Medecins Sans Frontieres (msf) - Arzte Ohne Grenzen, Deutsche Sektion

What Medecins Sans Frontieres (msf) - Arzte Ohne Grenzen, Deutsche Sektion does

Ärzte ohne Grenzen e.V. is the German section of Médecins Sans Frontières, an international medical humanitarian organization founded in Paris in 1971, with the German legal entity (Ärzte ohne Grenzen e.V., Vereinsregister AG Charlottenburg entry 21575) established in 1993 and headquartered at Schwedenstraße 9, 13359 Berlin under Geschäftsführer Christian Katzer. It delivers emergency medical care, trauma surgery, epidemic response, maternal and reproductive health, mental health support, and water-and-sanitation services directly in conflict zones, natural disaster sites, refugee camps, and disease outbreaks, deploying more than 67,000 staff across 72 countries with reported annual operational throughput of 17,071,300 outpatient treatments and 2,941,600 emergency treatments.

The organization's operational backbone consists of pre-positioned emergency medical kits (each kit sized for roughly 1,000 people for three months), a specialized Earth Observation team that uses satellite data for earthquake response and refugee camp assessments, and crowdsourced crisis mapping via the Missing Maps Project co-founded with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Digital engagement offerings include a bi-monthly newsletter, a podcast hosted on Podigee, a Mapathon volunteer mapping program, Bildungsangebote educational programs, and a digital donation receipt service introduced in 2025.

Funding is sourced almost exclusively from private donations (one-time, recurring Dauerspende, testamentary, corporate Partner-Unternehmen, and foundation grants) processed through SEPA, PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and Klarna/Sofortüberweisung via SozialBank; the organization explicitly declines government funding to preserve operational independence. Donor-facing certifications include the TÜV fundraising certificate (ID 15 271 9001) and the DZI Spendensiegel, and 82.2% of funds are reported as directed to field projects, 1.9% to testimony/advocacy, and 15.9% to fundraising, administration, and public relations.

Name

Medecins Sans Frontieres (msf) - Arzte Ohne Grenzen, Deutsche Sektion

Legal name

Ärzte ohne Grenzen e. V.

Website

https://aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Ärzte ohne Grenzen e.V., the German section of Médecins Sans Frontières, is a Berlin-headquartered non-profit that delivers independent medical humanitarian aid, including trauma, epidemic, maternal, and refugee care, across 72 countries, funded almost entirely by private German donors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Humanitarian Medical Aid

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian Health & Emergency Medical Relief NGOs (HLAJAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH), International & Local Implementing NGOs (HLAJAKAD), Refugee, Migration & Displacement Support (BPAGABAH)

Keywords

• Humanitarian medical aid
• Emergency healthcare services
• Conflict zone medicine
• Epidemic disease treatment
• Disaster relief medical

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Private Donations: MSF is funded entirely through private donations from individuals and organizations. The organization explicitly states it does not accept government or institutional funding to maintain independence in deciding where and how to help.
2. Corporate and Foundation Grants: MSF receives donations from companies and foundations (partner enterprises) who contribute to project funding, though the organization emphasizes this does not compromise its operational independence.
3. Member Dues: MSF has members (Vereinsmitglieder) who pay dues and participate in governance of the German section.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Medecins Sans Frontieres / Arzte Ohne Grenzen (German Section) delivers independent, impartial, and neutral medical humanitarian assistance in crisis-affected regions worldwide. Core activities include emergency medical care in conflict zones, trauma and surgical response, epidemic disease treatment (malaria, cholera, Ebola, neglected tropical diseases), refugee and displacement healthcare, maternal and reproductive health, water and sanitation, and post-disaster medical relief across 72+ countries. Funding flows from private donations, corporate and foundation grants, and member dues, with 82.2% of funds directed to field projects.

