What Initiatives-Heart does

Initiatives-Cœur is a French charitable sailing project owned by DMP-Initiatives, based in Le Mans and founded in 2008/2009. It operates a competitive IMOCA 60-foot ocean racing monohull (Initiatives-Cœur 4, launched July 2022, designed by Sam Manuard with hydrofoils and a scow bow) that competes in major ocean races including the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Transat Café L'Or, and Vendée Arctique. The project combines competitive sailing with a humanitarian mission funding pediatric cardiac surgeries through Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, having saved 532 children since 2009 at an average cost of €12,000 per operation.

Revenue is generated through a multi-stream charitable model: corporate sponsorships (Chocolats du Cœur, K-Line, VINCI Energies provide both sports and charitable funding), public donations triggered by social-media engagement via the '1 clic = 1 cœur' mechanism (€1 per new follower), solidarity merchandise sales via the Alex Olivier chocolate factory, and crowdfunding tied to race events. The project also operates a proprietary 3D live-tracking platform (Carto-Live) and distributes free pedagogical kits to over 25,000 French classrooms annually. Violette Dorange took over as title skipper in January 2026, succeeding Sam Davies, ahead of the Vendée Globe 2028 campaign.

The organization is mission-driven rather than profit-driven, with 51-100 staff across offices in Le Mans (HQ), Lorient (sailing operations), and Les Sables-d'Olonne (race venue). Operations are tightly integrated: race performance drives brand visibility which drives sponsor commitments and public donations, which fund Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque surgeries. This dual-mandate structure is the project's defining feature and the basis of its brand and ecosystem moat.

Name

Initiatives-Heart

Legal name

DMP-Initiatives

Website

https://initiatives-coeur.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Initiatives-Cœur is a French non-profit running a competitive IMOCA 60-foot ocean racing yacht that funds pediatric heart surgeries through Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, having saved 532 children since 2009 via corporate sponsorships, public donations, and solidarity merchandise sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Ocean Racing Project

NAICS

Other Spectator Sports (711219)

SIC

Services-Racing, Including Track Operation (7948), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsport Event Promoters & Race Organizers (MPAKADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sports & Active Incentives (Golf, Ski, Sailing, Adventure) (THAHADAJ), Experiential & Cultural Programming (Tours, Activities, CSR/Voluntourism) (THAHADAF)

Keywords

• Ocean racing charity
• IMOCA sailing team
• Humanitarian fundraising
• Children's heart surgery funding
• Corporate sport sponsorship

Headquarters

HQ city

Le Mans

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Corporate Sponsorship: Sponsors (Chocolats du Coeur, K-Line, VINCI Energies) provide both sports sponsorship (financing the sailboat and operating budget for the sailing team) and financial sponsorship (contributing to Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque for children's heart operations). The three sponsors-mécènes renew their engagement until 2025.
2. Public Donations (1 clic = 1 cœur): For each new Facebook or Instagram follower during races, sponsors donate €1 to Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Online donations are also collected through the website's fundraising pages, with some campaigns featuring doubled donations from sponsors.
3. Solidarity Store Sales: Sales of solidarity merchandise (boutique solidaire) through the Alex Olivier chocolate factory, with proceeds supporting the charitable mission.
4. Pedagogical Kit Sales: Free educational kits (carte du parcours, fichier pluridisciplinaire, maquettes du bateau) provided free of charge to teachers, but supported by the Initiatives group which facilitates school fundraising projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Initiatives-Cœur operates a charitable ocean racing project that fields an IMOCA 60-foot foiling monohull in solo and double-handed transatlantic and round-the-world races (Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Vendée Arctique, Transat Café L'Or), with racing performance and live media serving as the fundraising engine for the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque association. Each heart operation for a child from an underprivileged country costs €12,000 and is funded through sponsor-mécène partnerships, the '1 clic = 1 cœur' social-media donation activation, solidarity merchandise sales, and direct public donations collected via the project website.

Product overview

Initiatives-Cœur is a dual-purpose sporting and humanitarian project centered on a high-performance IMOCA 60-foot racing sailboat competing in major ocean regattas. The project combines competitive sailing (with skippers Violette Dorange and previously Samantha Davies) with a solidarity mission supporting Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, which funds heart surgeries for children from disadvantaged countries. The core offering consists of the racing yacht (Initiatives-Cœur 4, launched 2022), a proprietary real-time tracking Live platform (Carto-Live), and the '1 clic = 1 cœur' social-media-driven donation operation. Supporting offerings include an original documentary web series, free pedagogical resources for schools (25,000+ classes), and a solidarity boutique. All elements reinforce the project's mission of 'sailing to save children.'

