What DeSci Foundation does

DeSci Foundation is a Swiss non-profit foundation (Stiftung DESCI Foundation, CHE-389.450.872) registered in the Canton of Zug, with a secondary office in Geneva. The foundation's mission is to explore and support improvements in the scientific ecosystem based on insights from meta-science and new technologies, addressing issues such as the credibility and replication crisis, misaligned academic incentives, and barriers to open access. It does not build or sell proprietary technology products; instead, its core offerings are the "Future of Science" seminar and podcast series (featuring over 25 leading scientists and entrepreneurs on topics including peer review reform, replication science, AI for science, and decentralized science infrastructure) and the DeSci Foundation Blog covering meta-science topics such as FAIR research identifiers and replicability metrics. The foundation is funded through donations and supported by a five-person Executive Board led by President Philipp Koellinger (also scientific lead at DeSci Labs and professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), together with an Advisory Board of approximately 15 academics and industry figures drawn from Harvard, Wharton, Karolinska Institutet, Cornell, University of Bristol, Protocol Labs, and other institutions. Distribution is entirely digital and global, with seminars, podcasts, and blog content freely accessible via the foundation's website, Cassyni, and YouTube, and audience engagement maintained through Twitter/X and LinkedIn.

Name

DeSci Foundation

Legal name

Stiftung DESCI Foundation

Website

https://descifoundation.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Swiss non-profit foundation (Stiftung) that operates the Future of Science seminar and podcast series and an educational blog, convening scientists and entrepreneurs to advance meta-science research and address the replication and credibility crisis in the scientific ecosystem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Science Non-Profit Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Meta-science research
• Open science advocacy
• Decentralized science
• Scientific replication
• Science policy thought leadership

Headquarters

HQ city

Genève

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: As a Swiss non-profit foundation (Stiftung), DeSci Foundation is funded through donations. The foundation accepts donations to support its mission of exploring improvements in the scientific ecosystem based on insights from meta-science and new technologies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DeSci Foundation is a Swiss non-profit foundation that explores and supports improvements to the scientific ecosystem through meta-science research and education. Its core offerings are the Future of Science seminar and podcast series featuring leading scientists and entrepreneurs, and the Foundation blog covering meta-science topics including replication crisis, FAIR research identifiers, and replicability metrics. The foundation does not sell commercial products or services and does not develop proprietary technology.

Product overview

DeSci Foundation is a Swiss non-profit foundation (Stiftung DESCI Foundation, CHE-389.450.872) that operates as an educational and advocacy organization rather than a commercial product company. Its primary offerings include the Future of Science Series (a seminar and podcast series featuring expert discussions on improving scientific research), and a blog covering meta-science topics. The foundation does not develop or sell commercial software products; instead, it focuses on thought leadership, research assessment, and supporting improvements to the scientific ecosystem through educational content and community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Future of Science Series A seminar and podcast series featuring leading scientists and entrepreneurs discussing improvements to science, including topics on replication crisis, peer review, AI in science, and decentralized science infrastructure. It is hosted through the Cassyni platform and freely accessible globally.
• DeSci Foundation Blog Educational blog covering meta-science topics including the replication crisis, FAIR research identifiers, replicability metrics, and the future of scientific publishing; targeted at the research community.

Quantifiable outcome

• The Future of Science seminar series has featured over 25 leading scientists and entrepreneurs discussing solutions for improving science

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Center for Open SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Center for Open Science is listed as a partner on the DeSci Foundation website. Both organizations share complementary missions around improving scientific integrity, transparency, and open access to research.
• Foresight InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerForesight Institute, a non-profit supporting beneficial development of high-impact technologies, is listed as a partner. Both organizations explore frontier technologies and their implications for science and society.
• DeSci LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeSci Labs builds decentralized science infrastructure. The foundation states it aims to 'enfranchise stakeholders to steer the emerging ecosystem of decentralized science, such as that built by DeSci Labs.' Several board members hold roles at both organizations.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: Non-profit arm of the Mozilla project funding open-source, open-web, and trustworthy AI initiatives. Comparable as a foundation convening stakeholders around open infrastructure, internet science, and trustworthy AI — themes that intersect with DeSci Foundation's AI-for-science and open-science focus.
• Wellcome Trust: Large UK-based charitable foundation funding scientific and health research. Comparable as a science-focused grantmaking foundation, but at vastly greater scale and with a much broader portfolio including direct research funding, public engagement, and policy advocacy.
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: Major US philanthropic foundation funding scientific research and STEM education. Comparable as a foundation supporting open science, data transparency, and research integrity (notably the Sloan Digital Sky Survey model), but operating at substantially greater scale and breadth than DeSci Foundation.

Emerging players

• Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS): UC Berkeley initiative promoting transparency, replication, and open science in social science research. Directly comparable in focus on meta-science methods training and research integrity, especially given several DeSci Foundation board members (e.g., Altmejd, Nave) work in adjacent areas.
• Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS): Stanford-based research center dedicated to meta-science, reproducibility, and research-integrity research. Highly comparable in topic focus (replication, open science) and convening role, though anchored to a single academic institution rather than operating as an independent foundation.
• ASAPbio: Non-profit advocating for accelerated publication and transparent peer review in the life sciences. Comparable as a small, mission-driven organization pushing scientific publishing reform, focused specifically on preprints and review transparency — a narrower but adjacent slice of DeSci Foundation's meta-science scope.
• UK Reproducibility Network: UK-wide peer network led by Marcus Munafo (a DeSci Foundation advisor). Highly comparable mission around replication and research integrity, operating as a national coordinating network for open-science practices across institutions.

Direct peers

• Foresight Institute: Non-profit supporting beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Listed as a direct partner of DeSci Foundation on its website, sharing a focus on frontier technologies, futures thinking, and convening stakeholders around transformative science and technology questions.
• Center for Open Science: Non-profit operating OSF (Open Science Framework), the most widely used open-science infrastructure. Direct listed partner of DeSci Foundation, with overlapping missions around transparency, replication, and open access; both target the scientific community and serve as convening organizations for open-science reform.

Others

• DeSci Labs: Builds decentralized science infrastructure (DeSci). Affiliated organization whose co-founder (Christopher Hill) and scientific lead (Philipp Koellinger) sit on DeSci Foundation's Executive Board; the foundation explicitly states its goal of 'enfranchising stakeholders' for DeSci Labs' ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DesciFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/desci-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about DeSci Foundation