What Up Group does

Up Group is a French employee-owned cooperative (Société Coopérative d'Intérêt Collectif), operating commercially as Upcoop and headquartered in Gennevilliers, France. Founded in 1962 and legally incorporated as a SCOP à mission in January 2023, the company designs, distributes and operates a multi-product employee benefit and social payment platform serving employers, employees, Works Councils (CSEs), local authorities, NGOs and merchants in France, with selected international operations in the Baltic States via the Stebby acquisition. Its portfolio spans meal vouchers (UpDéjeuner), multi-brand gift vouchers (Cadhoc), the unified Mastercard-based benefit card (UpOne), home service prepaid titles (Chèque Domicile / CESU), cultural access vouchers (Chèque Culture, Chèque Lire), social action vouchers (Chèque de Services) and the Cohésia digital social-aid disbursement platform.

The technology stack is a digital payment platform with iOS/Android mobile applications, Mastercard-issued prepaid card infrastructure, and cloud-based management portals for employer and public-sector clients. Differentiating technical components include the UpOne intelligent card that automatically routes spending to the correct benefit account at point of sale and the Cohésia configurable aid-distribution engine that supports targeted, real-time-tracked social programs. Acceptance is delivered through a 300,000+ merchant network, Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets, and integrations with Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Nestor and Foodcheri. ISO 9001 and Origine France Garantie certifications are held on the UpDéjeuner line.

Upcoop makes money through transaction-based and managed-services revenue streams. Employers and CSEs purchase voucher face value (with employer contribution set within URSSAF/ACOSS tax-exempt thresholds, e.g., €7.32/day per employee for meal vouchers in 2026 and unlimited exemption for cultural vouchers), merchants pay affiliation fees to join the acceptance network, and government/NGO clients pay platform and per-transaction fees for Cohésia and Chèque de Services deployments. The go-to-market is sales-led for large enterprises with multi-step quote flows, inside-sales/self-serve for SMEs, and merchant-network onboarding via moncommerce.up.coop for the supply side. Scale indicators include 84,300+ corporate clients, 300,000+ affiliated merchants, 7.6 million daily users, 253,500+ restaurants in the UpDéjeuner network, and €3.4B+ in annual financial flows through Cohésia alone.

Name

Up Group

Legal name

Upcoop Société Coopérative d'Intérêt Collectif (SCIC)

Website

https://up.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Up Group is a French employee-owned cooperative (Upcoop) that runs a multi-product employee benefit and social payment platform, issuing meal vouchers, gift vouchers, culture and home-service prepaid cards, and social-aid disbursement tools to employers, Works Councils, public authorities and 300,000+ merchants in France and the Baltics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Employee Benefits and Social Payment Solutions

NAICS

Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251), Caterers (722320), Business Service Centers (56143)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Prepaid Card Program Managers & Issuers (BIN Sponsors) (FSAMANAK)

Keywords

• Employee benefits vouchers
• Meal voucher solutions
• Social aid payments
• Prepaid benefit cards
• Cooperative payment services

Headquarters

HQ city

Gennevilliers

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Employee Benefit Voucher Sales: Upcoop sells prepaid vouchers (lunch tickets, gift cards, culture checks, etc.) to employers and CSEs, who then distribute them to employees. Revenue is generated from the face value of vouchers sold minus costs. The company benefits from employer co-financing models where both employer and employee contribute to voucher value.
2. Merchant Affiliation Fees: Merchants pay to join Upcoop's acceptance network, gaining visibility to millions of Upcoop cardholders. This creates a two-sided marketplace benefit.
3. Social Aid Program Management: Upcoop provides Cohésia and Chèque de Services platforms to government agencies, local authorities, and NGOs for distributing social assistance. Revenue comes from platform fees and per-card/per-transaction charges.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Up Group (operating as Upcoop) designs, distributes, and manages prepaid voucher and card-based payment solutions that allow French employers, Works Councils (CSEs), and public authorities to provide tax-advantaged employee benefits and targeted social aid. Its portfolio covers meal vouchers (UpDéjeuner), gift cards (Cadhoc), a consolidated multi-benefit Mastercard (UpOne), home service CESU (Chèque Domicile), cultural and reading vouchers (Chèque Culture, Chèque Lire), and social assistance platforms (Chèque de Services, Cohésia), all backed by a 300,000+ merchant acceptance network.

