L'Esprit Sorcier

What L'Esprit Sorcier does

L'Esprit Sorcier is a privately held French popular-science media company founded in 2015 by Frédéric Courant, Pascal Léonard and Joël Guillemet, alumni of the long-running France Télévisions show "C'est pas Sorcier." The company operates the website lespritsorcier.org and the companion video portal lespritsorcier.tv, publishing weekly Dossiers (in-depth explainers), Émissions (video shows), Encyclopé-DIY (hands-on experiments), Découvertes (discovery stories), and the short-form Zap'in Sciences series. The platform is built on WordPress, with video hosted on YouTube (LEspritSorcierOfficiel) and Vimeo, and infrastructure outsourced to VO LIVE (hosting) and ATALANTA (web development).

The company serves two interlocking customer segments: a French-speaking general public (children and adults) who consume free, ad-free science content, and institutional partners (CEA, CNRS, Ifremer, Mairie de Paris, Fondation MAIF, Shamengo, Vulcania, Cité des sciences et de l'industrie) who co-fund and co-produce dossiers and live events such as the annual "Science En Direct" broadcast during Fête de la Science. The business model is explicitly non-commercial: the site is "vierge de toute publicité" (free of any advertising), and revenue is generated through reader donations via Tipeee, ethical institutional partnerships, and the original 2015 launch crowdfunding on KissKissBankBank. The registered office is in La Garenne-Colombes, France, and the operation is run by approximately eight core staff plus a wider network of freelancers, interns, and contributor scientists.

Name

L'Esprit Sorcier

Legal name

L'Esprit Sorcier

Website

https://lespritsorcier.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

L'Esprit Sorcier is a French ad-free popular-science media company that publishes weekly dossiers, videos, DIY experiments, and short-form science clips on lespritsorcier.org and YouTube, serving the French-speaking general public and co-producing content with institutional research partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Science Education Media

akta.pro primary industry

Assessment & Test Prep Media (Video Lessons, Drills, Simulations) (EDAGALAD)

Keywords

• Science popularization media
• Educational content platform
• DIY science experiments
• French science journalism
• Public science communication

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Reader donations (Tipeee): Voluntary recurring/one-time donations from the community via the Tipeee tipping platform; framed as essential to keeping the site ad-free and editorially independent.
2. Ethical institutional partnerships: Partnerships with research institutions, foundations, and public bodies (CEA, CNRS, Ifremer, Vulcania, Mairie de Paris, Fondation MAIF, Shamengo, etc.) that fund or co-produce dossiers, emissions, and live events.
3. Initial crowdfunding (KissKissBankBank): One-time crowdfunding campaign on KissKissBankBank at launch (October 2015) that funded the platform's first contents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

L'Esprit Sorcier operates a free, advertising-free French-language science popularization media platform (lespritsorcier.org) offering weekly in-depth science dossiers, video episodes, hands-on DIY experiment guides, discovery stories and short-form science clips, co-produced with leading French public research institutions. The platform is supported by reader donations and ethical partnerships rather than user fees or advertising, targeting the French-speaking general public to provide accessible, trustworthy science content.

Product overview

L'Esprit Sorcier operates as a single integrated popular-science media platform (lespritsorcier.org) rather than a discrete software product. The platform is built on WordPress and combines several editorial modules around a common weekly cadence: the flagship Dossiers de la semaine (in-depth written explainers), Emissions de la semaine (weekly video shows hosted via VO LIVE/Vimeo), Encyclopé-DIY (hands-on experiments), Découvertes (science discoveries and entrepreneur features), and the short-form Zap'in Sciences video series. Around this editorial core sit engagement modules — a Newsletter (email subscription), a community Forum (ForumPress-based), and a companion sub-brand, L'Esprit Sorcier TV (lespritsorcier.tv), which extends the offering as a standalone video portal. Web design and development are credited to ATALANTA. The site is funded via crowdfunding/donation channels (KissKissBankBank, Tipeee) rather than monetized as a SaaS, and no public API, AI capabilities, or formal security/compliance certifications are offered on the platform itself.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• L'Esprit Sorcier TV: Companion online video channel hosted at lespritsorcier.tv, featuring the science and discovery programming produced by L'Esprit Sorcier.

