Entr'ouvert

What Entr'ouvert does

Entr'ouvert is a French worker cooperative (SCOP ARL à capital variable), founded in 2002 and headquartered in Paris, that develops and maintains open-source software primarily for public administrations. Its flagship platform, Publik, is a modular citizen relationship management (GRU/GRC) suite built on Python/Django and composed of w.c.s. (web forms and workflow engine), Combo (citizen portal/CMS), Authentic 2 (multi-protocol identity provider supporting SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect, CAS, LDAP, Kerberos), Passerelle (middleware/API hub for integrating with French government and municipal back-office systems), and Chrono (scheduling). Supporting libraries include Lasso (SAML 2.0 federation library, certified by Liberty Alliance/Kantara in 2006), Cryptic (privacy-preserving certificates using CL-Signatures and Schnorr zero-knowledge proofs), Gadjo (UI components), and django-mellon. All software is released under free/libre licenses (GNU AGPLv3, GPL).

The company serves French communes, departmental councils, metropolises, universities, and a Belgian Walloon deployment via the IMIO mutualization body, with hundreds of local and regional authorities as customers. Business model combines annual flat-fee support contracts, per-ticket support (€100 HT per 15-minute unit, with on-site interventions billed at 8 hours), a hosted SaaS Publik offering on OVH infrastructure, professional services including a base FranceConnect/Mon Service Public connection service at €5,000 HT, and custom development. Entr'ouvert was among the first companies to connect to FranceConnect in production, holds CIR (Crédit Impôt Recherche) accreditation, and operates a mature partner ecosystem (Publik Services) including integrations with OpenADS, I-Parapheur, iA-Délib, Decidim, Alfresco, ArcGIS, and dozens of municipal software vendors.

Name

Entr'ouvert

Legal name

Entr'ouvert, SCOP ARL à capital variable

Website

https://entrouvert.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

French worker cooperative that develops Publik, an open-source modular citizen relationship management platform built on Django, serving French communes, departmental councils, metropolises, and universities with identity management, workflows, portals, and FranceConnect integration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Citizen Relationship Management / E-Government Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Single Sign-On (SSO) & Federation (SAML/OIDC, Identity Providers) (HDAEAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Single Sign-On (SSO) & Federation (BPAMAEAF)

Keywords

• Citizen relationship management
• Identity federation software
• E-government platforms
• Open source public sector
• Digital administration solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Annual Support Contracts: Annual flat-fee support contracts covering all Entr'ouvert solutions. Clients receive prioritized support access via phone or email during business hours (5 days/week, 9:30-12:30 and 14:00-18:00 Paris time). Entr'ouvert positions itself as the most qualified to provide support given it develops over ten software products.
2. Per-Ticket Support: Pay-per-incident support debited in 15-minute increments. Each 15-minute ticket billed at €100 HT. On-site intervention available on express request, billed at 8 hours of support with no additional travel costs within metropolitan France.
3. Mon Service Public / FranceConnect Connection Services: Professional services for connecting public entities to Mon Service Public or FranceConnect, including identity infrastructure setup, CNIL compliance support, and optional document safe (porte-document). Base connection service priced at €5,000 HT.
4. SaaS Platform (Publik): Publik offered as a hosted SaaS service, allowing public administrations to start their online services quickly without managing infrastructure. SaaS hosting on OVH infrastructure in France.
5. Consulting and Custom Development: Field consultancy (15-day structured engagements) and bespoke software development services, always using libre software. Includes training, advisory, and implementation support for organizations adopting libre software solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Entr'ouvert develops and maintains Publik, an open-source modular citizen relationship management (GRU/GRC) platform for public administrations, available as SaaS or on-premises deployment. The platform unifies citizen portals (Combo), web forms and workflow automation (w.c.s.), multi-protocol identity management and SSO (Authentic 2), middleware/API integration with third-party systems (Passerelle), and scheduling (Chrono), with all components released under free/libre licenses (GNU AGPLv3, GPL). Revenue is generated through SaaS subscriptions, annual support contracts, per-ticket support, and professional services for custom development and FranceConnect/Mon Service Public integrations.

