Cercle de l’Aviron de Nantes

What Cercle de l’Aviron de Nantes does

Cercle de l'Aviron de Nantes (CAN) is a historic French rowing club founded on February 13, 1897, operating as a non-profit association (Association loi 1901) from its clubhouse at 20 rue d'Alsace on the banks of the Erdre river in Nantes. The club serves 600+ licensed members aged 10 to 95 across seven distinct activity verticals: competitive rowing (its flagship, with the club ranked #1 in France for three consecutive years through 2025), recreational leisure rowing (220 members aged 18–90), school programs delivered through UNSS partnerships with 20+ local educational institutions, the AVIFIT indoor-fitness program on Concept 2 ergometers, Sport Santé (rowing prescribed by physicians for chronic-disease patients), para-rowing and adapted sport, and corporate team-building events plus an international 5-day Master Training Camp.

Revenue is generated through a diversified mix of recurring and transactional streams: annual federal licenses (€25) bundled with section-specific membership fees, tiered AVIFIT session carnets (€7–€10/session across five volume tiers), baptême discovery sessions (€25/person), weekend yolette expeditions (€80–€178/person), corporate seminars and meeting-room rentals, and donations via HelloAsso. Distribution is single-site, direct, and supplemented by mobile ergometer sessions delivered to school gyms and an international marketing channel for the Master Training Camp through rowing-camp.com. The club is led by a 20-person elected board of directors under President Erwann MADEC (since December 2024), supported by 1–10 salaried staff and a broader volunteer base, and operates within the licensing and competitive framework of the Fédération Française d'Aviron.

Name

Cercle de l’Aviron de Nantes

Legal name

Cercle de l'Aviron de Nantes

Website

https://canantes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1897

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cercle de l'Aviron de Nantes is a 128-year-old non-profit rowing club in Nantes, France, offering competitive, recreational, school, fitness, health, and corporate rowing programs to 600+ members aged 10–95, ranked #1 in France for three consecutive years.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rowing Club Services

NAICS

Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (71394), Sports and Recreation Instruction (61162)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Sailing & Water Sports Teams/Clubs (Sailing, Rowing, Surfing) (MPAKABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Water & Marine Guiding Services (Kayak, Canoe, Raft, SUP, Sailing) (THAAALAB)

Keywords

• Rowing club services
• Competitive rowing training
• Indoor rowing fitness
• Corporate team building
• School rowing programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Nantes

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees / Licences: Annual club membership fees covering participation in rowing activities across competition, leisure, and other sections. Licensing through the French Rowing Federation (Fédération Française d'Aviron) is included in some packages.
2. Activity fees and course packages: Fees for specific programs such as AVIFIT session packs, discovery stages, baptême aviron (first-timer sessions), master training camps, and school programs.
3. Corporate events and seminars: Revenue from corporate animations, seminars, team-building events, and meeting room rentals for businesses.
4. Donations and fundraising: Donations collected via HelloAsso platform to support boat maintenance, equipment acquisition, and replacing damaged high-level equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cercle de l'Aviron de Nantes is a non-profit rowing association that delivers on-water and indoor rowing instruction, training, and competition across eight program lines: competitive rowing for athletes age 11+ competing at French national level, recreational leisure rowing for adults, school rowing programs through UNSS partnerships, AVIFIT indoor fitness classes on Concept 2 ergometers, therapeutic Sport Santé sessions including doctor-prescribed exercise for chronic illness, corporate team-building events and meeting room rental, Master Training Camps for adults 27+, and discovery/introduction sessions such as Baptême Aviron and yolette river excursions on the Erdre.

Product overview

Cercle de l'Aviron de Nantes is a rowing club offering a diverse portfolio of programs centered on rowing sports. The core offerings include competitive rowing (competition program), recreational rowing (loisirs), school rowing, AVIFIT fitness classes, and Sport Santé health programs. Additional offerings include corporate event services, training camps (Master Training Camp), discovery courses, introductory sessions (Baptême), and yolette expeditions. The club operates primarily on the Erdre river in Nantes, serving members from age 10 to 95.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aviron de compétition (Competitive Rowing) Competitive rowing training and competition program for athletes from age 11 through seniors, organized into categories J10-J18 and Seniors. Includes structured coaching, on-water training on the Erdre river, and participation in French national championships. The club has accumulated 170+ French national championship titles and is ranked #1 in the French national performance classification for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
• Aviron en loisirs (Leisure Rowing) Recreational rowing program for adults aged 18 to 90, offering initiation to advanced sessions on the Erdre river with various boat types and supervised training slots. The leisure section alone counts 220 members, providing a community for outdoor recreation, fitness, and social connection.
• Aviron scolaire (School Rowing) Structured rowing programs for school children delivered through partnerships with over 20 local schools, UNSS sports associations, EPS classes, and Accompagnement Éducatif frameworks. The club brings Concept 2 ergometers to school gyms for indoor rowing sessions and sends coaches on-site for water sessions.
• AVIFIT Indoor Rowing Fitness Indoor rowing fitness program combining Concept 2 rowing machine workouts with fitness exercises and music. Conducted in 45-minute group sessions coached by certified AVIFIT instructors, suitable for novices and experienced rowers. Session packs sold via the Eversports platform range from €20 for a discovery session to €560 for 80 sessions.
• Sport Santé (Health Sport) Health-focused rowing practice for pain reduction and wellbeing, including doctor-prescribed sport for people with chronic diseases (ALD - Affections Longue Durée). Individualized programs are offered to participants, with potential partial reimbursement by health insurance.
• Animation entreprise (Corporate Events) Team-building and corporate event services for businesses, including rowing seminars, on-water or indoor rowing activities, company rowing challenges, meeting room rental with 50-person capacity, and catering coordination through local partner networks.
• Master Training Camp 5-day intensive rowing training camp for adults aged 27 and older, featuring expert coaching, technical training, personalized video analysis, and cultural visits. Marketed internationally through a dedicated website (rowing-camp.com) to attract master-level athletes from across France and abroad.
• Stage Découverte (Discovery Course) Multi-day beginner rowing courses for adults and youth, teaching basics of rowing and water navigation on the Erdre river. Available during summer and seasonal periods to onboard new members into the sport.
• Baptême Aviron (Rowing Introduction) One-hour introductory rowing session for ages 10+, offered on Sundays from 14:30-15:30 or 16:00-17:00. Priced at €25 per person, providing a first on-water experience for beginners.
• Randonnées en Yolettes (Yolette Excursions) Group rowing excursions in yolette boats on the Erdre river, including the Yol'Erdre (50 km over 2 days) and Trent'Erdre (30 km in a single day) events. These offer adventure-style group rowing experiences for members and visitors.

