DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg Hessen

What DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg Hessen does

DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg – Hessen gemeinnützige GmbH is one of five regional blood services of the German Red Cross (DRK), jointly owned by DRK-LV Baden-Württemberg e. V. and DRK-LV Hessen e. V. and headquartered in Mannheim. It supplies blood, plasma, and stem-cell donation services across Baden-Württemberg and Hessen, supporting the German hospital network's daily demand for ~15,000 nationwide blood donations. Beyond whole-blood donation, the organization runs a compensated plasma-donation program (Plasmaspende) whose output is fractionated into pharmaceuticals such as Anti-D immunoglobulin for Rhesus-negative pregnant women and immunoglobulin for cancer patients, and it operates the affiliated Deutsche Stammzellspenderdatei (DSSD) stem-cell registry.

The technology stack is purpose-built around donor lifecycle management rather than clinical R&D. Core products include the blutspende.de website, the Blutspende app (Digitaler Spenderservice at spenderservice.net) providing a digital blood donor ID, donation history, and appointment booking, plus supporting tools — a real-time Blutgruppenbarometer inventory dashboard, Spende-Check eligibility pre-screening, an online appointment reservation system, and a digital magazine with podcast channel. Back-end integrations are privacy-centric and EU-hosted: self-hosted Matomo analytics, SendinBlue email, HERE Maps, Friendly Captcha, Shariff-based social sharing, and S/MIME-encrypted email. In April 2025 the organization rolled out the digital donor card, displacing ~74,000 physical mailings annually.

Commercially, the entity is a non-profit limited liability company (gemeinnützige GmbH). Whole blood is provided free of charge to hospitals under the German Transfusion Act; revenue is sourced from charitable funding, government/health-system support, and pharmaceutical revenues from processed plasma (the only directly monetized line item). Plasma donors receive expense compensation (Aufwandsentschädigung). Donor acquisition runs through community-led (volunteer networks, mobile drives), event-driven (Metallica 2024 concert drives, university/school outreach, Teachkit), and direct-to-consumer (app, email, SMS) channels. Customer concentration sits with German hospitals and clinics on the supply side; the donor base spans the general public with a documented aging profile (~25% Baby Boomer, 45.5-year average age of repeat donors).

Name

DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg Hessen

Legal name

DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg – Hessen gemeinnützige GmbH

Website

https://blutspende.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg – Hessen is a non-profit German Red Cross blood, plasma, and stem-cell donation service operating in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Hessen, supplying hospitals and patients across the region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Transfusion Medicine & Immunohematology (Blood Bank) (HLAFAMAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Plasma Collection & Donor Services (Plasmapheresis Centers) (HLAIAHAH), Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations (BPAGACAJ), Cell & Tissue Banking (biobanking, cord blood/tissue) (HLAAAGAE)

Keywords

• Blood donation services
• Plasma donation services
• Stem cell donation
• Transfusion medicine
• Immunohematology services

Headquarters

HQ city

Mannheim

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Blood Product Supply: As a non-profit blood service, the organization provides blood products to hospitals and patients free of charge. It operates under the German Red Cross framework with government support and charitable funding.
2. Plasma Donation Compensation: Plasma donors receive compensation (Aufwandsentschädigung) for their donations, funded through the processing and sale of plasma-derived medicinal products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg – Hessen collects voluntary whole blood, plasma, and stem cell donations from healthy adult donors across Baden-Württemberg and Hessen and supplies blood products and components to German hospitals. Operating as part of the German Red Cross (DRK) network, it provides transfusion medicine services including immunohematology and immunogenetics testing, and supports digital donor services via the Blutspende-App, spenderservice.net portal, and digital blood donor ID.

Product overview

DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg – Hessen operates a unified blood and plasma donation service for the German Red Cross across the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hessen. The organization's portfolio centers on a main blood donation website (www.blutspende.de) backed by the Blutspende-App and Digitaler Spenderservice portal, which together provide donors with a digital blood donor card, appointment booking, donation history, and targeted email invitations. Supporting products include the dedicated Plasmaspende service (plasmaspende.blutspende.de), the Blutspende-Magazin content hub with podcast, the Blutgruppenbarometer real-time supply tracker, the Spende-Check eligibility tool, the Spenderbefragung feedback survey, and the Stammzellspende stem cell registry. Together these form a donor lifecycle platform spanning awareness, eligibility screening, appointment management, donation processing, post-donation communication, and ongoing donor retention.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Voluntary Blood Donation Service (Blutspende)