Product overview

Ärzte ohne Grenzen (Médecins Sans Frontières) is a humanitarian medical organization founded in 1971, with its German section established in 1993 and based in Berlin. The organization's core offering is direct medical humanitarian aid delivered across more than 70 countries, focused on conflict and war zones, natural disasters, epidemics and infectious diseases, displacement and migration, women's health, and access to medicines. The digital products and engagement offerings include the Mapathon (a volunteer mapping program using OpenStreetMap to create maps for crisis regions), a Newsletter (delivering field reports approximately twice monthly), a Podcast (audio storytelling about humanitarian missions), Bildungsangebote (educational programs with guest speakers), and a Digital Donation Receipt service (introduced in 2025 for automated tax-relevant donation confirmation). Funding comes primarily from private donations, ensuring independence from government or institutional funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emergency Medical Humanitarian Aid Field-deployed emergency medical care, trauma surgery, maternal health, epidemic treatment, and water/sanitation services for populations affected by conflict, natural disasters, displacement, and disease outbreaks across 72+ countries. Delivered free of charge to beneficiaries through international staff and local teams.
• Mapathon - Landkarten fur Krisenregionen A volunteer-driven mapping program where participants digitize OpenStreetMap satellite imagery to create high-quality digital maps of crisis regions, supporting epidemiological analysis, disease surveillance, and logistical planning for humanitarian operations.
• Newsletter A twice-monthly digital subscription delivering reports from field projects, exclusive insights, and authentic first-person accounts from MSF staff to subscribers' inboxes.
• Podcast An audio storytelling platform featuring episodes about MSF's humanitarian missions, volunteer experiences, and humanitarian topics. Hosted on the Podigee podcast platform.
• Bildungsangebote (Educational Offerings) Educational programs including speaker requests for events and awareness-raising materials about humanitarian work and global health topics for schools, universities, and public audiences.
• Digitale Spendenquittung (Digital Donation Receipt) Annual tax-deductible donation receipts delivered as PDF attachments to donors' emails for tax purposes under German law.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17,071,300 outpatient treatments delivered
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• OpenStreetMap / Missing Maps ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014MSF is a founding partner of the Missing Maps Project, launched in 2014 alongside the Red Cross and the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). The project uses crowdsourced satellite mapping to create digital maps of crisis regions, enabling better logistical planning for humanitarian response. Mapathon events organized by MSF contribute data to OpenStreetMap for use by all humanitarian actors.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014The Red Cross co-founded the Missing Maps Project with MSF and HOT in 2014. The collaboration enables shared use of OpenStreetMap data for humanitarian operations across all three organizations.
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2014HOT is the technical organization that coordinates the Missing Maps Project's mapping activities. MSF contributes field data and organizes Mapathon volunteers while HOT provides the technical infrastructure and coordination for satellite-based mapping.
• Drugs for Neglected Diseases (DNDi)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2003MSF co-founded DNDi, a non-profit pharmaceutical research organization dedicated to developing treatments for neglected tropical diseases. DNDi developed an oral therapy for sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis) that is simpler to administer and causes fewer severe side effects than previous treatments.
• SocialBank (SozialBank)minorOthersMSF's German section uses SozialBank as its banking partner for processing donations and managing its financial operations. The IBAN DE72 3702 0500 0009 7097 00 and BIC BFSWDE33XXX are associated with this partnership.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CARE International: CARE provides emergency humanitarian response and long-term development, including health programming in crises, operating in many of the same countries and serving similar conflict-affected and refugee populations as MSF.
• Partners In Health: Partners In Health delivers medical care in resource-poor settings including conflict and epidemic zones, with overlapping Ebola, malaria, and HIV programming — particularly relevant given MSF's neglected tropical disease work.
• Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps delivers humanitarian assistance in conflict zones and disaster-affected regions with overlapping health, water/sanitation, and food security programs, serving comparable affected populations as MSF.
• Direct Relief: Direct Relief is a medical humanitarian aid organization providing emergency medical supplies and pharmaceuticals to health providers in disaster and conflict zones, with a comparable medical-aid distribution model to MSF's pre-positioned kits.
• International Rescue Committee (IRC): IRC operates in conflict and crisis-affected countries providing health, education, and emergency response, directly overlapping with MSF's refugee, displacement, and emergency health programming across similar geographies.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): The ICRC is the most direct peer to MSF — both are neutral, independent medical/humanitarian organizations operating in conflict zones worldwide. They co-founded the Missing Maps Project together, signaling deep operational alignment in field logistics and emergency response.
• Save the Children International: Save the Children provides emergency healthcare, maternal/child health, and nutrition programming in conflict and disaster settings — closely mirroring MSF's women-and-children segment with overlapping field presence in Syria, Yemen, and Sudan.
• Oxfam International: Oxfam delivers humanitarian aid and advocacy in conflict and disaster zones, with overlapping WASH, food security, and emergency health programming targeting similar vulnerable populations.

Broad incumbents

• World Health Organization (WHO): The WHO is a broad incumbent coordinating global epidemic response and health system strengthening, overlapping with MSF's epidemic work (Ebola, cholera, malaria) but operating at a policy and coordination level rather than direct field deployment.
• UNICEF: UNICEF is a broad incumbent global health and humanitarian organization with overlapping emergency health, vaccination, and maternal/child programming — particularly relevant to MSF's pediatric and epidemic response work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/aerzteohnegrenzen
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@aerzteohnegrenzen
• Facebookfacebook.com/aerzteohnegrenzen
• Instagraminstagram.com/aerzteohnegrenzen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aerzte-ohne-grenzen-msf-de

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Medecins Sans Frontieres (msf) - Arzte Ohne Grenzen, Deutsche Sektion