Product overview

Up Group (Upcoop) operates a multi-product platform of employee benefit and social payment solutions built around a portfolio of specialized voucher, card, and digital payment products. The core offering centers on UpDéjeuner (meal vouchers), Cadhoc (multi-brand gift vouchers), and UpOne (consolidated Mastercard-based multi-benefit card), flanked by targeted products for specific needs: Chèque Domicile for home services, Chèque Culture and Chèque Lire for cultural access, Chèque de Services and Cohésia for social assistance programs. The platform also includes supplementary products like UpC'kdo (digital gifts), Billetterie (event ticketing), and UpEpass (youth assistance). All products share a common digital infrastructure with card/mobile payment capabilities, employer management portals, and acceptance networks, unified by the cooperative's SCOP mission structure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UpDéjeuner: Meal voucher and restaurant payment solution for employees
• Cadhoc
• UpOne
• Chèque Domicile
• Chèque Culture
• Chèque Lire
• Chèque de Services
• Cohésia

Products and services

• UpDéjeuner Digital and physical meal voucher solution for businesses to provide employees with tax-exempt lunch benefits, accepted at over 253,500 restaurants and merchants across France.
• UpOne Multi-benefit employee card that consolidates all workplace benefits (meal vouchers, gift cards, vacation subsidies, sports vouchers) onto a single Mastercard-branded card with automatic account selection at payment.
• Cadhoc Multi-brand gift voucher solution accepted at over 875 retailers and 65,000 points of sale, enabling companies to reward employees for URSSAF-recognized events with tax-exempt gifts.
• Chèque Domicile Pre-financed CESU (Chèque Emploi Service Universel) for home services, providing access to over 34,000 service provider organizations and 1 million affiliated professionals for childcare, housekeeping, and elderly care.
• Chèque Culture Cultural gift voucher providing access to over 8,000 cultural sites, 700 performance venues, 300 cinemas, and 600 heritage locations with full social tax exemption.
• Chèque Lire

Quantifiable outcome

• Upcoop manages €3.4 billion in financial flows annually through its social aid platforms
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• StebbycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 June 2024Up Group acquired a controlling stake in Estonian wellness benefit platform Stebby, the dominant wellness benefit platform in the Baltic States operating in Latvia and Lithuania, serving 180,000 users. This acquisition enables Up Group to expand its presence in the Baltic region and Europe, with Livonia Partners exiting their investment.
• La Tablée des ChefscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUpcoop partners with La Tablée des Chefs on food access initiatives, working together to promote healthier, more just, and sustainable eating. The partnership supports the company's broader mission of food democracy and combating food insecurity.
• SollycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUpcoop partners with Solly to provide a cashless donation solution for homeless people, enabling donors to contribute without cash through a digital giving mechanism managed on the Cohésia platform.
• MatmutminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMatmut provides the Garantie Sérénité (Serenity Guarantee) — a free, unlimited, personalized legal assistance hotline available to all Chèque Domicile clients from their first order, covering disputes and legal questions.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Monizze: Monizze is a Belgium-based employee benefits voucher and card provider serving the Belgian market with eco-friendly positioning. Operates similar meal, gift, eco, and culture products to Upcoop but is geographically focused on Belgium rather than France.
• Progosa / Voucher Services: Progosa operates a Portuguese employee benefits voucher and gift solution comparable to Upcoop's product portfolio. Provides a regional reference point for cross-border European benefits infrastructure that Upcoop could pursue.

Broad incumbents

• Givex: Givex operates a broader gift card, loyalty, and prepaid payment processing platform serving retailers and restaurants globally. While not a meal-voucher specialist, it overlaps with Upcoop on the multi-brand gift voucher (Cadhoc) acceptance and merchant enablement layers.
• Blackhawk Network: Blackhawk Network is a global branded payments and gift card distribution network with significant European operations. Comparable to Upcoop in the prepaid gift and gift card issuance/marketplace layer (similar to Cadhoc), though B2C-skewed versus Upcoop's B2B-led model.

Direct peers

• Swile: Swile is a French digital-native employee benefits card platform targeting the same SME and large-enterprise segments as Upcoop. Acquired by Pluxee, Swile differentiates via card-only experience and aggressive venture-backed product velocity, pressuring Upcoop on the UpOne equivalent proposition.
• Edenred: Edenred is Upcoop's most direct global competitor, originating from the same French meal voucher tradition and now operating Ticket Restaurant in France plus a worldwide prepaid employee benefits network. Both companies compete head-to-head for French employer contracts, merchant affiliations, and public-sector social aid mandates.
• Bimpli (Natixis Intertitres): Bimpli is the French meal voucher arm formerly known as Natixis Intertitres, serving a comparable French corporate client base. It positions as a tech-forward, API-first alternative and competes directly with Upcoop on employer contracts, particularly in the SME segment.
• Pluxee (Sodexo Benefits & Rewards): Pluxee is the recently spun-off Sodexo Benefits & Rewards division and remains a top-tier French employee benefits competitor with the Pluxee card. It competes directly with Upcoop across meal vouchers, gift/incentive, and quality-of-life benefits for the same enterprise and merchant base.

Emerging players

• SpenditWell: SpenditWell is a German employee benefits card provider offering tax-privileged meal, mobility, and benefits credits to employers. Comparable to Upcoop on meal voucher economics and card-based distribution but focused on the German market, creating a parallel European product template.

Others

• Incentivo (STAG): Incentivo administers German tax-privileged employee benefits (meal vouchers, mobility, health) including for SAP. Operates as a regional market parallel useful for sizing Upcoop's international expansion appetite in the DACH region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/Up-Group-Coop
• Facebookfacebook.com/UpCoop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/up-coop
• Xx.com/UpCoop

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A3 records

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Up Group