Products and services

• Dossiers de la semaine In-depth written dossiers published weekly on a single science topic (e.g., quantum computing, earthquakes and tsunamis, the scientific method, exoskeletons), serving as the editorial flagship of lespritsorcier.org for the French-speaking general public and educational users.
• Émissions de la semaine Weekly video episodes hosted on lespritsorcier.org (and via L'Esprit Sorcier TV), continuing the popular-science video format associated with the founders' prior television work for the French-speaking general public.
• Encyclopé-DIY Interactive web encyclopedia of hands-on do-it-yourself science experiments with illustrations and links to partner resources (Les Petits Débrouillards, WikiDébrouillard), enabling readers to replicate experiments at home.
• Découvertes Editorial section profiling scientific discoveries and innovative entrepreneurs (sourced via partner Shamengo), surfacing emerging science-adjacent stories beyond the weekly dossier rotation for the French-speaking general public.
• Zap'in Sciences Short-form "science zapping" video compilation series that condenses recent science news into quick, shareable clips (numbered up to at least #37) for viral distribution on social media and YouTube.
• L'Esprit Sorcier TV (lespritsorcier.tv) Standalone video-on-demand portal that extends the L'Esprit Sorcier brand beyond the main lespritsorcier.org site, hosting on-demand science and discovery video content as a companion site to the editorial platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Asteroid (23882) Fredcourant named in honor of co-founder Frédéric Courant by the International Astronomical Union in 2010 for science popularization work.
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

26 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VulcaniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-partner on the 'Abysses' dossier (Dossier #17). Vulcania is described as a theme park that helps visitors understand volcanoes and the planet, putting science into life through sensations and emotion while staying true to its educational mission.
• Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-partner on the 'Abysses' dossier (Dossier #17), supplying expert contributors such as Marie-Anne Cambon-Bonavita (microbiologist of extreme environments) and Michel Segonzac (abyssal ecology researcher). Also featured in the emissions 'Climat : quand l'Ifremer explore les océans' and 'Sorcier-Quizz à l'Ifremer'.
• Fondation MAIFcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsoring partner of the 'Tous connectés' dossier (Dossier #31) on protecting personal privacy. Marc Rigolot (director of Fondation MAIF) is interviewed in the dossier explaining why the foundation supports the research.
• CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific partner across multiple dossiers. Provided experts (Pierre Bernaud, Mathieu Gallissot, Frédéric Suard, Christophe Villemazet) for 'La maison intelligente' (Dossier #20) and Philippe Garrec/Yann Perrot from CEA-List for 'Exosquelette' (Dossier #37). Marc Ammerich of CEA contributed to the Encyclopé-DIY 'La chambre à brouillard.'
• Mairie de PariscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-organizer of multiple live debate emissions: 'Agriculture urbaine' (June 2017), 'Big Data' (December 2017), 'Ville et climat' (September 2017). The Mairie de Paris provides the institutional platform for live civic science debates.
• ShamengocoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for the 'Découvertes' section of lespritsorcier.org. Shamengo was founded in 2011 to showcase entrepreneurs with original and ecological ideas, and supplies the innovative entrepreneur profiles featured in the Découvertes videos.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific contributor to Encyclopé-DIY experiments (e.g., Jean-Louis Dufresne of CNRS on 'La formation des nuages' during Science En Direct 2016). Part of the 15+ French research institutions collaborating on the annual Fête de la Science coverage.
• Inra (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided expert Aline Robert-Hazotte for the Encyclopé-DIY 'La perception des odeurs' during Science En Direct 2017 at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie.
• Irstea (Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided expert Anne Goubet for the Encyclopé-DIY 'La boue purifiante' during Science En Direct 2017.
• INERIS (Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided expert Etienne Havret for the Encyclopé-DIY 'La poussière explosive' during Science En Direct.
• Les Petits DébrouillardsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization linking L'Esprit Sorcier to a broader network of DIY science experiments via shared YouTube channel references on the Encyclopé-DIY pages.
• WikiDébrouillardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-linked reference wiki for further DIY science experiments (wikidebrouillard.org), repeatedly cited across the Encyclopé-DIY section.
• VO LIVE (hosting)coreTechnology or IntegrationHosting provider for lespritsorcier.org (122 rue du Château d'Orgemont, 49000 Angers; vo-live.fr).
• VimeocoreTechnology or IntegrationVideo hosting platform used in addition to YouTube to host L'Esprit Sorcier's video content (www.vimeo.com).
• ATALANTAcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWeb design and development partner based in Angers (131 bd Saint Michel, 49100 Angers; www.atalanta.fr). Acknowledged in the legal notice as the site's web design and development vendor.
• CNIL (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured institutional partner in the 'Tous connectés' dossier (Dossier #31), with Geoffrey Delcroix (Direction des technologies et de l'innovation, CNIL) interviewed on citizens' data rights.
• SCASSIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInformation security expert Fabrice Crasnier of SCASSI (and PhD candidate in AI at IRIT, Toulouse) participated in the 'Big Data' live debate (December 2017) and is featured in the 'Tous connectés' dossier.
• DigitemisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCybersecurity specialist Ludovic de Carcouët (Director General, Digitemis) contributed to the 'Tous connectés' dossier on smartphone-related surveillance.
• PangaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPatrick Simon, director of Panga (specialist in data networks and infrastructure security), is featured as a contributor in the 'Tous connectés' dossier.
• Loria (Nancy-Grand Est laboratory) / IRIT (Toulouse)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research contributors in the 'Tous connectés' dossier: Abdessamad Imine (computer science researcher at Loria) and Younes Abid (PhD student at Loria).
• Sorbonne Université / CNRS (Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNathanaël Jarrassé (CNRS researcher at ISIR, Sorbonne Université) contributed to the 'Exosquelette : FAQ' emission (April 2019).
• Wandercraft and RB3DminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench exoskeleton companies referenced as resources in the 'Exosquelette : FAQ' emission (April 2019).
• Clinatec (CEA-Leti biomedical research center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinatec and its founder Pr Alim Louis Benabid acknowledged as contributors to the 'Exosquelette' dossier (Feb 2019) on thought-controlled exoskeletons.
• Centre de Kerpape (spinal cord rehabilitation center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided patient Kilian and physiotherapist Emmanuelle Robo for the 'Exosquelette' dossier segment on re-learning to walk.
• Île-de-France RégionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLogo of the Île-de-France region (iledefrance.fr) displayed on the homepage header, indicating regional public support/sponsorship.
• Cité des sciences et de l'industriecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for the annual 'Science En Direct' event during Fête de la Science (2016, 2017 editions), where L'Esprit Sorcier broadcasts live experiments in partnership with 15-16 French research institutions.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Les Petits Débrouillards: French non-profit association running hands-on DIY science workshops and a cross-linked YouTube channel referenced directly inside L'Esprit Sorcier's Encyclopé-DIY section. Comparable as a free, French-language, hands-on science education brand for children and families.
• Le Blob.fr (Fréquence des sciences): French public-interest science media outlet co-produced by ARTE and partners, providing free daily science content in video, audio and written formats. Closely comparable in mission (free French science popularization for the general public) and ad-light, ethics-driven editorial stance.
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: German-based, English-language YouTube channel producing premium animated short-form and long-form popular-science videos. Comparable in multi-format science communication, ad-light ethos and reliance on a small production team with strong brand identity — though at much larger international scale.
• La Tronche en Biais: French YouTube collective producing long-form popular-science and critical-thinking videos on a volunteer basis. Comparable as French-language, non-commercial science media competing for the same educated-curious audience.
• ScienceEtonnante: One of the largest French-language YouTube science channels, founded by researcher David Louapre, producing accessible popular-science videos. Comparable audience (French-speaking general public), similar ad-free ethos and similar reliance on a small team and individual brand authority.

Broad incumbents

• Universcience (Cité des sciences et de l'industrie): Public institution that operates the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie and Palais de la Découverte and co-hosts L'Esprit Sorcier's annual 'Science En Direct' event. Comparable as a larger, publicly-funded French science popularization institution with broader scope (museums, exhibitions, digital media).
• Pour la Science: French-language edition of Scientific American, publishing popular-science articles, dossiers and special issues. Comparable mission of making rigorous science accessible to French-speaking general readers, though via a subscription print/digital model.
• Futura Sciences: Major French popular-science web portal covering science, tech and health with editorial articles, videos and a newsletter. Comparable target audience and multi-format digital science content, but operating at significantly larger scale and with advertising-supported monetization.

Emerging players

• TED-Ed: TED's educational initiative producing short animated lessons and original video series on science and other topics. Comparable in free, multi-format, accessible science education content aimed at students and the general public.
• CNRS Images: Official multimedia arm of CNRS producing photo, video and written science content in French. Comparable as a French-language institutional science communicator covering CNRS research; overlaps in mission with L'Esprit Sorcier's institutional co-productions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MindSorcerer
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/LEspritSorcierOfficiel
• Facebookfacebook.com/EspritSorcier

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 L'Esprit Sorcier