What Watcha does

Watcha is a French open-source software editor and integrator headquartered in Lyon (2 Rue Coysevox) with a secondary office in Paris (10 rue Mercoeur). It designs, integrates and operates unified open-source IT platforms for French public-sector organizations, aggregating best-of-breed components — Matrix for secure instant messaging, Nextcloud for storage/sharing, OnlyOffice for document editing, Jitsi and Big Blue Button for videoconferencing, Bluemind and Zimbra for email — into a Microsoft 365 alternative marketed as 'Plateforme de Collaboration Open Source', positioned at roughly one-third the cost of an equivalent Microsoft subscription and supporting SaaS (France-hosted), On-Premise, public, private or hybrid deployment.

Beyond the core collaborative suite, Watcha bundles business intelligence (Grafana, Prometheus, Metabase for monitoring and dashboards), project management (Wekan Kanban and OpenProject Gantt), and open-source AI integration services built around Mistral AI and other open-source LLMs via Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) for document synthesis, chatbots and enterprise search. The company also co-develops OpenColib, an open-source ERP for the social-care (service à la personne) sector with Teamnet, Axelor and AterSI, plus offers OpenXD, an open-source ERP for 3D applications.

Watcha makes money primarily through professional services (consulting, integration, deployment, change management) and recurring managed services / support contracts for deployed solutions, supplemented by subscription-based licensing on OpenColib and SaaS hosting in France. Pricing is quote-based with annual billing, and the go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales to French municipalities and intercommunal bodies with a channel-and-partner model anchored by SITIV (a public digital services operator hosting the Lyon metropolitan federation) and Teamnet (a software publisher serving 500+ local authorities). Named customers include Lyon Métropole, Ville de Lyon, Villeurbanne, Vénissieux, Givors, Rives de Gier, CMACS, ComUE, Alès, Villiers-Le-Bel, Corbas, Grigny, Saint-Chamond and Vaulx-En-Velin, with the platform used by over 30,000 public-sector agents and elected officials. Watcha is privately held, headquartered in France, with no disclosed external funding or parent company.

Name

Watcha

Legal name

Watcha

Website

https://watcha.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Watcha is a French open-source software editor and integrator that deploys unified, sovereign alternatives to Microsoft 365 — combining Matrix, Nextcloud, OnlyOffice, Jitsi and open-source AI — primarily for French local authorities and the public sector.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Source Collaborative Software & Integration Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Helpdesk & End-User Support Services (BPAEABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Data Security & Privacy Managed Services (DLP/Encryption) (BPAEADAL)

Keywords

• Open source collaboration
• Souverain software integration
• Public sector IT services
• Open source ERP
• AI integration services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Integration and Deployment: Integration, deployment, and configuration services for open source software solutions (collaboration, business intelligence, AI, project management, ERP). Includes consultation, development, integration, and change management support throughout projects.
2. Managed Services and Support: Ongoing support services including Level 1 support, maintenance, updates, and operational conditions maintenance for deployed solutions. SaaS hosting option available in France.
3. ERP Licensing and Support (OpenColib): Open source ERP solution for social care sector, co-developed with Teamnet and Axelor. Revenue from licensing and associated support services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Watcha is an Open Source software publisher and integrator that deploys and supports an integrated collaborative suite combining Matrix messaging, Nextcloud storage, OnlyOffice document editing, Jitsi/BigBlueButton video conferencing, and Bluemind/Zimbra email as a Microsoft 365 alternative. The company also provides Business Intelligence (Grafana, Prometheus, Metabase), Project Management (Wekan, OpenProject), AI Integration services using open-source LLMs via RAG, and the OpenColib Open Source ERP for the home care sector, with On-Premise, SaaS (hosted in France), or hybrid deployment options primarily targeting French local authorities.

