Tiers-lieux Bfc

What Tiers-lieux Bfc does

Tiers-lieux BFC is a French non-profit association (loi 1901) founded in May 2021 that animates and structures the regional network of tiers-lieux (third places) across the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, covering all eight departments. Its mission is to foster interconnection between tiers-lieux, peer exchange, accompaniment of emerging projects, and visibility of the ecosystem. The association's products include a regional cartography (annuaire.tiers-lieux.fr), a toolbox for project holders, the La Boussole decision-support tool (developed by member Hôp hop hop), a "Piloter un tiers-lieu" training program, an accompaniment program financed by France Tiers-Lieux, a monthly newsletter, a podcast, an observatoire producing regional studies, and flagship events including the annual Chemins de traverse gathering and "Faire tiers-lieux" sensitization mornings.

The underlying technology is intentionally lightweight and non-proprietary: a WordPress website, Matomo self-hosted open-source analytics, a Matrix chat space, and cloud storage. There is no proprietary platform; the association's value lies in human-led coordination, knowledge-sharing, and institutional intermediation rather than software. Its go-to-market is community-led, driven by events, peer working groups, site visits, and editorial content rather than commercial sales.

The business model is non-commercial: revenues come from public subsidies (ANCT, Conseil régional de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France Tiers-Lieux) and modest membership fees from 30 tiers-lieux members (2022), with the association administering pass-through funding such as the DEFFINOV program (€3M, 15 consortium projects) without retaining those flows as revenue. It serves tiers-lieux operators, emerging project holders, and local public authorities (collectivités territoriales) as its primary stakeholder segments, with co-presidency governance (Aurélie Miller and Philippe Limbourg).

Name

Tiers-lieux Bfc

Legal name

Association du réseau des tiers-lieux en Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Website

https://tierslieux-bfc.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tiers-lieux BFC is a French non-profit association founded in 2021 that animates and networks the regional ecosystem of tiers-lieux (third places) across Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight departments, serving member tiers-lieux, emerging project holders, and local public authorities through peer exchange, tools, training, and institutional intermediation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dijon

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. Public subsidies and grants: The association is financially supported by public institutional funders including ANCT (Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires), the Conseil régional de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, and France Tiers-Lieux. These subsidies fund the network's animation, coordination, and support activities for tiers-lieux in the region.
2. Membership fees: Tiers-lieux and stakeholders pay membership fees to join the association. The 2022 General Assembly noted 30 members that year.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Tiers-lieux BFC is a non-profit association that animates, structures, and develops the community of tiers-lieux (third places) across the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. It offers an interactive regional cartography, a "Piloter un tiers-lieu" training program, accompaniment services for emerging tiers-lieu projects, an observatory producing research on cultural and ecological-transition third places, and annual events such as "Les Chemins de traverse," supported by toolkits, a decision-support tool ("La Boussole"), a monthly newsletter, and a podcast series.

Product overview

Tiers-lieux BFC is a regional association that animates and networks the community of tiers-lieux (third places) in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Rather than a single product, the organization offers a portfolio of interconnected services: an interactive cartography for discovering tiers-lieux, training programs (Formation Piloter un tiers-lieu), comprehensive accompaniment services, knowledge resources including a toolkit and La Boussole decision-support tool, a monthly newsletter, a podcast series, and a regional observatory conducting research on tiers-lieux impacts. These services work together to support emerging projects, connect existing spaces, and develop the regional tiers-lieu ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cartographie des tiers-lieux Interactive regional mapping tool that catalogs and showcases tiers-lieux across the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, allowing members to self-register their space and enabling the public to discover places by status (project, itinerant, open) and filter by various criteria.
• Formation Piloter un tiers-lieu Training program designed by Tiers-lieux BFC to help individuals pilot and manage a tiers-lieu, covering governance, economic models, and operational aspects. Targeted at project holders and existing tiers-lieu directors across the region.
• Accompagnement des tiers-lieux Comprehensive accompaniment support program for tiers-lieux financed by France Tiers-Lieux, offering guidance to emerging and existing third places on the territory through direct consultation, workshops, and working groups.
• Observatoire des tiers-lieux de BFC Regional observatory that studies and analyzes tiers-lieux activities and impacts in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, producing studies on cultural tiers-secteur, ecological transition, and the role of tiers-lieux in territorial development.

Quantifiable outcome

• 55% of cultural tiers-lieux are located in rural revitalization zones (ZRR), demonstrating strong territorial impact
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 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

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Various tiers-lieux (national ecosystem)minorOthers · 1 June 2025Tiers-lieux BFC participated in national DEFFINOV encounters in Tours, bringing together laureates from across France including multiple BFC projects to share experiences and contribute to national exchanges.
• DREAL Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024DREAL partnered with Tiers-lieux BFC and Commune mesure in 2024 to highlight inspiring initiatives of tiers-lieux working on ecological transitions.
• CNFPT (Centre National de la Fonction Publique Territoriale)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTiers-lieux BFC partnered with CNFPT to organize a public information day on tiers-lieux as engines of territorial transformation (February 2025). CNFPT provides training offerings that the network promotes to members.
• DREETS Bourgogne-Franche-ComtécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDREETS launched the DEFFINOV call for projects in BFC and selected 15 consortium projects with a 3 million euro budget, administered through the network's coordination.
• France Tiers-Lieux (programmatic)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBeyond financial support, France Tiers-Lieux runs the 'Accompagner les tiers-lieux' program that Tiers-lieux BFC participates in regionally, providing accompaniment services to emerging projects.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Le Mouvement Associatif: National federation of French non-profit associations, providing advocacy, training, and resources — comparable to Tiers-lieux BFC at a higher (national) aggregation level as a coordinating body for associative actors.
• Le RAMEAU: French research and consulting lab on innovative financing for associative and territorial projects. Comparable as an Observatory-style knowledge producer and accompaniment provider, frequently co-funding studies with regional partners.
• AVISE: National agency supporting social and solidarity economy initiatives in France, including accompagnement, studies, and resource production for associations and tiers-lieu-adjacent projects — thematically related as a network-support and resource-body for social-purpose organizations.
• Fédération des acteurs de la solidarité (FAS): National federation of solidarity-sector associations operating accueil/accompaniment services. Comparable governance and funding model (public subsidies + membership) to Tiers-lieux BFC, though focused on social rather than third-place activities.

Direct peers

• France Tiers-Lieux: National umbrella association for tiers-lieux in France, providing policy coordination, accompaniment programs (e.g., 'Accompagner les tiers-lieux'), and national events. It is the direct national counterpart that Tiers-lieux BFC partners with and is structurally aligned to.

Broad incumbents

• Coworking France: National federation representing coworking spaces and shared workspaces in France. While broader than tiers-lieux (which include fablabs and cultural spaces), it overlaps significantly on the coworking subset of Tiers-lieux BFC's membership.

Regional players

• La Fonderie: Regional association based in Île-de-France that animates and connects a network of third places and digital cultural spaces, paralleling Tiers-lieux BFC's role in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté but in a different region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PL58hFnVMuJiwAhxpF8uu-4LTQsNe5dOXQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/people/Tiers-lieux-BFC/61564417451322
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tierslieux-bfc
• Instagraminstagram.com/tierslieux_bfc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Tiers-lieux Bfc