Quantifiable outcome

• 15,000 daily blood donations needed nationwide; organization provides the majority of Germany's blood supply through its five regional services.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Metallica / All Within My Hands FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 May 2024Partnership between Metallica's All Within My Hands foundation and the DRK blood services for blood donation drives at Metallica's Germany concerts (Frankfurt and Berlin, May 2024). The campaign generated 9,942 registrations and 8,349 donations, with 1,595 first-time donors (19.1% vs typical 7.7%). Metallica provided exclusive merchandise (T-shirts, guitar picks) as donor incentives. The partnership is part of Metallica's international commitment to blood donation awareness.
• ADACminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between ADAC (German automobile club) and DRK blood services to jointly promote blood donation awareness. Joint campaign 'Gemeinsam stark für die Blutspende' (Strong together for blood donation).
• TeachkitminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInteractive educational kit that brings blood donation education to schools. The teachkit is available free for teachers to educate students about blood donation and is a joint initiative with the DRK blood services.
• JYSKminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJYSK, an international retail company headquartered in Handewitt, Germany, has partnered with the Deutsche Stammzellspenderdatei (DSSD) since 2014. The company hosts regular blood donation drives and stem cell typing events at its headquarters and annual celebrations. Over 700 JYSK employees have been typed as potential stem cell donors, with two having already donated. JYSK donated €3,000 to the DSSD.
• Deutsche Stammzellspenderdatei (DSSD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe German Stem Cell Donor File (DSSD) is affiliated with the DRK blood services Baden-Württemberg – Hessen and Nord-Ost. It manages stem cell and bone marrow donor registries, tissue typing for leukemia patients, and coordinates stem cell donations. Over 11,000 people in Germany develop leukemia or blood disorders annually and may require stem cell transplants.
• Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines. Works with the Bundesärztekammer (German Medical Association) to set guidelines for blood donation eligibility and blood product use, including the 'Richtlinie zur Gewinnung von Blut und Blutbestandteilen und zur Anwendung von Blutprodukten' (Hämotherapie Guideline).
• ADAC Luftrettung (Air Rescue)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ADAC Air Rescue to develop drone technology for faster blood product transport to patients. The drone can deliver blood products up to 5 times faster than traditional ground transport.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Haemonetics Corporation: Blood management technology and software provider serving blood banks, plasma centers, and hospitals globally. Comparable in serving the transfusion medicine ecosystem with technology rather than direct donor services.
• Cerus Corporation: Blood safety company specializing in pathogen reduction technology (INTERCEPT) for blood components and plasma. Operates in the same transfusion medicine value chain as DRK with technology solutions for safer blood products.

Broad incumbents

• Octapharma Plasma: Global plasma-derived therapeutics manufacturer operating plasma collection centers in Germany and worldwide. Competes for plasma donors and is a downstream buyer of plasma for immunoglobulin and coagulation factor production.
• CSL Plasma: World's largest plasma collection network, operated by CSL Behring. Competes for plasma donors in Germany through paid compensation programs and supplies raw material for CSL Behring's plasma-derived medicines.
• Grifols: Global plasma-derived therapeutics company and parent of Haema AG. Vertically integrated from plasma collection to finished medicines, making it both a competitor for donors and a partner/purchaser in the German plasma supply chain.

Direct peers

• DRK-Blutspendedienst Nord-Ost: Sister regional DRK blood service covering Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Schleswig-Holstein. Operates the same non-profit gemeinnützige GmbH model under the DRK umbrella with comparable blood, plasma, and stem cell services.
• Haema AG: Germany's largest private blood and plasma collection operator (subsidiary of Grifols). Directly competes with DRK for plasma donors in overlapping geographies by offering compensation, modern facilities, and standardized hours.
• DRK-Blutspendedienst Leben: Regional DRK blood service covering Bremen, Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, and Thüringen. Sister organization in the five-service DRK network with directly comparable operations, donor programs, and digital services.
• DRK-Blutspendedienst West: Regional DRK blood service covering Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Saarland. Sister organization within the five-service DRK blood network with identical operating model, donor recruitment approach, and regulatory framework.
• DRK-Blutspendedienst Bayern: Regional DRK blood service covering Bavaria. Sister organization operating the same gemeinnützige GmbH structure, blood/plasma donation infrastructure, and DRK branding across Germany.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@meineblutspende
• Facebookfacebook.com/drk.blutspendedienst.badenwuerttemberg.hessen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/drk-bsd-bwh
• Instagraminstagram.com/meineblutspende

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DRK-Blutspendedienst Baden-Württemberg Hessen