New York · Nonprofit
BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC
BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC (New York) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $692,372 to it, the largest being THE SIMONS FOUNDATION INC ($643,372). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $296k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $692k
- Net assets
- $374k
What Biodesign Challenge Inc does
Mission
Biodesign challenge is an international education program that introduces students from diverse backgrounds to emerging biotechnologies and asks them to explore, through the lenses of art and design, how these technologies might be used to create a sustainable, equitable future.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Throughout the spring, our organizers work with high school and college teachers to design curricula; partner participating classrooms with expert mentors in stem, art, and design; and support students with resources and mentorship as they develop their projects. Each june, participants and the general public gather at our annual summit where students showcase their research and prototypes in front of an esteemed jury made up of industry and academia professionals from around the world. Alumni of the program enter the workforce with a deep ethos in interdisciplinary collaboration, environmentally-focused design, and equity-centered systems design. Teams prototype new ideas in medicine, textiles, beauty, food, manufacturing, and more. Biodesign challenge bridges art, design, and biotech to help develop the first generation of professionals that cross disciplines, anticipate promises and pitfalls, and engage the public in dialogue about the broader implications of emerging biotech.as part of our support for participants, we connect teams with opportunities with museums, galleries, investors, and accelerator programs. Through these connections projects have both evolved into startup…
$277,726 spent$296,222 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $277,726.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $254k to $360k (+41%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 16% · 2025 35%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
64% of BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Paul Rubbery
Executive director
Board chair
Orkan Telhan
Board president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023, and between the FY2023 and FY2024, and between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $125k → $203k.
From the IRS filings of BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 93% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 99% · 2023 90% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
93% of BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $165k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$120k
- National Science Foundation$45k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC?
- BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC (New York) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $692,372 to it, the largest being THE SIMONS FOUNDATION INC ($643,372). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $692,372 in grants to BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC?
- THE SIMONS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $643,372 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BIODESIGN CHALLENGE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Biodesign Challenge →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 4 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing