World Brain Mapping Foundation

What World Brain Mapping Foundation does

World Brain Mapping Foundation (WBMF), operating as the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT), is a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization founded in 2004 and headquartered in Pacific Palisades, California. The organization facilitates multidisciplinary brain and spinal cord research and serves as the translational bridge between state-of-the-art technologies developed at NASA, the Department of Defense, and industry, and their application in neurosurgery and neuroscience — with a stated mission of bringing advanced medicine to wounded warriors and accelerating safe, cost-effective technology adoption in medicine. It is governed by a Board of Directors led by Dr. Babak Kateb as CEO and Chairman of the Board, and operates with a small staff of approximately 8 employees.

SBMT's core offerings are organized around a multi-tier membership program and recurring flagship events. The membership program segments members into Students, Graduate Students, Health Teams, Principal (Physicians, Masters, PhDs), International Principal, and Lifetime Principal categories, serving an interdisciplinary audience that spans neurosurgeons, radiologists, oncologists, biomedical engineers, nanotechnologists, pharmacologists, and policymakers. Signature products include the Annual World Congress of SBMT (AWC) — the 21st edition held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in March 2024 — and the annual Brain Mapping Day at the U.S. Congress, which convenes federal lawmakers to align policy with emerging neuroscience technology. The WBMFDonate! donation platform operates as a third pillar, accepting tiered donations from $25 to $500-plus to support research funding.

The business model is community-led and funded through three streams: recurring membership dues across the persona tiers, donations ranging from entry-level $25 supporter gifts to $500 "Brain-a-Holic" major-donor tiers, and event registration/exhibitor sponsorship revenue from the annual congress and Congressional events. Go-to-market relies on the YourMembership-powered membership portal, social login via Facebook and LinkedIn, organic social presence, RSS-driven email communications, and direct engagement through annual in-person events in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The organization claims global reach, with the Annual World Congress supported by the U.S. Government alongside prominent U.S. and international universities and institutions.

Name

World Brain Mapping Foundation

Legal name

Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics

Website

https://worldbrainmapping.site-ym.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Short description

World Brain Mapping Foundation (SBMT) is a 501c3 non-profit founded in 2004 that facilitates multidisciplinary brain and spinal cord research, translating NASA and DOD technologies into neurosurgery through membership tiers, an annual world congress, and U.S. Congressional advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Pacific Palisades

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from various tiers including Students, Graduate Students, Health Teams, Principal (Physicians, Masters, PhDs), International Principal, and Lifetime Principal members.
2. Donations: WBMFDonate! program contributing to social investment and multiple research projects. Donations accepted at tiered levels: Friends of the Community ($25), Neuroscience Champion ($50), Innovation Guru ($100), Healthcare Visionary ($200), Passion for Science ($300), Brain-a-Holic ($500), and other custom amounts.
3. Event Registration and Sponsorship: Revenue from annual world congress registration, exhibitor sponsorships, presenter fees, and ticket sales for special events like congressional dinners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

World Brain Mapping Foundation (WBMF), operating as the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT), runs a multi-tier professional membership society for neuroscientists, physicians, surgeons, and healthcare professionals. It hosts the Annual World Congress (AWC) scientific conference and the Brain Mapping Day at US Congress advocacy event, and operates the WBMFDonate! donation platform to fund multidisciplinary brain and spinal cord research and the translation of NASA, DOD, and industry technologies into neurosurgery.

