SYNFIE

What SYNFIE does

SYNFIE (Syndicat Français de l'Intelligence Économique) is the French professional trade union for economic intelligence practitioners, founded on December 14, 2010, and headquartered at the Hôtel de l'Industrie in central Paris. It is a nonprofit organization (syndicat professionnel) that federates, represents, and promotes all actors of the French economic intelligence sector, including consulting firms, software publishers, information providers, training organizations, corporate IE practitioners, and researchers, with an addressable pool of approximately 250 private enterprises and 2,500 professionals generating an estimated €750 million in combined sector revenue. The organization operates through six membership colleges (IE companies, practitioners, qualified persons, corresponding members, affiliated groups, and students/teachers/researchers) with annual fees ranging from €10 to €5,000 depending on category and company size, and all members must accept a mandatory Ethics Charter adopted in 2014 and enforced by an Ethics Committee.

SYNFIE does not develop proprietary technology; its service portfolio consists of membership-based offerings including a private member directory, a restricted-access knowledge base, six thematic working groups (Collecte-OSINT-Investigation, Veille, Influence, Souverainetée, Sécurité informationnelle, Intégration de l'IE), regional delegations, the quarterly L'Oeil du SYNFIE newsletter, closed-door Rencontres events with government officials, and the Observatoire de l'Intelligence Économique Français (OIEF) launched in 2019 to detect threats to French strategic technologies. The syndicate is led by a Bureau comprising President François Jeanne-Beylot (elected December 2022), Vice President Elysabeth Benali-Leonard, Secretary General Nicolas Touati, Deputy Secretary Anne-Solène Spido, and Treasurer Olivier Subrini.

The organization's go-to-market is membership acquisition through its synfie.fr website, LinkedIn and X/Twitter channels, public events, and partnerships with government bodies (SISSE, DGA), academic and defense institutions (IHEDN, IESF, EDEN Cluster), and industry associations (Club du Haut de Bilan, CCE). SYNFIE positions itself as the recognized interlocutor for French and European authorities on IE policy, notably contributing to the July 2023 Senate information mission report on intelligence économique as a tool of national sovereignty and advocating for a proposed General Secretariat for Intelligence Economy under the Prime Minister.

Name

SYNFIE

Legal name

Syndicat Français de l'Intelligence Économique

Website

https://synfie.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SYNFIE is the French professional syndicate founded in 2010 that federates and represents all economic intelligence practitioners in France through tiered membership, a mandatory ethics charter, working groups, regional delegations, and the OIEF threat-monitoring observatory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Trade Association Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

International Economic & Trade Cooperation Organizations (BPADAAAC)

Keywords

• Economic intelligence syndicate
• Professional membership services
• Trade association services
• Competitive intelligence network
• OSINT professional services

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: SYNFIE generates revenue through annual membership fees that vary by college and company size. Colleges include IE companies (250-5000€), practitioners (250-5000€), qualified persons (free), corresponding members (250€), and students/teachers/researchers (10-250€). Memberships are validated for a calendar year.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SYNFIE is a professional trade union (syndicat professionnel) that federates, represents, and promotes economic intelligence (IE) practitioners in France. Its core offering is tiered paid membership across six colleges (IE companies, practitioners, qualified persons, corresponding members, affiliated groups, students/teachers/researchers), granting access to a member directory, restricted knowledge base, regional delegations, thematic working groups, ethics charter recognition, and advocacy representation before public authorities.

