Weavers France

What Weavers France does

Weavers France is a French nonprofit association (loi 1901, registered June 2019) delivering professional integration services for exiled persons, refugees, and migrants legally resident in France. The organization operates across six cities — Lyon (headquarters in Villeurbanne), Annecy, Grenoble, Marseille, Saint-Étienne, and Chalon-sur-Saône — running five core programs: Objectif Emploi (15-week pre-qualifying training with guaranteed partner-company placement), Nouveau Départ (employment remobilization), Des Étoiles et des Femmes (1-year culinary CAP diploma for women), ASL (sociolinguistic workshops), and Tissu Solidaire (companionship pairing). Training combines French as a Foreign Language (FLE), digital literacy, soft skills via Awayke partnership, and sector-specific vocational content, delivered through Qualiopi-certified methodology.

The organization generates revenue through three streams: donations and foundation grants (including EUR 250,000 from Fondation de François Hollande plus corporate foundations such as Vinci, L'Oréal, ENGIE, Safran, Eiffage, and Euroclear), corporate partnership fees for inclusive recruitment services to employers such as Accor, Essenc!el Group, Ninkasi, STEF, and Soitec, and tier-lieu space rental at Villa Urbana, a solidarity third-place opened in November 2023 at 50 cours de la République, Villeurbanne (EUR 100/half-day for meeting rooms seating 15-200 people). Its distribution model relies on direct enterprise engagement, prescriber networks (France Travail, Missions Locales, Forum Réfugiés), and physical program delivery across its regional offices.

Weavers reports 1,080+ learners trained since 2019, 77% positive outcomes at 6 months (employment, training, or internship), 61 partner companies, and 3,000+ community encounters between exiled persons and local citizens. The October 2024 leadership transition installed Héloïse Monnet as Directrice générale to lead national scaling toward a stated 2027 goal of 2,000+ learners served, while founder Flora Vidal Marron moved to a Présidente role focused on policy advocacy.

Name

Weavers France

Legal name

Weavers France

Website

https://weaversfrance.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Weavers France is a French nonprofit association, founded in 2019, that delivers pre-qualifying training, soft skills development, and inclusive recruitment services for exiled persons across six French cities, partnering with enterprises for sustainable employment placement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Inclusion & Refugee Workforce Integration Services

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee & Migrant Integration Enterprises (Livelihoods, Services) (BPAGALAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Immigrant & Refugee Workforce Integration Programs (EDAAAOAJ)

Keywords

• Refugee workforce integration
• Inclusive recruitment services
• French language training
• Professional integration programs
• Social inclusion association

Headquarters

HQ city

Villeurbanne

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and contributions: Weavers operates as an association under French law 1901, funded through donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The organization receives financial support from various foundations including Fondation de François Hollande (250,000 euros), and multiple corporate foundations (Vinci, L'Oréal, Evolem, ENGIE, Safran, Eiffage).
2. Corporate partnerships and recruitment services: Companies partner with Weavers for inclusive recruitment services. Partner companies benefit from pre-trained candidates, diversity recruitment support, and workforce training. This creates mutual value where companies gain access to qualified talent while supporting social integration.
3. Tier-lieu space rental: Villa Urbana tiers-lieu generates revenue through rental of meeting rooms and event spaces to businesses and organizations. Spaces include a 30m² room (up to 15 people), a 60m² room (up to 30 people), and common areas (up to 200 people), with modern equipment and WiFi.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Weavers France is a nonprofit association that delivers free pre-qualifying training programs (French language, digital skills, soft skills, employability coaching) to exiled persons, refugees, and migrants in France, and pairs them with vetted partner companies for inclusive recruitment and sustained employment integration. The association also operates the Villa Urbana solidarity third-place in Lyon for community encounters and rents event/meeting space, while providing partner companies with pre-screened candidates, anti-bias training, and post-hiring follow-up.

Product overview

Weavers France operates as a unified social inclusion platform offering five integrated training programs focused on professional integration of exiled persons. The core portfolio includes: Objectif Emploi (15-week pre-training with guaranteed job placement), Nouveau Départ (employment remobilization), Des Étoiles et des Femmes (diploma culinary training for women), and ASL (French language workshops). The ecosystem also encompasses Villa Urbana (a third-place venue for events and training) and Tissu Solidaire (companionship program). The organization functions as a social enterprise providing training, job matching, and ongoing support to both job seekers with refugee status and partner companies seeking inclusive recruitment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Objectif Emploi A comprehensive 15-week pre-qualifying training program for exiled persons with regular residence status, including French as a Foreign Language (FLE), digital skills, soft skills development, and employability coaching, culminating in indemnified training with a work contract placement at a Weavers partner company.
• Nouveau Départ A remobilization program for exiled persons and RSA beneficiaries delivering French language courses, digital initiation, soft-skills development, and individualized socio-professional support aimed at socio-professional integration.
• Des Étoiles et des Femmes A one-year free and paid CAP cuisine diploma program in alternation with starred or gastronomic chefs, targeting women facing employment difficulties and social isolation in Lyon, including exiled women, with personalized support for employment barriers.
• ASL (Actions SocioLinguistiques) Year-round French language workshops combining digital elements and cultural activities in Annecy, aimed at cultural and social integration of foreign men and women domiciled in the Annecy area.
• Villa Urbana A solidarity third-place (tiers-lieu) in Lyon offering meeting rooms and event spaces for professional gatherings, alongside training spaces for the association's programs, with fully equipped configurations accommodating 15 to 200 people.
• Villa Urbana Meeting and Event Space Rental Meeting room and event space rental service at Villa Urbana, offering a 30m² room (up to 15 people), 60m² room (up to 30 people), and common areas (up to 200 people) with projectors, Wi-Fi, and flexible configurations, available for half-day rental to businesses and organizations at 100 EUR (incl. VAT).
• Tissu Solidaire Companionship Program A companion program pairing volunteers with exiled persons for three months to create social bonds, including volunteer training on migration pathways and structured intercultural exchange activities.
• Corporate Inclusive Recruitment Service An end-to-end inclusive recruitment service for enterprises in hospitality, retail, food trades, logistics, and advanced industries, providing pre-trained candidates matched to specific job briefs, anti-bias sensitization for existing staff, and pre- and post-hiring follow-up to ensure durable integration.

