What Groupe Handéo does

Groupe Handéo is a French non-profit organization (association loi 1901) founded in 2007 and headquartered in Clichy, operating as a specialist in aging and disability quality assurance. The organization is structured as a group with two legally distinct operating entities: Handéo Services, which delivers certifications and labels, and Handéo Solutions, which delivers consulting and training. The separation is deliberate to preserve certification neutrality. Handéo is positioned as the only certification body in France's Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) created by and for disabled and elderly persons, and the only ESS certification body overall. Its certifications are co-constructed with public authorities, elderly and disabled persons, caregivers, and field professionals, with each audit conducted by a mixed team including an audit manager, a healthcare professional, and a peer-supporter or caregiver.

Handéo's core products comprise four certification/label lines (Médico-social, Services à la personne, Services de mobilité, and the Entreprise Engagée Salariés Aidants label), three consulting/training service lines (quality approach structuring, certification preparation, and disability inclusion sensitization), and a research pole conducting participatory research in aging and disability with freely accessible publications. Proprietary methodology features include modular certification frameworks for autism, polyhandicap, and psychiatric disability, a peer-inclusive audit model, and over a decade of observatory activity feeding the certification and training pipeline. The 2025 launch of a unified Certification Médico-social consolidates prior specialized modules into a single, more legible framework.

The business model combines recurring certification fees (multi-year contracts), professional services revenue from Handéo Solutions (training and consulting), and grant/project-based research revenue. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Handéo Solutions holds Qualiopi certification, enabling clients to access OPCO-funded training budgets. Distribution is direct (phone, email, website) supplemented by associated expert networks across France and a flagship delivery partnership with Formavision (242 trainers, 580+ supervised establishments) in autism and polyhandicap. Customer segments span medico-social establishments, home autonomy services, transport operators, enterprises of all sizes, public collectivities, and academia. Named enterprise customers include Schneider Electric, Christian Dior Couture, Groupe Servier, Pierre Fabre, Keolis, Transilien SNCF, and TBM Bordeaux Métropole.

Name

Groupe Handéo

Legal name

Handéo

Website

https://handeo.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Groupe Handéo is a French non-profit certification and consulting group specializing in disability and aging, delivering co-constructed quality certifications, training, and participatory research to medico-social establishments, home care providers, transport operators, enterprises, and public bodies across France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Clichy

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Certification Services: Handéo Services delivers certifications to organizations in the medico-social, home care, and transport sectors. The certification process includes initial audit, ongoing support, and follow-up audits. Organizations can prepare for certification through Handéo Solutions or independently.
2. Training and Consulting Services: Handéo Solutions provides training modules and consulting engagements to help organizations build quality approaches, prepare for certification, and sensitize staff to disability inclusion. Training modules include quality fundamentals, personalized projects, and referential awareness courses.
3. Custom Research Projects: Handéo conducts specialized research projects on demand in the aging and disability sector, including qualitative and ethnographic methodology, partner involvement, tool construction, and dissemination activities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Handéo delivers proprietary certifications and societal labels for medico-social establishments, home care services, mobility operators, and enterprises supporting employee caregivers. It also provides consulting and training services (delivered by Handéo Solutions) to help organizations structure quality approaches and prepare for certification, and conducts participatory research with freely accessible publications through its Research Pole. The offering targets organizations across France that support elderly and disabled persons, with multi-stakeholder audit teams composed of an audit manager, a healthcare professional, and a peer-supporter or caregiver.