Product overview

Entr'ouvert is a French open-source software company (SCOP) offering Publik, a modular citizen relationship management (GRU/GRC) platform for public administration. The platform comprises multiple integrated software components: Combo (citizen portal/CMS), w.c.s. (form and workflow generator), Authentic 2 (multi-protocol identity management/SSO), Passerelle (middleware/API hub for business application integration), Chrono (scheduling/calendar management), and Hobo (deployment/provisioning). Supporting libraries include Lasso (SAML 2.0 identity federation library), Cryptic (privacy-preserving certificates), Gadjo (UI components), and django-mellon (Django SAML authentication). The ecosystem includes specialized solutions like Publik famille for family services and is deployed via SaaS or on-premises. All software is released under free/open-source licenses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Publik: Open and modular platform for citizens and public administration services to simplify their interactions.
• Publik famille
• Authentic 2
• Lasso
• Cryptic
• Combo
• w.c.s.
• Passerelle
• Bistro

Products and services

• Publik Open-source citizen relationship management (GRU/GRC) platform for public administrations providing citizen portal, back-office, form management, workflow automation, scheduling, and identity management. Available as hosted SaaS on OVH infrastructure or on-premises deployment.
• Publik famille Dedicated vertical solution for local governments offering family-oriented public services including school enrolment, périscolaire (before/after school care), catering, extracurricular activities, sociocultural activities, sports, youth services, and early childhood services (Relais Petite Enfance).
• Authentic 2 Multi-protocol open-source identity management platform supporting SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect, CAS, LDAP, Kerberos, Active Directory, and SSL/TLS certificates. Acts as a gateway between protocols and integrates natively with FranceConnect. Written in Python/Django under GNU AGPLv3.
• Lasso C library implementing SAML 2.0, Liberty Alliance ID-FF 1.2, and ID-WSF standards for identity federation in web applications, with bindings for Java, Perl, PHP, and Python. Certified compliant with SAML 2.0 specifications.
• w.c.s. (Web Citoyen Services) Teleform generator and workflow engine for citizen-facing digital procedures (e-démarches). Includes a back-office for agents to process requests through configurable workflows and can be parametrized without technical skills.
• Combo Django-based citizen portal and content management system providing front-office interfaces, customizable theming, agent portals, and direct integration with Authentic 2 for identity management and federation.
• Passerelle Middleware hub for connecting Publik to third-party business applications and institutional data APIs (French government APIs, business software). Supports JSON, XML, CSV, SQL, REST and SOAP protocols with numerous pre-built connectors including API Adresse, API Entreprise, BAN, ArcGIS, and Odoo.
• Chrono Scheduling and calendar management component for events, appointments, slots, bookings, calendars, meetings, and reservations within the Publik platform.
• Cryptic Privacy-preserving digital certificate library under GNU GPL v2, supporting CL-Signatures, Schnorr zero-knowledge proofs, and range proofs. Written in C with Python and Java bindings, enabling certificate presentation while preserving user anonymity.
• Annual Support Contracts Annual flat-fee support contract covering all Entr'ouvert solutions. Clients receive prioritized phone or email support during business hours (5 days/week, 9:30-12:30 and 14:00-18:00 Paris time). Entr'ouvert positions itself as the most qualified provider given it develops over ten software products.
• FranceConnect / Mon Service Public Connection Services Professional services for connecting public entities to the Mon Service Public portal and FranceConnect, including local identity infrastructure setup, CNIL declaration support, DILA administrative support, and optional porte-document (document safe) add-on.
• Field Consulting and Custom Development Field consultancy (15-day structured engagements) and bespoke software development services for public administrations and organizations adopting libre software solutions. Includes training, advisory, and implementation support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 million requests processed on the Publik SaaS platform (2019 milestone, with scale significantly increased since)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration39 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• IMIO (Belgium/Wallonia)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2014IMIO, the inter-municipal body responsible for IT mutualization for Walloon public authorities in Belgium, selected Entr'ouvert's platform for a citizen e-services portal. This was a public procurement contract for wide-scale deployment across Walloon communes, with IMIO leading development efforts to emphasize the platform's community-driven nature.
• RoleID (Eureka ITEA2)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009RoleID is a Franco-Finnish Eureka/ITEA2 research project started in 2009 focused on dynamic role-based access control and distributed identity management architecture. Entr'ouvert played a central role in this project, contributing its expertise in identity management and federation standards.
• DILA (Direction de l'Information Légale et Administrative)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008Entr'ouvert participated in the launch of Mon Service Public by interconnecting the Adeline project services of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations. Entr'ouvert was among the first companies to connect to FranceConnect in production, providing connection services to DILA for public administrations.
• FC² (FUI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006FC² is a FUI (Fonds Unique Interministériel) project on interconnecting trust circles between French government, banks, telecom operators, and service providers via the web. Consortium included D.G.M.E., G.I.P. C.B., Orange, Atos Worldline, Gemalto, and a research team from Institut TELECOM. Entr'ouvert built a demonstrator for simplified voter registration.
• FederID (ANR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2005FederID is an ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) project comprising enterprises (Thales, Linagora, Entr'ouvert), TELECOM Saint-Étienne, and ObjectWeb consortium. It resulted in the development of libre identity federation software including Lasso (SAML 2.0 library), Authentic (SAML 2.0 identity provider), Inter-LDAP, and LemonLDAP.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Keycloak: Open-source identity and access management platform (now under CNCF/Red Hat) providing SSO, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, and SAML 2.0 federation. Directly comparable to Authentic 2 as a libre IAM stack, with a much larger contributor community and broader enterprise adoption — potential competitive threat for non-French deployments.
• Decidim: Open-source participatory democracy platform from Barcelona, deployed across cities including the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Listed in Entr'ouvert's Publik Services partner ecosystem, indicating adjacent positioning as a libre software platform serving French local authorities on citizen participation.
• Authentik: Open-source identity provider offering SSO, user enrollment, and application access control with strong developer community. Comparable as a modern open-source IAM platform that could substitute for Authentic 2 in deployments outside France where FranceConnect integration is not required.
• LemonLDAP-NG: French-origin open-source Web SSO and identity management platform supporting SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect, CAS, and LDAP. Comparable as a libre SSO solution that competes for the same French public-sector IAM use cases that Entr'ouvert addresses via Authentic 2 and Lasso.