Product overview

World Brain Mapping Foundation (WBMF), operating as the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT), is a non-profit 501c3 charitable organization focused on facilitating multidisciplinary brain and spinal cord research. The organization's offerings consist of a multi-tier membership program serving various professional categories (students through lifetime members), the WBMFDonate! donation platform for research funding, and signature events including the Annual World Congress of SBMT (AWC) and Brain Mapping Day at US Congress. The society promotes rapid, safe, and cost-effective translation of new technology into medicine, particularly integrating technologies from NASA, DOD, and industry into neurosurgery to bring advanced medicine to wounded warriors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SBMT Membership Program Multi-tier professional membership program for neuroscientists, physicians, surgeons, and healthcare professionals, offering categories for Students, Graduate Students, Health Teams, Principal (Physicians, Masters, PhDs), International Principal, and Lifetime Principal members with varying benefits and access levels.
• WBMFDonate! Donation Program Charitable donation program that funds the World Brain Mapping Foundation's social investment initiatives and multiple brain and spinal cord research projects, accepting credit card donations at tiered levels from $25 to $500 and custom amounts.
• Annual World Congress of SBMT (AWC) Annual scientific conference bringing together physicians, scientists, policy makers, funding agencies, and industry to advance applications in brain and spinal cord mapping and image-guided therapies, featuring sessions on neurosurgery, neurology, psychiatry, radiology, neuroscience, neuroengineering, nano-bio-electronics, and healthcare policy.
• Brain Mapping Day at US Congress Annual congressional briefing event focused on educating US lawmakers about new technologies and innovations in neuroscience, enabling federal policies aligned with advancements in science and technology.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Society for Neuroscience: The largest global professional society for neuroscientists and physicians, operating an annual meeting (SfN Annual Meeting) and a federation of chapters. Highly comparable because it serves the same neuroscience practitioner audience, hosts a flagship congress, and pursues policy advocacy, but at materially greater scale (~130,000 members vs. SBMT's niche focus on brain mapping and therapeutics).
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons: A national specialty society for neurosurgeons that runs an annual scientific meeting, CME programming, and policy advocacy. Comparable because it serves overlapping neurosurgery members with the same congress-and-advocacy model, though it is broader in scope than SBMT's brain-mapping and therapeutics niche.
• Congress of Neurological Surgeons: A peer neurosurgical professional society hosting the CNS Annual Meeting and educational programming. Directly comparable to SBMT in mission (advancing neurosurgery) and delivery model (membership tiers + annual congress), but with a general neurosurgery focus rather than SBMT's image-guided/brain-mapping specialization.
• North American Neuromodulation Society: A specialty society for clinicians and researchers working on neuromodulation and image-guided therapies. Comparable because its scientific scope overlaps heavily with SBMT's brain-mapping and image-guided therapy focus, and it operates a similar small-scale annual meeting + membership model.
• American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery: A specialty society focused on stereotactic and functional neurosurgery—directly adjacent to SBMT's image-guided therapy mission. Comparable because it serves the same surgical subspecialty audience with a similar small-society annual-meeting and policy-engagement structure.
• International Brain Injury Association: An international non-profit organization dedicated to brain injury research, education, and advocacy, hosting the World Congress on Brain Injury. Comparable in mission (advancing brain research) and delivery model (non-profit society with membership, congress, and policy advocacy), though focused on brain injury specifically rather than the broader brain-mapping mandate.

Broad incumbents

• American Academy of Neurology: The largest US neurology professional society with a broad membership base and a major annual meeting. Comparable in convening and policy advocacy functions for the neuroscience community, but serves a much broader neurology mandate rather than SBMT's narrower brain-mapping/therapeutics remit.
• Radiological Society of North America: A major radiology professional society hosting the RSNA Annual Meeting. Comparable because it serves overlapping imaging-research members and provides a congress-based engagement model, though at vastly greater scale and with a broader imaging mandate than SBMT.
• IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society: An international society for biomedical engineers and technologists, hosting the EMBC annual conference. Comparable in serving the engineering-meets-medicine community that SBMT also targets (e.g., nanotechnologists, biomedical engineers), but with a broader engineering scope rather than SBMT's brain-mapping niche.

Emerging players

• International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: An international scientific society advancing MRI and imaging research with an annual meeting and educational programs. Comparable in convening imaging-focused researchers, overlapping with SBMT's brain mapping remit, but operating at the imaging-modality level rather than the therapeutic/translational level.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about World Brain Mapping Foundation