What Wake Up Cafe does

Wake up Café is a French non-profit association (loi 1901, SIREN 805028891) founded in 2014 by Clotilde Gilbert, a former prison chaplain, to deliver full-time, indefinite-duration social and professional reintegration programs for detained and formerly detained persons (referred to as 'wakeurs') in order to reduce recidivism. The association operates a hybrid 'inside-outside' (dedans-dehors) pathway that begins with a 3-week Re remobilization parcours in detention and artistic/cultural workshops, then continues post-release through 12 physical sites across France where wakeurs attend daily employment-preparation workshops, share a communal lunch, and access individual accompaniment until sustainable employment or training is secured. The methodology is human-centered and pedagogical rather than technology-based — there is no proprietary platform, and intake is driven by CPIP (prison probation counselor) referrals under a national convention with the Direction de l'Administration Pénitentiaire (DAP) signed in 2021.

The revenue model blends diversified income streams typical of a French association d'intérêt général: individual donations and memberships (eligible for the 66% French tax reduction), corporate donations and skills-sponsorship (mécénat de compétences) eligible for the 60% tax reduction, Qualiopi-certified corporate training delivered at Quai Liberté (quote-based, up to 20 participants per session), revenue from the bistronomic Quai Liberté restaurant aboard the Thalassa boat in Paris (a 2,000 m² social-and-solidarity-economy venue where wakeurs work in kitchen, reception, and service roles), and significant institutional grants including a laureate designation under the government's Contrat à Impact program (up to €2.9M, 5 years, results-based) and multiple European Social Fund (FSE) tranches supporting national rollout plus dedicated Lille and Marseille programs. Operations are sustained by 70+ salaried staff and 250 volunteers, with 400+ corporate partners (including AXA, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, VINCI, TotalEnergies, Carrefour, L'Oréal, Auchan) supplying the employment pipeline that converts accompaniment into durable hires (338 in 2024, 360 in 2025), with a reported 87.4% non-recidivism rate across 3,200 accompanied wakeurs since 2014.

Name

Wake Up Cafe

Legal name

Wake up Café

Website

https://wakeupcafe.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wake up Café is a French non-profit association founded in 2014 that delivers full-time, indefinite-duration social and professional reintegration programs for detained and formerly detained persons ('wakeurs') across 12 sites in France, aiming to reduce recidivism through employment, training, and community accompaniment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual donations and membership fees: Individuals can make donations (eligible for 66% tax reduction in France) and pay annual membership fees to support the association. The organization is recognized as an association d'intérêt général.
2. Corporate training programs: Wake up Café offers professional training programs to companies on recruiting, integrating, and supporting people exiting prison. The training is certified Qualiopi and is delivered at Quai Liberté. Pricing is quote-based.
3. Quai Liberté restaurant and event venue: The Quai Liberté restaurant (bistronomic restaurant aboard the Thalassa boat in Paris) generates revenue through dining and event bookings. Wakeurs work in the restaurant as part of their reintegration training, with 270 wakeurs hired since 2020.
4. Institutional grants and public funding: Wake up Café receives financial support from the European Social Fund (FSE), French ministries (Justice, Labour, Economy), regional councils, and local government bodies. It is a laureate of the Contrat à Impact program (up to 2.9M€ conditional on results).
5. Corporate partnerships and donations: Companies provide financial contributions, skills sponsorship (mécénat de compétences), and in-kind donations. Corporate donations are eligible for 60% tax reduction.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wake up Café is a French non-profit association founded in 2014 that provides full-time, inside-outside reintegration accompaniment for formerly incarcerated individuals (wakeurs). It operates 12 sites across France offering employment preparation workshops, communal meals, artistic and cultural activities, and a dedicated restaurant and training venue (Quai Liberté). The organization also delivers Qualiopi-certified corporate training and team-building programs to help companies recruit, integrate, and support people exiting prison.

Product overview

Wake up Café operates as a non-profit social reintegration organization offering a comprehensive ecosystem of programs and services for formerly incarcerated individuals. The core offering consists of the Re 3-week remobilization program in detention, followed by the personalized Parcours de Réhabilitation pathway upon release. The Quai Liberté serves as the flagship training and employment center on the Thalassa boat in Paris, featuring a bistro restaurant and event spaces where wakeurs gain professional experience. Complementary services include artistic/cultural workshops in detention, Wake up Croissant networking events, Wake up Dinner and Wake up Planète community gatherings, corporate team-building experiences, and professional training programs for companies. The organization maintains 11 physical sites across France, each providing daily accompaniment combining employment preparation, communal meals, and self-reconstruction activities. The ecosystem connects detention preparation with post-release support through continuous coordination with prison probation services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Le Quai Liberté: A bistronomic restaurant aboard boat Thalassa in Paris (2000m² social economy space). Site for hiring and training of wakeurs, with event spaces and guinguette terrace. Accessible to persons with disabilities.
• Quai Liberté
• Insert'up
• Re

