Wisconsin · Nonprofit
WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC
WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $804,076 to it, the largest being THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ($800,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.7M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $804k
- Net assets
- $4.9M
What Wicell Research Institute Inc does
Mission
Wicell's primary purpose is to support research of stem cell technologies at the university of wisconsin-madison and development of stem cell applications worldwide.the scientific research carried out by wicell and others who acquire cells and the right to use the related technology have as their objective the eventual use of cells to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease and to enable defective or injured body parts or systems to be repaired or replaced, as well as to understand early human development.wicell operates a laboratory located in the uw research park and is used for cell distribution, core services, and characterization services activities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Characterization services wicell established a characterization services program in 2005 to ensure high-quality psc lines distributed by the wicell stem cell bank and to serve the research community in the essential ongoing characterization of cell lines used in their research. Wicell offers its characterization services to help improve the rigor and reproducibility of all research utilizing cell lines to academic and commercial labs in the us and worldwide.
$3,391,545 spent$4,021,834 earned by the program61% of program spendingWicell stem cell bank wicell's stem cell bank repository accepts deposits from other academic institutions ensuring these pluripotent stem cell (psc) lines are available to the research community in perpetuity. Wicell banks, characterizes, and distributes these high-quality psc lines to academic research laboratories to support basic and translational research in stem cell science, regenerative medicine, and applications to improve human health. During fiscal year 2025, wicell distributed 619 psc lines, bringing total distributions to 12,143.
$1,444,607 spent$3,928,192 earned by the program26% of program spendingCore services wicell developed the core service program in 2009 to meet the needs of the uw stem cell researchers in making sure that they receive qualified supplies essential for psc culture. Wicell purchases bulk lots of supplies (media, reagents, etc.), qualifies them to ensure they support stem cell culture, and delivers the qualified supplies to campus researchers weekly. This saves the researchers time, money, storage space, and ensures quality materials are available, allowing them to focus more on their research.
$421,165 spent$483,204 earned by the program8% of program spendingUw research support
$51,973 spent1% of program spendingAssay/technology development
$255,074 spent5% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,564,364.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $3.4M to $5.0M (+45%).
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 9% · 2022 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
0% of WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (51% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
Robert Drape
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Derek Hei
Director/chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $5 → $400k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 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
WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 99% 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
99% 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 WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Wisconsin, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $31 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.
Against its field
WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC has grown faster than half of the 4,665 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,665 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $324k on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$324k
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 WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 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 Wisconsin
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
39%
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 WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 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 WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC?
- WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $804,076 to it, the largest being THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ($800,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $804,076 in grants to WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC?
- THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH is the largest funder on record, with $800,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WICELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. 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 Wicell Research Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 3 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