Quantifiable outcome

• 77% of learners achieve positive outcomes (employment, training, or internship) within 6 months of program completion
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AccorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor hospitality group partnering with Weavers for inclusive recruitment. The Tisseurs d'Avenir program trained 12-21 exiled persons per cohort for hotel positions, with participating hotels including Mercure Lyon Centre Lumière and Mercure Château Perrache. 20 job offers delivered to trained participants.
• Essenc!el GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner650-employee multi-sector group (retail, hospitality, food trades, sports/fashion, culture) partnering for pre-training in grande distribution and food trades. 9 learners trained with hiring at Intermarché and L'Atelier bakery locations.
• AwaykecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial enterprise providing soft skills training (personal development, stress management, communication, empowerment) to Weavers learners. Partnership delivers 32% of Weavers' professional development curriculum.
• EntourageminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial organization co-located at Villa Urbana tiers-lieu, working to provide support networks for isolated and excluded people to reclaim their place in society.
• BimBamJobminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial enterprise providing socio-professional integration services, co-located at Villa Urbana tiers-lieu.
• Cop1minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent aid association providing free distributions of food baskets, clothing, and hygiene products, co-located at Villa Urbana tiers-lieu.
• STEFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLogistics company whose employees received inclusive recruitment training from Weavers.
• NinkasicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLyon-based brewery and hospitality company. Partnership resulted in 71% of learners from partnered pre-training being hired.
• GRETA CFA Lyon MétropolecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVocational education network partnering for CAP cuisine diploma delivery in the Des Étoiles et des Femmes program, with training at Lycée Hélène Boucher.
• Ibis Annecy Centre Vieille VillecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHotel with 30 employees from 10 nationalities. Hired Weavers alumni Ahmed through Objectif Emploi program on CDI.
• SoitecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSemiconductor company with logo displayed as partner on Weavers website.
• Novotel Annecy CentreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHotel partner in Annecy hosting events and providing training opportunities for learners.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tent Partnership for Refugees: Global nonprofit mobilizing the business community to integrate refugees through employment. Comparable to Weavers on the employer-relations side, with broader geographic scope but a thinner direct-training component than Weavers' cohort programs.
• France Terre d'Asile: One of the largest French associations supporting asylum seekers and refugees, with national reach in housing, legal aid, and integration services. A larger and more established incumbent serving much of the same beneficiary population as Weavers, with substantially greater resources and policy influence.
• Coallia: Major French social-inclusion association operating refugee accommodation, training, and employment programs across France. Overlaps with Weavers on refugee workforce integration but operates at much larger scale with broader service lines including housing.

Regional players

• Kodjo: Belgian nonprofit offering tailored training and professional integration programs for refugees and newcomers, similar in cohort-based methodology to Weavers. A regional peer because it operates primarily in Belgium rather than France, but comparable in target population and operating model.
• Upwardly Global: U.S.-based nonprofit focused on professional integration of refugees and immigrants through skills training and employer partnerships. Functionally analogous to Weavers (training-plus-placement model for skilled refugees), but operates in the U.S. labor market with a different funder base.

Emerging players

• JRS France (Jesuit Refugee Service): French arm of the international Jesuit Refugee Service, providing support including language training, employment assistance, and community connection for refugees. Overlaps with Weavers on language training and social-link activities, though with a more advocacy- and accompaniment-driven orientation.
• Emmaüs France: National federation of Emmaüs groups in France providing social and professional inclusion through work-based integration activities. Adjacent to Weavers because both are French association-driven social-inclusion models with workforce-integration components, though Emmaüs leans on second-hand economy and solidarity logistics rather than corporate-placement.
• Afiliatys: French consulting and training firm specializing in diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination in the workplace. Adjacent to Weavers because it serves many of the same corporate clients on the inclusion and inclusive-recruitment side, though as a paid advisory business rather than a nonprofit training operator.

Direct peers

• Article 1: French nonprofit (formerly Mozaïk RH) that supports professional inclusion of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through training, mentorship, and employer partnerships. Closely comparable to Weavers in mission, cohort-based training methodology, and corporate-recruitment model, though focused on youth more broadly rather than refugees specifically.
• Singa: French nonprofit focused on creating connections between refugees and local communities, with professional integration programs similar to Weavers. Operates in multiple French cities with comparable training and employer-engagement activities targeting the same beneficiary population.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xinstagram.com/weaversfrance
• Facebookfacebook.com/weaversfrance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/weaversfrance

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Weavers France