What DiES does

DiES is a Belgian workers' cooperative founded in 2005 that provides self-employed workers with two operational frameworks within a single cooperative structure: Entrepreneur Salarié, an employee status with fixed remuneration and full employee social coverage, and Entrepreneur Indépendant, an independent status with variable monthly remuneration suited to irregular income. DiES takes charge of the entrepreneur's administrative and accounting tasks, provides access to cooperative VAT numbers and billing infrastructure, and embeds the activity in a solidarity-based community of roughly 200 entrepreneurs spanning 19+ sectors including agriculture, IT, coaching, wellness, Horeca, audiovisual, and artisanal trades. The cooperative charges a transparent 8% fee on each entrepreneur's gross margin (revenue minus direct subcontracting, supplies for resale, and recharged client fees), with the surplus feeding a solidarity fund.

The technology layer is a service-and-operations platform rather than a software product: proprietary elements are the dual-status cooperative framework, the cooperative VAT access infrastructure, and the consolidated administrative and accounting workflow. There is no public API, SDK, or mobile application; the digital footprint consists of the dies.be website (relaunched in 2020 with a new visual identity built with Step Entreprendre, Savoir Faire Digital, and JobYourself) and standard social channels. The go-to-market is community-led, relying on word-of-mouth referrals, welcome events, general assemblies, and a regional presence through two offices — DiES Bruxelles (Chaussée de Charleroi 112, 1060 Bruxelles) and DiES Wallonie (Rue de Steppes 24, 4000 Liège) — supplemented by a contact form and direct consultation. Revenue is generated almost entirely through the transaction-based 8% margin fee plus cooperative membership contributions, with no funding rounds, no external investors, and no disclosed financial figures.

Name

DiES

Legal name

DiES

Website

https://dies.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

DiES is a Belgian workers' cooperative, founded in 2005, that provides self-employed workers with salaried or independent status options, handling their administration, accounting, and VAT access for an 8% margin fee across a community of roughly 200 entrepreneurs in Brussels and Wallonia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Margin-based service fee: DiES charges 8% of the gross margin (gross margin = revenue minus direct subcontracting, supplies for resale, and client-recharged fees). This constitutes their service remuneration and feeds a solidarity fund.
2. Cooperative membership fees: Entrepreneurs become members of the cooperative, contributing to a shared economic model that consolidates activities within a solidarity-based framework.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

DiES is a Belgian workers' cooperative that provides self-employed entrepreneurs with a flexible legal framework to operate as either salaried employees (Entrepreneur Salarié) or independent contractors (Entrepreneur Indépendant) within the cooperative. It bundles this employment framework with administrative and accounting back-office services, cooperative VAT number access, billing infrastructure, and a solidarity-based community of approximately 200 entrepreneurs, charging 8% of each member's gross margin as a service fee.

Product overview

DiES is a Belgian workers' cooperative offering two employment structures: 'Entrepreneur Salarié' (employee status with fixed salary and employee social benefits) and 'Entrepreneur Indépendant' (independent status with variable income). The core service provides administrative and accounting support, access to cooperative VAT numbers, for an 8% margin fee. With a community of 200 entrepreneurs across Brussels and Wallonia, DiES enables autonomous workers to develop their activity within a flexible and supportive framework.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Entrepreneur Salarié Status Employment framework under which the entrepreneur signs an employment contract with the cooperative and receives fixed remuneration based on average billing to clients. Offers employee social coverage, tax advantages for medium incomes, and eligibility for Belgian employment assistance benefits (Impulsion/Activa). Targeted at self-employed professionals who prefer employee status with employment benefits while maintaining autonomy.
• Entrepreneur Indépendant Status Cooperative framework under which the entrepreneur is registered as an independent worker receiving variable monthly remuneration based on invoiced amounts. Offers flexibility suited for entrepreneurs with low or irregular income and is more tax-attractive for high earners. Targeted at self-employed professionals who want maximum flexibility and tax optimization.
• Administrative and Accounting Services Back-office service bundle in which DiES handles administrative tasks and accounting for member entrepreneurs, including access to cooperative VAT numbers and billing/management infrastructure. Allows entrepreneurs to focus on their core business activities. Charged via an 8% margin fee.
• Entrepreneurial Community A solidarity-based community of approximately 200 entrepreneurs within DiES that consolidates individual activities within a cooperative framework and provides peer support, knowledge sharing, and collaborative opportunities across 19+ sectors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20 years of continuous operation (2005-2025)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Savoir Faire DigitalminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDigital agency responsible for the website redesign project. Coordinated the new visual identity and digital presence development under the supervision of Step Entreprendre.
• Step EntreprendrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordination partner for the website redesign project. Collaborated with Savoir Faire Digital and JobYourself on the new DiES website development.
• JobYourselfminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the website redesign project as part of the digital transformation initiative for DiES.
• Vincent RifminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIllustrator who contributed to the new website visual identity and graphic design elements.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Mosaïk Coopérative: French CAE offering status-portage and administrative services to freelancers and small entrepreneurs, conceptually aligned with DiES's solidarity-based, member-driven structure.
• Lali Coopérative d'Activités et d'Emploi: Belgian/French-border workers' cooperative offering a framework for self-employed workers similar to DiES, including administrative support and community-driven activity consolidation.
• Coopaname: Major French workers' cooperative (CAE model) hosting thousands of entrepreneur-members with administrative, accounting, and mutual-support services — the French structural analogue to DiES.
• Step Entreprendre: Belgian social-economy cooperative supporting entrepreneurs with administrative infrastructure, named as a strategic DiES partner in the website redesign and broader ecosystem activity.
• JobYourself: Belgian cooperative providing a similar framework for self-employed workers, offering administrative and accounting support within a solidarity-based structure. Explicitly identified as a DiES collaborator on digital initiatives.
• Smart Belgium: Largest Belgian cooperative for self-employed professionals, providing social security, administrative handling, and invoicing infrastructure to independents — directly overlapping DiES's dual-status offering at much greater scale.
• Oxalis: French workers' cooperative (SCOP/CAE) providing administrative, accounting, and status-management services to independent entrepreneurs — directly comparable European cooperative model.

Regional players

• Sowalfin / Sowaccess: Walloon public-economy group supporting entrepreneurship and SME creation/administrative compliance — adjacent Belgian-region organization addressing overlapping self-employed administrative needs.
• Sogalim: Belgian cooperative serving agricultural producers in Wallonia with administrative and commercialization support — comparable Belgian cooperative model but operating in a distinct primary sector.

Others

• Réseau National des Coopératives d'Activités: French national federation of activity-and-employment cooperatives (CAE); ecosystem-level peer that organizes and represents cooperatives structurally similar to DiES, useful for benchmarking and partnership pathways.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DiES.be
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dies.be

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

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 DiES