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Missouri · Nonprofit

BIOSTL

BIOSTL (Missouri) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $60,523,053 to it, the largest being ST LOUIS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($15,146,500). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$18M
Funders on record
27
Grants received
$61M
Net assets
$14M
18/27 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Biostl does

Mission

Biostl advances st. Louis' prosperity by cultivating a thriving bioscience sector. Biostl builds regional capacity, nurtures a collaborative environment, and focuses community leadership and resources to capitalize on the unique convergence of st. Louis' corporate, university, and entrepreneurial strengths in medical and plant bioscience.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Company creation and attraction: funding and support to organizations and entrepreneurs/founders in the fields of biotechnology, life sciences, healthcare, and other technologies where the st. Louis community has strengths. This includes assisting organizations that help build successful, sustainable biosciences companies located in st. Louis city and the surrounding community.

    $7,240,545 spentof which $4,582,220 as grants$327,330 earned by the program
    59% of program spending
  2. Regional infrastructure: to further the fields of biotechnology and life sciences in the city of st. Louis and surrounding community and promote education, scientific research, economic development, workforce development, and transfer of beneficial technologies to the public.

    $5,039,426 spentof which $1,004,505 as grants$410,003 earned by the program
    41% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,279,971.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($3.3M) Expenses 100 ($8.2M) Net assets 100 ($22M)2018 Revenue 275 ($9.0M) Expenses 110 ($9.0M) Net assets 99 ($22M)2019 Revenue 369 ($12M) Expenses 107 ($8.7M) Net assets 50 ($11M)2020 Revenue 363 ($12M) Expenses 123 ($10M) Net assets 59 ($13M)2021 Revenue 303 ($9.9M) Expenses 134 ($11M) Net assets 54 ($12M)2022 Revenue 268 ($8.8M) Expenses 135 ($11M) Net assets 43 ($9.7M)2023 Revenue 349 ($11M) Expenses 137 ($11M) Net assets 45 ($9.9M)2024 Revenue 545 ($18M) Expenses 170 ($14M) Net assets 62 ($14M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (545)Expenses (170)Net assets (62)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $22M to $12M (−44%).

$23M
$22M
$12M
$13M
$12M
$9.7M
$9.9M
$19M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 27% · 2018 11% · 2019 8% · 2020 27% · 2021 9% · 2022 16% · 2023 14% · 2024 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

94% of BIOSTL’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,251 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$4.9M
’17
−$890
’18
$3.3M
’19
$1.8M
’20
−$1.0M
’21
−$2.3M
’22
$268k
’23
$3.9M
’24
6.6
months of
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.

Board chair

John Mcdonnell

Board member/chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1414151312122019
Joined·+1+3+3+0+0+9+4
No longer listed·1251015
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $5.0M → $5.4M.

3 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of BIOSTL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 26 of 27 funders by total. 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

BIOSTL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

82% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BIOSTL.

25%
largest funder
58%
top three
~7
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 76% · 2019 25% · 2020 49% · 2021 39% · 2022 32% · 2023 28% — 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.

How long its funders stay

35% of BIOSTL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

97% of BIOSTL's grant income comes from Missouri funders.

NY
MA
OR
IN
MO
NC
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Missouri out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

BIOSTL runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,064 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin22% · top quartile
Months of reserve6.6mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)27% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Government funding BIOSTL receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $13.5M on record.

Federal$13.5M
grants $11.9Mcontracts $1.5M
17
18
19
20
21
22
Top agencies
  • Department of Commerce$11.9M
  • Small Business Administration$1.5M
  • Department of Veterans Affairs$30k

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 BIOSTL

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 Missouri

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

88% of spending goes to programs.

Program 88%Management 8%Fundraising 4%

Governance

7
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

76%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Part of a family of 3 related entities

  • Biostl STEM Coaching LLC · disregarded
  • St Louis Life Sciences Project · exempt
  • Biogenerator · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BIOSTL: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 BIOSTL?
BIOSTL (Missouri) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $60,523,053 to it, the largest being ST LOUIS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($15,146,500). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does BIOSTL have?
IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $60,523,053 in grants to BIOSTL, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of BIOSTL?
ST LOUIS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $15,146,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like BIOSTL find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 27 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