What CADUS e.V. - Redefine Global Solidarity does

CADUS e.V. is a Berlin-based, non-profit humanitarian aid organization founded in summer 2014 and registered as an eingetragener Verein (e.V.). It provides rapid medical and technical emergency response in conflict and disaster zones, with active operations currently spanning Ukraine (since March 2022), Gaza (since February 2024, as the first German WHO-classified Emergency Medical Team), Sudan (since October 2025), and Angola (cholera response since May 2025). The organization previously operated for nine years in Northeast Syria (2014–2023), maintaining a field hospital at the Al Hol refugee camp serving over 70,000 residents before withdrawing and handing operations to locally-founded Şelêar Crisis Response (SCR).

The organization's core capability is built around its Crisis Response Makerspace in Berlin headquarters — an in-house engineering workshop that designs and converts vehicles into deployable medical assets including a Mobile Hospital, a Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU, a converted coach bus), a four-wheel-drive Mobile Medical Practice vehicle, and WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) equipment. CADUS holds WHO Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Type 1 classification (fixed and mobile), enabling deployment through WHO's coordination mechanism. The organization develops open-source humanitarian innovations, notably the Lifesensor medical device published publicly on GitHub. Beyond direct service delivery, CADUS runs medical training programs (2,344 people trained in Ukraine across 11+ cities), HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training), and capacity-building partnerships with local NGOs such as Kurdish Red Crescent and BASE UA, plus academic integration with Ternopil National Medical University for CME certification.

CADUS is funded entirely through donations — individual contributions (with monthly recurring donations encouraged starting at €5), corporate donations and joint fundraising campaigns, and government or institutional grants via international organizations such as WHO. The organization has 11–50 employees, a regional office in Erbil (Iraq), and a leadership team comprising Managing Directors Lysann Kaiser and Sebastian Jünemann, alongside Management Board members Dr. Matthias Grott, Astrid Barrera Pesek, and Niklas Forreiter. The organization explicitly follows humanitarian principles, prioritizes local cooperation and knowledge transfer over dependency creation, and operates on an open-source innovation principle.

Name

CADUS e.V. - Redefine Global Solidarity

Legal name

CADUS e.V. – International Disaster Response

Website

https://cadus.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CADUS e.V. is a Berlin-based non-profit humanitarian organization founded in 2014 that provides WHO-classified Emergency Medical Team response, medical evacuations, training, and WASH interventions in crisis zones including Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Angola.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Emergency Medical Response

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Disaster Medical Assistance & Field Care (DMAT/Field Hospitals) (HLAJAGAE), Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH), Humanitarian Logistics, Supply Chain & Air/Sea/Land Relief Transport (BPAGAAAI)

Keywords

• Humanitarian emergency response
• Mobile medical units
• Emergency medical teams
• Disaster medical aid
• Crisis response technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Private individuals donate to support humanitarian operations. Regular monthly donations are encouraged as they provide planning security.
2. Corporate Donations: Companies support through monetary donations, joint fundraising campaigns, or longer-term partnerships.
3. Government and Institutional Funding: Support through international organizations like WHO, and potentially government development/humanitarian aid budgets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CADUS e.V. is a non-profit humanitarian organization that delivers rapid, needs-based medical and technical emergency aid in conflict and disaster zones. Its core offering is field-deployable emergency medical response — mobile hospitals, medical evacuations (MEDEVAC), trauma stabilization, and primary healthcare — supported by an in-house Crisis Response Makerspace that designs and converts vehicles into mobile medical units, alongside medical training programs and WASH interventions for local capacity building.

Product overview

CADUS e.V. is a non-profit humanitarian aid organization offering a portfolio of interconnected emergency response services. The core offering consists of rapid medical emergency response (MEDEVAC, patient transport, field hospitals), technical innovation through its Crisis Response Makerspace (where vehicles and equipment are custom-built for field conditions), and capacity-building through medical training programs. Their mobile units (hospitals, medical practices, intensive care vehicles) are designed and maintained in-house, while WASH interventions and Climate Emergency Response extend their humanitarian capabilities. All offerings follow open-source principles and emphasize local cooperation and knowledge transfer.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Crisis Response Makerspace: Technical workshop in Berlin where CADUS develops and converts vehicles for humanitarian use, including mobile hospitals, ambulances, and intensive care units.
• Climate Emergency Response
• Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU)

Products and services

• Mobile Medical Emergency Response (MEDEVAC and field operations) Rapid deployment medical and technical emergency aid services including medical evacuations (MEDEVAC), patient transport, trauma stabilization, and field hospital operations delivered to populations in conflict and disaster zones, coordinated through the WHO EMT mechanism.
• WHO-classified Emergency Medical Team (EMT Type 1 fixed & mobile) WHO-classified Emergency Medical Team providing medical evacuations, primary healthcare, and trauma stabilization, certified as EMT Type 1 (fixed and mobile) and deployable internationally through the WHO EMT coordination framework.
• Mobile Hospital Field-deployable hospital built from converted vehicles, providing mobile medical care in conflict and disaster zones; includes vehicles and medical equipment for deployment, and was historically the basis of WHO-coordinated trauma stabilization point operations in Mosul, Iraq.
• Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) A travel coach bus converted in the Crisis Response Makerspace into a mobile intensive care unit capable of transporting and treating intensive care patients during evacuations in conflict zones such as Ukraine.
• Mobile Medical Practice A four-wheel-drive vehicle equipped for basic primary healthcare, designed to reach remote populations in conflict zones; based on a former police vehicle converted in the Crisis Response Makerspace.
• Crisis Response Makerspace In-house technical innovation facility in Berlin where mobile medical units, rescue vehicles, water treatment systems, and humanitarian equipment are designed, prototyped, built, and modified for field deployment under open-source principles.
• WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Interventions Water, Sanitation and Hygiene interventions including installation of portable water filter systems, water treatment equipment, and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) training for health facilities in disaster and epidemic response settings.
• Medical Training Programs Medical training offerings including first aid training, professional medical courses, HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training), and train-the-trainer programs, designed for capacity building among local healthcare workers and laypeople in crisis regions.
• Field Hospital at Al Hol Camp Field hospital operated in the Al Hol refugee camp (2019-2023) providing round-the-clock medical care to internally displaced persons; operations transferred to local NGO Şelêar Crisis Response (SCR) in 2023.

Quantifiable outcome

• 719 patients transported via MedEvac in Ukraine in 2023 alone
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Robert Koch-InstitutcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint EMT deployment in Angola cholera response (May 2025). Expert mission for capacity building in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia (October 2020).
• Malteser InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint EMT deployment in Angola cholera response (May 2025), working together with ASB and Robert Koch-Institut as part of international EMT team.
• UNICEFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Collaboration in Angola during cholera response. UNICEF had been working for years on structural improvement of water and sanitation in the region, and helped identify new intervention points.
• Ternopil National Medical UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Cooperation for CME (Continuing Medical Education) certification of CADUS training courses. Training content will be incorporated into Ukrainian national medical training standards.
• BASE UAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Ukrainian organization that received CADUS's mobile primary medical care practice vehicle. CADUS converted a former police vehicle in their Makerspace for basic health care in rural areas.
• Doctors Without Borders (Belgium)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Cooperation in Ukraine to close gap in intensive care transport in Pokrovsk and surrounding area.
• Grupa GranicaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2021Local initiative at Polish-Belarusian border supported by CADUS with donations in kind and medical staff during Christmas 2021 to help refugees.
• Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2020Joint EMT deployment with ASB in Greece (Lesbos, Kara Tepe 2 camp) from October-December 2020. WHO-initiated mission to take over medical care from Norwegian Emergency Medical Team.
• lifeboat gGmbHminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Partnership for Mediterranean Sea rescue operations. Operated the Minden lifeboat and provided medical team for sea rescue in 2016.
• Kurdish Red Crescent (KRC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term partnership in Northeast Syria and Iraq. CADUS handed over mobile hospital to KRC in 2018. Supported earthquake response in 2023 with over €190,000 in donations. Cooperated on ambulance operations and primary healthcare clinic in Rakka.
• Șîlêr Crisis Response (SCR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormer CADUS employees founded their own NGO in 2023 to continue operating the field hospital in Al Hol refugee camp. CADUS continues to support SCR and the region.
• World Health Organization (WHO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHO EMT mechanism coordination for rapid deployment. CADUS is classified as EMT Type 1 (fixed & mobile). WHO coordinates emergency medical team deployments globally.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Médecins du Monde: International medical humanitarian organization delivering emergency and long-term medical care to vulnerable populations. Highly comparable to CADUS on medical-first humanitarian mandate, WHO EMT participation, and feminist/rights-based operating philosophy.
• Relief International: Global humanitarian organization delivering emergency medical, WASH, and capacity-building services in conflict-affected countries. Directly comparable to CADUS in operating geographies (Sudan, Ukraine, Middle East) and integrated health-plus-WASH-plus-training model.
• Malteser International: Germany-based Catholic humanitarian aid organization with global emergency response and WASH capabilities. Co-deployed with CADUS in the Angola cholera response (May 2025), making it an almost identical organizational twin on scope, geography, and German institutional positioning.
• Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB): German humanitarian and emergency medical aid organization operating internationally with EMT deployments. Joint EMT deployment with CADUS in Greece (Lesbos Kara Tepe 2, 2020) and Angola (2025) makes ASB a direct comparable on EMT-classified emergency medical response.
• Samaritan's Purse: International Christian relief organization operating an Emergency Medical Team and disaster response units with mobile medical assets (including deployable field hospitals). Comparable to CADUS on EMT-classified mobile medical deployments and rapid-response vehicles.
• UK-Med: UK-registered charity and WHO-classified Emergency Medical Team providing medical care in disasters and conflicts. Closest international analog to CADUS: small national EMT with rapid-deployment mobile capabilities and similar organizational scale.

Broad incumbents

• Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): MSF is the largest independent medical humanitarian organization globally, providing emergency medical care in conflict zones. Direct operational overlap with CADUS in Ukraine (cooperating on ICU transport in Pokrovsk) and similar EMT-style deployments make it the most comparable peer on mission and approach.
• International Rescue Committee (IRC): Major humanitarian organization responding to the world's worst crises with health, WASH, education, and economic recovery programs. Heavier scale than CADUS but directly comparable on refugee-camp medical operations (Al Hol worked by CADUS) and emergency health response.
• International Medical Corps (IMC): Global humanitarian organization providing emergency medical care, WASH, and training in conflict and disaster zones. Comparable on integrated emergency-medical-plus-capacity-building model that CADUS uses in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.

Others

• Robert Koch-Institut: Germany's federal government agency for disease control and prevention. Listed as a co-deployment partner (Namibia COVID-19, Angola cholera) with CADUS; comparable as a Germany-anchored public health emergency response capability rather than as a direct delivery competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cadus.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cadus-redefine-global-solidarity
• Instagraminstagram.com/cadus_ev
• GitHubgithub.com/cadus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CADUS e.V. - Redefine Global Solidarity