Product overview

Watcha is an Open Source software publisher and integrator headquartered in Lyon and Paris, offering an integrated collaborative suite and specialized AI integration services primarily targeting French public sector organizations. Its core product is the Watcha Collaborative Suite, a unified platform aggregating Matrix (instant messaging), Nextcloud (storage/sharing), OnlyOffice (document editing), Jitsi/Big Blue Button (video conferencing), and Bluemind/Zimbra (email) into a Microsoft 365 alternative. Supporting offerings include Business Intelligence (Grafana, Prometheus, Metabase for monitoring and analytics), Project Management (Wekan, OpenProject for task and Gantt-based planning), and OpenColib ERP (home care sector) co-developed with Teamnet and Axelor. Watcha also provides AI integration services deploying open source LLM models (Mistral AI and others) via RAG architecture for document synthesis, chatbots, and knowledge retrieval search engines. The company exclusively works with Open Source software and supports On-Premise, Cloud, or hybrid deployment models.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Watcha Collaborative Suite (Plateforme de Collaboration Open Source) Unified open source collaborative suite aggregating Matrix (instant messaging), Nextcloud (storage/sharing), OnlyOffice (document editing), Jitsi/Big Blue Button (video conferencing), and Bluemind/Zimbra (email) into a single integrated platform designed as an alternative to Microsoft 365 for French public sector organizations. Supports SaaS (France-hosted) or On-Premise deployment and scales to several thousand users across federated server architectures.
• Watcha AI Integration Services AI integration and deployment service where Watcha assists organizations in selecting and deploying open source LLM models (including Mistral AI) within secure, sovereign environments. Services include AI audit of processes and infrastructure, model selection, RAG-based training on client data, and deployment of AI applications such as document generation, chatbots, and knowledge retrieval search engines.
• Watcha Business Intelligence Business Intelligence integration service deploying Grafana, Prometheus, and Metabase for organizational data analysis, real-time KPI dashboards, and infrastructure/application performance monitoring, enabling self-service data access without requiring SQL knowledge.
• Watcha Project Management Project management integration service offering two open source tools: Wekan for Kanban-based task management with cards, columns, and due dates, and OpenProject for Gantt-chart-oriented complex project planning with task dependencies and predecessor relationships.
• OpenColib ERP Open Source ERP targeting the service à la personne (home care/social services) sector, co-developed by Watcha, Teamnet, Axelor, and AterSI. Modules include visit/tour optimization, scheduling, billing, and family communications with a modern, user-friendly, modular interface built on the Axelor Open Platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3x lower total cost compared to Microsoft Office 365 for Lyon City deployment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration16 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and strategic.

• SITIV (Syndicat Intercommunal des Technologies de l'Information pour les Villes)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSITIV is a public digital services operator that partners with Watcha to deploy Matrix instant messaging solution for local authorities in the Lyon metropolitan area and region. SITIV hosts and operates the infrastructure for member municipalities, enabling Watcha to serve thousands of public sector users through this partnership. Watcha appears among the first Matrix integrators in France deploying large-scale federation architectures through this partnership.
• TeamnetcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTeamnet is a software publisher with 25+ years of experience serving 500+ local authorities with administrative software including AXEL Portail Famille, AXELnet, WEBVAX, and MPI Parapheur. Teamnet refers open source collaboration needs to Watcha and co-organizes seminars with Watcha and SITIV to promote Territoire Numérique Ouvert collaborative suite.
• AxelorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen source ERP publisher with 170 employees that co-developed OpenColib ERP with Watcha, Teamnet, and AterSI. Axelor provides the core ERP platform for the social care sector solution, with Watcha contributing open source expertise and the partnership ensuring solution maintenance and support.
• AterSIsecondaryImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSystem integrator specializing in Axelor solutions that accompanies the partnership for developing specific business modules for OpenColib ERP. AterSI brings implementation expertise for custom ERP configurations in the social care sector.
• TIE Break InitiativestrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerTIE Break is an initiative launched by elected officials from Interconnectés, France urbaine, and Intercommunalités de France to strengthen digital independence for French and European local authorities. Watcha participates as an alternative solution provider within this initiative aimed at reducing €1.5 billion annual local authority spending on non-European digital solutions.
• DINUM (Direction interministérielle du numérique)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerDINUM announced partnership with Matrix.org Foundation, making France the first state to engage at this level with the non-profit organization. Watcha, as a Matrix integrator, benefits from this government-level support for Matrix protocol development and digital sovereignty initiatives.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/watcha-fr
• Xx.com/watchacom
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/watcha-sas

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Watcha