Direct peers

• Linagora: French open-source software company developing collaborative and messaging platforms (LinShare, OpenPaas, James) with significant French public sector exposure. Directly comparable as a French open-source editor serving public administrations with sovereign, libre software alternatives.
• OpenMairie: French open-source project and service offering providing back-office and citizen-facing applications for municipalities (openCimetière, openAssociation, openELEC, openCadastre). Directly comparable as a smaller open-source French municipal software project competing for the same commune customer base.
• ADULLACT: French association/cooperative pooling libre software for local authorities (LibreOffice, Grr, OpenCimetière, etc.). Operates in the same French public administration market with overlapping values (libre software, sovereignty, no vendor lock-in) and serves the same commune/department buyer segment.

Broad incumbents

• Smile: European open-source digital services and software company (part of Smile Group) with strong public sector and enterprise client base. Comparable as a larger-scale open-source specialist serving French and European administrations with broader portfolio (CMS, IAM, ERP) and consulting services.
• Inetum: Large French IT services group (formerly Gfi Informatique) with dedicated public sector business serving ministries, agencies, and local authorities across France. Comparable as a much larger incumbent offering citizen services, IAM, and ERP under integrated contracts that often compete head-to-head with Entr'ouvert at large procurements.
• Wallix: French publicly-listed cybersecurity vendor specializing in privileged access management (PAM) and identity governance. Comparable as a French-headquartered IAM vendor selling into French and European enterprises and public sector, though operating in adjacent rather than overlapping niches.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/entrouvert

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 Entr'ouvert