizations working to end the sexual exploitation of children, with members in 100+ countries. Comparable in mission and international reach, but operates as an umbrella network rather than a tech-developing NGO.
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): US-based nonprofit operating the CyberTipline and a broad portfolio of programs to address missing and exploited children. Comparable as a large-scale anti-exploitation organization with technology components, but much broader scope and US-anchored.
• Polaris Project: US-based anti-trafficking organization that operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline and develops data-driven tools. Comparable in combining data/OSINT with direct victim service, though US-focused and broader scope.

Regional players

• A21: Global anti-human trafficking nonprofit operating across multiple countries with awareness, prevention, and aftercare programs. Comparable in holistic anti-trafficking mission, though service-delivery model is more traditional than Spine's technology-first approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/spine_ngo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spine-ngo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Spine