Products and services

• Re Program

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Ministère de la Justice / Administration Pénitentiaire (DAP)coreOthers · 1 January 2021Formal national convention signed in 2021 with the Direction de l'Administration Pénitentiaire to expand WKF actions in open and closed settings across France. Also ATIGIP convention for hosting TIG (travaux d'intérêt général) participants.
• AXA / AXA Atout CœurcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAXA's solidarity branch provides volunteering opportunities and team building activities for wakeurs. AXA employees offer personalized RH advice (CV, interview coaching, career guidance) to wakeurs. Xavier Martin represents AXA Atout Cœur.
• VINCI ConstructioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVINCI Construction (CHANTIERS MODERNES CONSTRUCTION) participates in Wake up Football events and hires wakeurs. Frédéric Bernadet cited as VINCI partner representative. Collaboration through team building events and recruitment.
• TotalEnergiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner participating in joint events such as Wake up Football with VINCI. Also partner through TotalEnergies Foundation.
• BNP ParibascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered through the Accélérateur d'Entreprises à Impact Positif. Maha Keramane (Responsible) supported WKF in developing the first Impact Contract in France. Quai Liberté hosts BNP Paribas team seminars.
• EloquentiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Insert'up consortium (along with WKF and Kimso), delivering the 100% Inclusion program. Provides public speaking and rhetoric training to wakeurs in detention and on sites. Patrick Gobert (Paris FC) and Axel Bamba involved in events.
• KimsocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Insert'up consortium delivering the 100% Inclusion program alongside WKF and Eloquentia, targeting 1550 detainees and ex-detainees.
• WenabisupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerSolidarity engagement platform for companies, enabling employee engagement programs with WKF.
• VendredisupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerCitizen engagement platform for companies, enabling employees to engage with WKF as a solidarity cause.
• Paris FCsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFootball club partner for Wake up Football events. Patrick Gobert from Paris FC participated in medal ceremony at the event.
• NespressosupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational corporate partner logo listed on partners page.
• Auchan / MyAuchansupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHired wakeurs including Abdoulaye as employés commerciaux. Logo listed among national partners.
• AccorsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational corporate partner logo listed on partners page.
• CarrefoursupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational corporate partner logo listed on partners page.
• L'OréalsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational corporate partner logo listed on partners page.
• CorasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHired Jean-Pierre as Responsable du rayon Boissons CDI at Ermont. Logo listed among national partners.
• DartysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHired Sibar on CDD following semi-liberté with WKF. Logo listed among national partners.
• AnimalissupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHired Eric on CDI at their Courcouronnes warehouse in 2016.
• Air LiquidesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational corporate partner logo listed on partners page.
• Action LogementsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHousing partner helping wakeurs find accommodation upon release. Logo listed among housing partners.

Scale indicators24 records

Recent moves19 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Roca: US non-profit using an 'relentless outreach' engagement model to stabilise and employ young men involved in the justice system. Comparable focus on intensive, full-time accompaniment and employer partnerships, adapted for a different national context.
• Centre for Employment Opportunities (CEO): US non-profit providing immediate, transitional and supported employment to people returning home from incarceration. One of the closest international analogues to Wake up Café's employer-pipeline approach and outcomes-based contracting model.
• Singa France: French association supporting the socio-professional integration of refugees and new arrivals through community programmes, employer engagement and skills sponsorship. Comparable methodology (community-based, employer-partner-led, training-led reintegration) but different beneficiary population.

Direct peers

• Le Relais: Social-enterprise network operating textile recycling and catering activities to create employment for excluded populations including ex-offenders. Similar work-embedded reintegration model, but anchored in a single industrial activity (textiles).
• Emmaüs France: Federation of French Emmaüs structures providing housing, employment and reintegration through second-hand retail and other work activities. Comparable mission of long-term reintegration of excluded populations, but operates via a broader federation model across many activities.
• ARES Association: French non-profit operating work-based reintegration programmes for people excluded from employment, including ex-detainees. Closely comparable in target population, B2B employer engagement model and reliance on government/public funding to scale.

Broad incumbents

• France Active: National network financing and supporting social enterprises, including those working with excluded populations. Comparable reliance on FSE/BPI funding and a network-of-partners model, but acts as a financier rather than direct service provider.
• Coallia: Major French social action association operating accommodation, asylum and reintegration services across France. Comparable population (excluded individuals including ex-detainees) but with a broader portfolio of services and a much larger scale than Wake up Café.
• Croix-Rouge française: Largest French humanitarian association operating food aid, housing, training and reintegration services. Touches some of the same beneficiary populations and operates in the same public-funding ecosystem, but reintegration is one of many missions.
• Fondation Abbé Pierre: Major French foundation addressing housing insecurity and homelessness, including for ex-detainees transitioning out of prison. Addresses an adjacent pain point (housing) that Wake up Café also supports through partners such as Action Logement.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@wakeupcafe/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wake-up-cafe

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Wake Up Cafe