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Initiatives-Cœur 4 (IMOCA 60-foot racing sailboat) 18.28m IMOCA-class monohull with hydrofoils (Wilbur and Orville), rounded scow bow, 28m mast, 4.5m keel depth, top speed 38 knots (65 km/h). Competes in Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques Vabre, Vendée Arctique, Transat Café L'Or and Défi Azimut; serves simultaneously as the racing platform and the visual centerpiece of the humanitarian fundraising mission.
• 1 clic = 1 cœur solidarity operation A real-time donation activation where each social-media follower gained during a race converts to a €1 donation from sponsors to fund a €12,000 child heart operation via Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Available to the general public during race windows via the Initiatives-Cœur Facebook, Instagram and broader social channels.
• Carto-Live real-time racing platform A free, publicly accessible live-tracking platform offering real-time 3D boat reconstruction, interactive cartography of all competitors, wind forecasts, weather, sail selection and rankings for the Initiatives-Cœur IMOCA campaign. Aimed at racing fans and the general public following the humanitarian mission.
• Initiatives-Cœur Web Series A free documentary web series covering boat construction, foils technology, skipper preparation, cockpit art by Jef Aérosol, and humanitarian missions to Cameroon. Available to the general public via the Initiatives-Cœur website and YouTube channel.
• Initiatives-Cœur Pedagogical Kit A free, downloadable educational kit comprising race track maps, multidisciplinary activity files and scale-model boats for each student, designed to illustrate school curriculum topics through ocean racing. Distributed free to teachers and schools via the Initiatives group in Le Mans, used by over 25,000 classes annually.
• Initiatives-Cœur Solidarity Boutique An online solidarity merchandise store (boutique solidaire) operated via the Alex Olivier chocolate factory at alexolivier.fr/109-boutique-initiatives-coeur, selling branded merchandise and chocolate fundraisers whose proceeds fund children's heart surgeries through Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Available to the general public.

Quantifiable outcome

• 532 children saved through Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque since 2009
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Chocolats du CoeurcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 15 October 2021Run by Initiatives group (Le Mans, 30 years in school fundraising), partnered with Alex Olivier chocolate factory (Neuville-aux-Bois, since 1927). Sells chocolate fundraisers for school PTAs and supports Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Primary sponsor-mécène financing Initiatives-Cœur operations and child heart operations.
• K-LinecoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 15 October 2021Leading French manufacturer of aluminium joinery (windows, sliding doors, front doors) founded 1997, part of Liebot Group ( Vendée, family enterprise, leader in windows and facades in France). Primary sponsor-mécène providing sports sponsorship and funding for Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque operations.
• VINCI EnergiescoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 15 October 2021Part of VINCI group (55 countries, €13.7B revenue 2020, 83,800 employees). Accelerates digital transformation and energy transition. Sponsor-mécène contributing to Initiatives-Cœur operations and Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque funding.
• Mécénat Chirurgie CardiaquecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2021Humanitarian charity founded 1996 by Professor Francine Leca and Patrice Roynette. Enables children with heart defects from underprivileged countries to be operated on in France (9 hospitals). Over 2,600 children treated total, 532+ through Initiatives-Cœur specifically. Each operation costs €12,000.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Vendée Globe: The organizer of the flagship solo round-the-world race in which Initiatives-Cœur competes. Not a competitor but the platform owner defining the race calendar and broadcast rights that drive Initiatives-Cœur's visibility.

Others

• Make-A-Wish France: Major French children's-illness charity that operationalizes wishes through donor funding and corporate partnerships. Comparable as a France-anchored mission-driven nonprofit raising money for children via corporate-sponsor activation, though not maritime.
• Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque: Founding 1996 French humanitarian association that performs the child cardiac surgeries Initiatives-Cœur funds. Functions as the charity distribution partner — comparable as a France-based mission-driven healthcare nonprofit but not a competitor.

Direct peers

• 11th Hour Racing Team: IMOCA ocean-racing campaign pairing competitive sailing with a mission-driven (sustainability/climate) focus and donor-backed model. Closely comparable to Initiatives-Cœur's sport-plus-humanitarian structure within the same racing class.
• Team Malizia - Seaexplorer: IMOCA Vendée Globe campaign led by Boris Herrmann with an explicit science-and-ocean-health mission partnership (Seaexplorer). Same racing class, same sport-plus-cause positioning, racing Initiatives-Cœur across the major calendar.
• Allagrande MAPEI Racing Team: Italian IMOCA racing team sponsored by MAPEI (with Ambrogio Beccaria as skipper). Same racing class and corporate-title sponsorship model — direct competitor in the 2024-2028 race calendar.
• Biotherm: IMOCA racing campaign run by Biotherm (ocean-health positioning) with skipper Paul Meilhat. Direct race competitor and shares the brand-cause-platform structure in the same championship format.
• Holcim - PRB: IMOCA ocean-racing campaign sponsored by Holcim around circular-construction/sustainability themes. Competes directly in the same championship events and shares the corporate-sponsor-anchored, mission-tagged structure.

Emerging players

• The SeaCleaners: French-founded nonprofit (Yvan Bourgnon) addressing ocean plastic pollution via expedition vessels and technology. Mission-driven ocean nonprofit with comparable French-base, donor-backed profile, though not a racing campaign.
• Plastic Odyssey: France-based maritime expedition nonprofit tackling ocean plastic pollution with a mobile recycling vessel. Comparable as a French nonprofit leveraging a working vessel plus public engagement around an environmental cause.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/initiativecoeur
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/initiativestv
• Facebookfacebook.com/initiativescoeur
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/initiatives-c%C5%93ur
• Instagraminstagram.com/initiativescoeur
• TikToktiktok.com/@initiativescoeur

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Initiatives-Heart