AFAR

What AFAR does

AFAR is a French continuing education organization (SAS, founded 1980 by Catherine Monfort) specializing in training for mental health, psychiatry, and healthcare management professionals. The company is headquartered at 46 rue Amelot in Paris's 11th arrondissement, employs 106 people on a permanent basis, and contracts with a network of approximately 350 expert trainers who are active practitioners in the domains they teach. AFAR delivers roughly 360 training programs across 14 thematic areas — including child, adult, and geriatric psychiatry, therapeutic mediations, transcultural clinical practice, disability, ethics, and organizational management — to approximately 6,000 healthcare professionals annually and serves 520 institutional clients across France, with reported participant satisfaction of 97.3%.

The core technology stack is a pair of self-hosted web portals (Espace Stagiaire and Espace Formateur) for participant and trainer workflows, an online QCM evaluation system that generates individualized pre/post progression stars with personalized improvement axes, and a proprietary library of audiovisual simulation videos that recreate professional healthcare scenarios. Programs are aligned with HAS (Haute Autorité de Santé) recommendations and are maintained through ISO 9001 annual audits; the organization also holds Qualiopi certification (2024-2027) and ODPC registration (N°1200) for Continuing Professional Development (DPC) programs.

AFAR generates revenue through three streams: INTER training delivered at its Paris headquarters (per-participant published pricing, typically €580-€1,780 depending on program length), INTRA training delivered on-site at client establishments (custom pricing via AO/tender responses), and DPC programs co-funded through the French public healthcare training fund. The company also operates a separate colloquium platform (colloquesafar.fr) for specialized conferences and publishes a structured multi-session cursus (e.g., Tai Chi, Relaxation et thérapie series). Distribution is exclusively domestic (France), go-to-market relies on direct institutional sales, calls-for-tender responsiveness, and an institutional referral network, and there is no external investment, parent company, or public listing.

Name

AFAR

Legal name

AFAR

Website

https://afar.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

AFAR is a French continuing education organization specializing in mental health and psychiatry training for healthcare professionals. Founded in 1980 in Paris, it delivers 360 programs across 14 thematic areas to 520 institutional clients across France, training roughly 6,000 professionals annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. INTER Training (in AFAR's premises): AFAR generates revenue by delivering continuing education programs at its Paris headquarters. The price (non-VAT applicable as the organization is not VAT-assessed) for INTER training is published on the website and includes trainer fees, pedagogical materials, and participant handouts. Registration is open until the day before training, subject to availability.
2. INTRA Training (on-site at client establishments): AFAR delivers customized training programs at client healthcare facilities. Pricing is provided via quotation (devis) in response to calls for tender. INTRA pricing covers trainer fees, travel, accommodation, pedagogical materials, and participant handouts. Billing occurs at the end of each training session; invoices are issued per session for multi-session programs.
3. DPC (Développement Professionnel Continu) Programs: AFAR is a habilitated DPC training organization (N°1200), delivering programs that count toward healthcare professionals' mandatory continuing professional development requirements. These are co-funded through the DPC system, providing an additional revenue stream from the French public healthcare training fund.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AFAR is a continuing education organization that delivers specialized training programs for mental health and psychiatric healthcare professionals in France. It offers approximately 360 training programs across 14 thematic areas delivered through two formats: INTER (open enrollment at its Paris headquarters) and INTRA (customized on-site training at client healthcare establishments). Programs are DPC-accredited and supported by proprietary audiovisual simulation materials, online QCM evaluations, and a 350-strong network of active field practitioner trainers.

Product overview

AFAR is a continuing education organization for mental health and healthcare professionals, founded in 1980 and based in Paris. The company offers a unified portfolio consisting of INTER and INTRA training formats (over 300 programs across 14 thematic areas including psychiatry, therapeutic mediations, management, ethics, and personal development), DPC-accredited programs, conferences, and structured multi-session cursus. Training delivery leverages dedicated web-based portals: the 'Espace Stagiaire' (trainee portal) and 'Espace Formateur' (trainer portal). Programs are delivered either at AFAR's Paris headquarters or on-site at client healthcare establishments throughout France.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Espace Stagiaire: Private online space for training participants to access materials and resources
• Espace Formateur
• AFAR Certifications

Products and services

• INTER Training Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• 97.3% satisfaction rate among training participants
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CCOMS (Centre Collaborateur de l'OMS pour la Recherche et la Formation en Santé Mentale): Lyon-based WHO collaborating center providing mental health training, research, and capacity-building for French and European healthcare professionals. Highly comparable to AFAR on mental health specialization and academic content quality, with stronger international/European research linkages.
• ANFH (Association Nationale pour la Formation permanente du personnel Hospitalier): French national association managing continuing professional development funding and training for public hospital personnel. Most direct comparable to AFAR: it operates the same DPC ecosystem, serves the same French healthcare institutions, and competes for the same training budgets, but at broader hospital-wide scale rather than mental-health-specialized.
• GRIEPS (Groupement de Recherche et d'Intervention en Éducation Pour la Santé): French continuing education organization for health and medico-social professionals, offering DPC-accredited programs with similar INTER/INTRA delivery and Qualiopi certifications. Directly comparable in target customer (healthcare establishments) and business model, with strong overlap in psychiatric and gerontological training themes.
• EHESP (École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique): French public school providing postgraduate training and continuing education for healthcare managers, executives, and public health professionals. Comparable to AFAR on the management/executive segment and DPC delivery, with similar institutional buyer base across French hospitals and ARS (regional health agencies).
• Institut de Formation en Santé Mentale (IFSM): French continuing education organization focused on mental health and psychiatric care training for healthcare professionals. Direct comparable to AFAR with similar DPC accreditation, INTER/INTRA delivery, and French institutional customer base in psychiatric hospitals and medico-social establishments.

Broad incumbents

• CNFPT (Centre National de la Fonction Publique Territoriale): National body funding and delivering training for French territorial public servants, including social action, child protection, and disability themes that intersect with AFAR's local-authority segment. Comparable as a publicly-funded training incumbent with structured curricula and large trainer base.
• CEGOS: France's largest corporate training provider, with a healthcare and public-sector practice that competes for broader institutional training budgets. Comparable as a continuing education incumbent with Qualiopi certification and large trainer network, though CEGOS operates across all verticals rather than specializing in mental health.
• ORSYS Formation: Major French professional training organization offering INTER and INTRA programs for IT, management, and healthcare topics. Comparable delivery model (open-enrollment sessions + on-site enterprise training) and Qualiopi-certified; less specialized in mental health but competes for the same institutional training budgets.

Emerging players

• EFS (École des Hautes Études en Psychanalyse): Paris-based organization providing clinical and theoretical training for mental health practitioners in psychoanalytic approaches. Adjacent to AFAR's clinical psychiatry and therapeutic mediation offerings, targeting a more specialized clinician base with longer curriculum structures.

Regional players

• CREAI (Centre Régional d'Études, d'Actions et d'Informations): Regional French organizations providing training and resource support for medico-social and social-sector professionals. Comparable to AFAR's medico-social training segment (disability, child protection) and shares the same DPC-accredited delivery model, though typically organized at a regional rather than national scale.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/afar

Compliance2 records

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 AFAR