Product overview

SYNFIE (Syndicat Français de l'Intelligence Économique) is a professional trade union for economic intelligence practitioners in France, founded in 2010. Rather than a software product company, SYNFIE offers a portfolio of membership services including professional recognition, networking through regional delegations and working groups, a restricted member directory and knowledge base, publications (L'Oeil du SYNFIE newsletter), events (annual dinners, networking evenings, Rencontres du SYNFIE), and the Observatoire de l'Intelligence Économique Français (OIEF) observatory for monitoring threats to French companies. The organization federates, represents, and promotes economic intelligence professionals through ethical standards defined in its mandatory ethics charter.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 250 enterprises in the French private economic intelligence market are represented by SYNFIE
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Études de la Défense Nationale)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYNFIE partners with IHEDN for public events and conferences. Events co-organized with IHEDN include conferences at École Militaire on economic sovereignty and annual public assemblies. The partnership supports the promotion of economic intelligence practices within defense and national security contexts.
• SISSE (Service de l'Information Stratégique et de la Sécurité Économiques)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYNFIE maintains close relations with SISSE, the governmental body for strategic information and economic security. Joint events include 'Rencontres du SYNFIE' featuring SISSE leadership, and collaboration on economic sovereignty initiatives. SISSE falls under the Direction Générale des Entreprises.
• Club du Haut de BilanminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSYNFIE is a partner of the Club du Haut de Bilan for events, including a breakfast debate on economic intelligence in the financial sector. The partnership provides exposure to financial sector professionals and decision-makers.
• Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYNFIE organizes 'Rencontres du SYNFIE' events featuring DGA officials, including Camille LANET, Sous-directeur de l'intelligence économique à la DGA. These events facilitate dialogue between private IE professionals and defense procurement officials.
• Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France (IESF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYNFIE partnered with IESF for seminars on teaching materials for economic intelligence awareness, expanding its reach to engineering and scientific communities.
• Portail de l'IEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership under discussion with the leading French economic intelligence portal to expand reach and share resources within the IE community.
• Académie de l'Intelligence ÉconomiqueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in discussion with the Academy of Economic Intelligence for academic collaboration, training development, and professional certification.
• Société d'Encouragement à l'Industrie NationaleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in discussion with SEIN to promote economic intelligence practices within French industry.
• Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur de la France (CCE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYNFIE collaborates with CCE Nouvelle Aquitaine to create public-private 'Cercles de Confiance' (Trust Circles) for regional economic intelligence activities and business internationalization support.
• EDEN Cluster (European Defense Economic Network)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDEN is a cluster of SMEs in defense, security, and safety. SYNFIE members participate in EDEN Day events to discuss economic intelligence challenges for the defense industry.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CLUSIF (Club de la Sécurité de l'Information Français): French association dedicated to information security professionals. Comparable membership/association structure, similar role representing a security-adjacent profession in France, and parallel government/industry engagement.
• CESIN (Club des Experts de la Sécurité de l'Information et du Numérique): French professional club for chief information security officers. Comparable to SYNFIE as a French membership organization for security-adjacent professionals, with similar member-driven governance and government liaison model.
• SCIP (Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals): International professional association for competitive and strategic intelligence practitioners. Directly comparable to SYNFIE as a membership-based IE professional body, operating globally rather than France-specific.

Emerging players

• Académie de l'Intelligence Économique: French academy dedicated to economic intelligence, with which SYNFIE has a partnership under discussion. Comparable as a complementary French IE institution with overlapping training and thought-leadership functions.
• AFCDP (Association Française des Correspondants à la protection des Données Personnelles): French association for DPOs and data protection professionals. Comparable as a membership body representing specialized professionals in a regulated field with ethics and standards functions, though focused on privacy rather than IE.
• Portail de l'IE: Leading French portal for economic intelligence content and resources, partnership under discussion with SYNFIE. Comparable as an IE ecosystem player reaching the same professional audience.
• École de Guerre Économique: French specialized higher education institution for economic intelligence training. Comparable as a French IE training and credentialing body closely tied to SYNFIE's leadership (President teaches there).

Broad incumbents

• IESF (Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France): National federation representing French engineers and scientists. Comparable as a large French professional association with which SYNFIE partners, sharing a member-organization model and national representation role.
• IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale): Premier French institution for defense and national security education, with which SYNFIE co-organizes events at École Militaire. Comparable as an established French institution shaping IE/defense expertise and policy dialogue.

Others

• ADIT (Agence de Diffusion et d'Information Technologies): Leading French strategic intelligence and influence firm and SYNFIE member. Operates as a commercial IE provider within SYNFIE's ecosystem rather than a peer association, but is the dominant private IE services company in France.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SYNFIE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/synfie

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 SYNFIE