Quantifiable outcome

• 170+ French national championship titles
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fédération Française d'Aviron (French Rowing Federation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAN operates under the umbrella of the French Rowing Federation, which provides the licensing framework, competitive calendar, coaching certifications, and federal recognition. The club's training quality is officially recognized within this federation.
• UNSS (Union Nationale du Sport Scolaire)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal conventions signed with UNSS enable school sports associations to practice rowing under the club's coaching and equipment support.
• Local schools and colleges in the Nantes areacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with over 20 schools including Ecole Blanche de Castille, Collèges Le Loquidy, Salvador Allende, Théophane Vénard, and others. Programs include UNSS sports association activities, EPS classes, and Accompagnement Éducatif sessions.
• Audencia School of ManagementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Audencia Business School for student rowing programs and corporate-style rowing activities.
• Concept 2coreTechnology or IntegrationAVIFIT sessions are conducted on Concept 2 rowing machines. Concept 2's performance monitoring systems (PM5 monitors) are used during sessions to track distance and energy expenditure for each participant.
• Local catering companies (network of caterers)minorOthersThe club has established relationships with quality local catering networks to provide food and beverages for corporate events, seminars, and special events held at the club's meeting facilities.
• HelloAssocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHelloAsso is used as the primary registration and donation platform for memberships, event sign-ups, discovery stages, and fundraising campaigns. It also enables donations to support the club's equipment maintenance and acquisition.
• EversportscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAVIFIT session packs and bookings are managed through the Eversports platform, which handles ticket sales and session scheduling for the club's indoor rowing fitness classes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Concept2: Manufacturer of indoor rowing machines used by CAN for AVIFIT and ergometer training. Adjacent enabler/equipment partner rather than direct competitor, but central to CAN's indoor fitness programming.
• Fédération Française d'Aviron: National governing body for rowing in France under which CAN operates. Indirectly comparable as the federation that structures competitions, licensing, and rankings that drive CAN's value proposition.

Direct peers

• Société Nautique de la Marne (Joinville): Aviron Marne et Joinville is a historic French rowing club near Paris. Competes directly with CAN in national championship rankings and shares similar competition, loisirs, and corporate programming structure.
• Leander Club: Historic elite British rowing club founded in 1818, comparable as a top-tier national rowing club with elite competition heritage and broad programming, though operating in the UK market under British Rowing rather than the FFA.
• Rowing Club de Marseille: Major rowing club in Marseille, a regional French peer competing in the same national federation rankings with similar multi-segment offerings.
• Société des Régates de Paris: Historic Parisian rowing club founded in 1859, one of France's oldest and most prestigious. Comparable as a direct rowing peer competing at the national level under the French Rowing Federation with similar competition, leisure, and corporate offerings in a major French city.
• Rowing Club de Lyon / Cercle de l'Aviron de Lyon: Major French rowing club based in Lyon, regularly ranked among the top French clubs. Competes in the same national classifications and offers similar multi-section programming (competition, loisirs, corporate).
• Aviron Union Nautique de Lyon: Another Lyon-based French rowing club competing at national level. Comparable as a peer with similar federation licensing, competition categories, and recreational programming in a major French metropolitan market.

Regional players

• Aviron Club de Toulouse: Toulouse-based French rowing club competing in the same national federation system. Operates in a different regional market from CAN but offers a comparable multi-segment rowing service portfolio.
• Real Club de Regatas de Santiago: Historic Spanish rowing club, comparable as a long-established European national-level rowing club with multi-section programming (competition, leisure, school). Operates primarily in Spain but offers a useful international comparison point.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/NantesCA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/le-cercle-de-l-aviron-de-nantes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 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 Cercle de l’Aviron de Nantes