SMU Alum Christopher Godfrey’s Bloodbuy Wins First Health Acceleration Challenge At Harvard

Bloodbuy, the Dallas-based company whose technology connects hospitals and blood centers nationwide to ensure the efficient flow of lifesaving blood products to patients in need, has been named the winner of the first Harvard Business School-Harvard Medical School Health Acceleration Challenge.
“This award is obviously a huge honor, and our team is blown away,” commented Christopher Godfrey ’05, founder and CEO of Bloodbuy. “It serves as tremendous validation for the work we are doing to try to create a higher level of efficiency in what we consider one of the most critical health care verticals.”
Godfrey received his BBA from SMU’s Cox School of Business in 2005. He also holds master’s in healthcare leadership from Brown University, where he was the recipient of the Brown University Graduate School Master’s Award for Professional Excellence.
The Health Acceleration Challenge is a “scale up” competition that focuses on compelling, already-implemented health care solutions and helps them to grow and increase their impact through powerful networking and funding opportunities. In its first year, the Health Acceleration Challenge received 478 applicants and attracted 20,000 online visitors from 29 countries.
“Bloodbuy’s innovation addresses a significant problem in health care—the imbalance between the supply of and demand for blood,” said Robert S. Huckman, the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. “Its online platform and ability to scale its organization have already had a positive impact on patient care, and the company is poised to make even greater contributions in the future. We are proud to recognize Bloodbuy’s success with this award.”
Bloodbuy emerged as the winner after a year-long selection process that involved 18 semifinalists winnowed to four finalists who share a $150,000 prize endowed by Howard E. Cox, Jr., now an advisory partner in the venture capital firm Greylock Partners and a member of both the HBS Healthcare Initiative Advisory Board and the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. As the final winner, Bloodbuy will receive an additional $50,000.
As the founder and CEO of Bloodbuy, Godfrey is responsible for the overall strategic direction and growth of the company, its technology solutions and its people. Prior to founding Bloodbuy, he sourced and structured control investments within the healthcare sector on behalf of HealthCap Partners. Over the course of his career, he has played a principal role in the underwriting, structuring and closing of numerous healthcare sector control investments with an aggregate investment basis in excess of $700 million.
Previously, Mr. Godfrey served as senior vice president and director of finance for The Cirrus Group, where he chaired its investment committee. Prior to Cirrus, he held positions with Hillwood Capital, Macfarlan Capital Partners and J.P. Morgan.
He has been included on the Dallas Business Journal’s list of Who’s Who in Healthcare, recognized by the Harvard Forum on Healthcare Innovation, and served as the protagonist of a Harvard Business School Case Study.
READ MORE:
>Harvard Business School: Bloodbuy Wins First Harvard Business School-Harvard Medical School Health Acceleration Challenge
>KERA Radio: A Dallas Startup Banks On The Blood Business
>Bloodbuy.com