Product overview

Groupe Handéo operates as a multi-service organization with three main poles: (1) Labels & Certifications (Handéo Services entity) delivering professional certifications for home care services, medical-social establishments, and mobility services, plus societal labels for companies supporting employee caregivers; (2) Consulting & Training (Handéo Solutions entity) providing quality approach structuring, certification preparation support, and disability awareness training; and (3) Research & Publications conducting participatory research on disability and aging, and making publications freely available. The organization is the only certification body created by and for disabled and elderly persons, and the only certification body in the Social and Solidarity Economy sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Certification Services à la personne
• Certification Médico-social
• Certification Services de mobilité
• Label Entreprise engagée salariés aidants
• Conseil et Formation - Structurer une démarche qualité globale
• Conseil et Formation - Préparer ou consolider une certification/labellisation
• Conseil et Formation - Sensibiliser mon organisation à l'inclusion et au handicap
• Recherches et Publications - Recherche sur demande
• Recherches et Publications - Expertise de recherche
• Création de certifications et labels sur-mesure

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• FormavisionflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Handéo and Formavision partnered in 2024 to combine their expertise for supporting professionals in autism and polyhandicap fields. The partnership includes diagnostic, recommendations, regular follow-up, and white audit services. Formavision has 242 trainers and supervises 580+ establishments and services.
• APICILcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPICIL is a partner of Handéo, collaborating on initiatives related to disability and aging. As a healthcare insurance group, APICIL shares values of social commitment and inclusion.
• KlésiaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKlésia, an insurer of general interest, partnered with Handéo to initiate the 'Entreprise Engagée - Salariés Aidants' label. Klésia supports the label to help companies progress on employee caregiver support and recognize their commitment.
• QualisocminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQualisoc is a partner providing audit, training, and consulting services, listed among Handéo's collaborative partners.
• Mutuelle intégranceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMutuelle intégrance is a mutual insurance company partner of Handéo, contributing to the network of partners engaged in inclusion.
• Agirc-ArrcoflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgirc-Arrco supported the development of the Handéo 'Entreprise Engagée - Salariés Aidants' label. As a complementary pension scheme, they identified the major societal challenge of supporting caregivers since 1993 and support the initiative to enable companies to progress on the subject.
• AUVI ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHandéo is a member of the AUVI (Ancrer l'autonomie de vie) consortium, a 29-partner consortium supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR) under its Autonomy priority program. The project focuses on autonomy as a fundamental ideal of contemporary democratic societies through human rights declarations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• UNAPEI: Major French federation of associations representing people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Comparable as an ecosystem participant with overlapping concerns on disability quality of support; some UNAPEI member organizations are Handéo customers (e.g., Adapei-Nouelles Côtes d'Armor).
• ANDICAT: Federation of medico-social establishments and services in France. Directly comparable buyer segment to Handéo's primary ESMS customer base — many ANDICAT members are potential certification/label customers for Handéo.
• AGEFIPH: French fund dedicated to employment of people with disabilities. Ecosystem adjacent to Handéo — same end-user population (disabled persons and inclusive employers) and overlap in employer-caregiver agenda, but AGEFIPH is a public policy/financing body, not a certification body.
• FIPHFP: Public-sector counterpart to AGEFIPH, funding disability inclusion in public services. Comparable as an ecosystem player addressing the same disabled-person population and employer/employee base that Handéo labels and certifies.

Broad incumbents

• SGS: World's largest TIC company. Comparable as a potential global entrant into specialized social-sector certification; operates across industries at scale Handéo cannot match.
• AFNOR Certification: France's leading certification body across ISO and sector-specific standards. Comparable to Handéo as a domestic certification provider, though AFNOR operates at significantly larger scale and across all industries rather than specializing in disability and aging.
• Bureau Veritas: Global Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) major with French roots. Comparable as a certification competitor that could enter the disability/elderly segment; much larger, listed, and international in scope.
• SOCOTEC: Major French TIC player with strong domestic presence. Comparable as a French certification body competing for similar enterprise and public-sector clients; broader portfolio than Handéo's disability specialization.

Direct peers

• Qualisoc: French audit, training, and consulting services company listed as a Handéo partner. Directly comparable as a quality-management services provider serving social and medico-social organizations in France.
• Qualineo: Quality management solution for the medico-social, social, health, and medical imaging sectors. Listed as a Handéo partner; competes in the same niche of digitizing quality approaches for ESMS-type buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/handeo

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries2 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 Groupe Handéo