Colette

What Colette does

Colette is a French startup operating a two-sided intergenerational cohabitation platform that connects homeowners aged 60 and over who have a spare room with young people under 30 seeking affordable housing. The platform facilitates matching, contract execution, and insurance/guarantee frameworks for shared living arrangements, with the senior host receiving rent (averaging approximately €580 per month) and the young tenant gaining below-market accommodation in exchange for a light presence and occasional shared time with the host. The service is delivered in 14 French cities and has facilitated over 900 cohabitation pairs ("binômes") since launch.

The company's product surface extends beyond the core matching platform to include "Club Colette," a community and activities offering for the 50+ demographic, which serves as a top-of-funnel engagement layer and a softer product line that monetizes via paid activities and partnerships. Trust and safety infrastructure is anchored by an insurance partnership with AXA covering both hosts and tenants. The company distributes primarily through digital channels (social, press, partnerships) and has built a registered community of approximately 120,000 members.

The business model is B2C and transaction-mediated: Colette earns a fee/commission on the rental stream it intermediates, supplemented by ancillary revenue from Club Colette activities and partnership income (e.g., from insurance, telecom, energy offers routed to its senior audience). Go-to-market is consumer-led with PR-driven brand awareness (Le Monde, TF1, M6, France Inter, Les Échos) and a low-cost acquisition motion targeting seniors with rooms and young workers/students. The customer base is highly fragmented (hundreds of hosts, thousands of tenant sign-ups per month), with no single account representing material revenue concentration.

Name

Colette

Legal name

Colette

Website

https://colette.club

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Colette is a French two-sided platform that matches seniors with a spare room to young tenants under 30 for intergenerational shared housing, operating in 14 French cities with an integrated trust, insurance, and community product.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intergenerational Housing Services

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Senior Social Clubs & Community-Based Day Programs (Non-Clinical) (HSABANAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Meals, Nutrition & Congregate Dining Day Programs (HSABANAM)

Keywords

• Intergenerational cohabitation
• Affordable housing platform
• Senior community services
• Shared living matching
• Social activity club

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Cohabitation service fees: Colette earns revenue by facilitating intergenerational cohabitation between seniors (hosts, 60+) and young people (under 30). Hosts earn rental income from letting spare rooms; the revenue model for Colette itself is implied to be transaction-based on these cohabitation arrangements. All cohabitations are insured by AXA.
2. Club membership (free tier): Club Colette membership is free with no commitment. Some activities proposed by Colette team members require credits (1 credit per activity). Most activities proposed by community members are free. Some activities require on-site payment (e.g., museum entry fees). This stream generates minimal direct revenue but drives community engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Colette operates an intergenerational cohabitation platform that matches seniors aged 60+ with spare rooms to young people under 30 (students, apprentices, young workers) seeking affordable housing in French cities. The company complements this with Club Colette, a free community activity club for people 50+ offering cultural visits, sports, conferences, and social gatherings across 14 French cities. All cohabitations are insured by AXA, and the mobile app combines trust-based matching with a credits-based activity reservation system serving a 120,000-member community.

Product overview

Colette operates two complementary service lines: an intergenerational cohabitation platform launched in 2019 connecting seniors with spare rooms to young people seeking affordable housing, and Club Colette launched in 2020 as a community activity club for people over 50 offering in-person activities, online events, and social gatherings. The cohabitation service provides income for hosts and affordable housing for tenants, while the Club provides daily activities including cultural visits, sports, conferences, and communal dining through a credit-based system and mobile application.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Intergenerational Cohabitation Service
• Club Colette

Quantifiable outcome

• 9/10 satisfaction rating among cohabitation binomes (4.9/5)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Gens de ConfianceminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 June 2020Colette partnered with Gens de Confiance to promote intergenerational cohabitation and room rental at the host's home. Colette is visible on the Gens de Confiance platform when users search for rooms to rent or offer. Both companies share values of trust, kindness, and solidarity.
• HappydemicsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2020Colette partnered with Happydemics, a survey research company, to conduct the first Barometer of Intergenerational Solidarity in May 2020, surveying 869 people aged 18-44 to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on intergenerational solidarity and mutual aid.
• AXAcoreOthersAXA is the official insurance partner of Colette, providing coverage for all cohabitation arrangements. For any damage exceeding 200 euros, AXA covers the costs, providing security and peace of mind for both hosts and tenants in the cohabitation arrangement.
• SkarlettminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSkarlett partnered with Colette to provide content on health insurance optimization for seniors. Colette co-authored articles with Skarlett promoting their health insurance comparison services for the 60+ demographic. Skarlett offers free advisor consultations to Colette members.
• BazileminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBazile, a telecom operator serving seniors for over 15 years, partnered with Colette to provide technology assistance content to Colette members. Bazile offers simplified mobile plans on the Orange network and 24/7 personal assistance services, complementing Colette's senior community offering.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Silvernest: US home sharing platform purpose-built for adults 50+ to rent spare rooms to vetted housemates. Direct functional peer addressing senior isolation and supplemental income, with comparable matching and screening infrastructure.
• Nesterly: US-based home sharing platform that matches older homeowners with students/young professionals. Operates a very similar trust-based intergenerational matching model in a different geography, providing cross-market validation and competitive reference.
• Cohabilis: French association network dedicated to intergenerational cohabitation across multiple French regions. Closest direct competitor to Colette's cohabitation model with similar senior/young tenant matching, though operated more as a nonprofit association.
• Ensemble2generations: French nonprofit specializing in intergenerational housing, pairing seniors with spare rooms and young people seeking affordable accommodation. Directly comparable mission and target segments to Colette's core service.

Broad incumbents

• Leboncoin: France's dominant classifieds platform including a large rentals vertical. Potential commoditizer of the matching layer if it adds trust, verification, or insurance features targeting senior hosts and student tenants.
• DOMITYS: France's largest operator of senior serviced residences. Serves the same senior demographic and isolation challenge but through a capital-intensive brick-and-mortar model rather than Colette's asset-light platform approach.
• Studapart: Leading French student/young professional housing platform. Competes for the same young tenant demand side via traditional rental listings; broader portfolio and larger scale but lacks intergenerational and community components.
• Heurus: French operator of shared senior residences (colocations seniors). Targets the same senior isolation and 'age at home' themes via a hybrid co-living residence model rather than family-home cohabitation.
• Petits-fils: Major French senior home-care services network. Addresses the same senior demographic with assistance services but through paid in-home caregiving rather than Colette's cohabitation-based companionship model.

Others

• Gens de Confiance: French trust-based classifieds platform that lists Colette as a referral partner. Adjacent ecosystem participant rather than a competitor; the partnership gives Colette distribution but also signals overlap in trust-based rental transactions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/coletteclub

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Colette