COPAS

What COPAS does

COPAS (legal name: COPAS - Conseil en pratiques et analyses sociales) is a French cooperative consulting firm founded on 1 January 1984 and registered in LilleMétropole under RCS 329 070 809. It is structured as a SCOP SARL (Société Coopérative et Participative) in which the five associé consultants are the majority shareholders and operate under a one-person-one-vote governance, reinvesting results preferentially into employment and the firm's mission. The firm is headquartered at 229 rue Solférino, 59000 Lille, with a parallel Île-de-France presence enabling interventions across the entire French territory.

COPAS delivers a portfolio of professional services — accompagnement (methodological support and pilot experimentation advice), évaluation (internal, external, participatory and formative evaluations for social/medico-social establishments and public policies), formation (training-action, qualification cycles, seminars on anti-discrimination, city contracts, educational policies and participatory approaches), enquête et étude (territorial diagnostics, surveys, prospective analysis, cartography), and animation et interventions publiques (conferences, study days, contributive approaches). These are supported by two proprietary-leaning digital products: an Observatoire de données territoriales that aggregates INSEE, CAF, ANCT, data.gouv, DREES and Filosofi data into indicators and maps at IRIS-through-France granularity, and a DECIDIM-based Plateforme de concertation for participatory budgeting, consultations and citizen assemblies, combining digital tooling with on-the-ground facilitation.

The business model is professional services sold predominantly on a project/contract basis to French public authorities (municipalities, départements, régions, métropoles), social and medico-social establishments, associations, foundations and large non-profits. Revenue streams are consulting fees, evaluation mandates, intra-company training (negotiated, often multi-year) and inter-company training (publicly listed unit pricing of €150-€600 per participant per day), with documented recurring engagements such as 50+ HAS external evaluations and multi-year participatory-budgeting deployments with RIVP Paris (since 2017) and Sia Habitat. Growth channels rely on direct sales via reputation, professional-network referrals, conference participation and training programs as lead-generation, and the firm has no disclosed funding, M&A or external investor activity.

Name

COPAS

Legal name

COPAS - Conseil en pratiques et analyses sociales

Website

https://copas.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

COPAS is a French cooperative (SCOP) consulting firm, founded in 1984 and based in Lille with an Île-de-France presence, that delivers evaluation, accompaniment, training, surveys and digital territorial-data/participatory-democracy services to public authorities, social/medico-social establishments, and associations across France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lille

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

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Methodological support, strategic advice, pilot experimentation accompaniment, and project elaboration for public sector clients across social, educational, and participatory domains.
2. Training Services: Training-action programs, qualification cycles, seminars, and professional development sessions for inter-company (inter) and intra-company (intra) formats in areas including educational policy, social development, participation, management, and anti-discrimination.
3. Evaluation Services: Internal, external, participatory, formative evaluations for social/medico-social establishments, territorial projects, and public policies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

COPAS is a French worker cooperative (SCOP) founded in 1984 that provides consulting services in social practices and analysis. The firm delivers accompaniment/advice, evaluation, training, field surveys and studies, and operates digital platforms for territorial data observation and citizen participation (DECIDIM). It serves public authorities, social and medico-social institutions, associations, and educational organizations.

Product overview

COPAS is a cooperative consulting firm offering professional services in social analysis and practices. The core offering consists of a digital platform combining territorial data observatories (Observatoire de données territoriales) and citizen participation tools (DECIDIM-based Plateforme de concertation) alongside consulting services including Accompaniment, Evaluation, Public Animation, Training, Surveys/Studies, and specialized SPPE accompaniment. The company operates primarily in French public policy sectors including social action, educational policies, social economy, participatory approaches, and anti-discrimination work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Social Policy Consulting (Conseil en politiques sociales) Advisory and accompaniment services for public authorities, social institutions, and associations on the design, implementation, and analysis of social policies and practices.
• Evaluation Services (Évaluation) Independent evaluation of public policies, programs, and social action initiatives for contracting authorities and institutions.
• Training Programs (Formation) Professional training programs covering social action, public policy, and field methods, delivered to professionals in the social, medico-social, and educational sectors.
• Field Surveys and Studies (Enquêtes et études) Custom field surveys, social diagnoses, and studies for public authorities and institutions to inform decision-making.
• Territorial Data Observatory Platform (Observatoire territorial) Digital platform that aggregates and visualizes territorial social data to support evidence-based local public policy decisions for local authorities and partner institutions.
• Citizen Participation Platform (DECIDIM) Deployment and configuration of the DECIDIM open-source participation platform for local authorities and institutions seeking to run participatory citizen engagement processes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50 external evaluation missions for social and medico-social establishments
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DECIDIMcoreTechnology or IntegrationCOPAS works with the DECIDIM open-source participatory democracy platform for implementing participatory budgeting, consultations, citizen assemblies, and participatory governance. They combine field presence with digital tools for transparent citizen participation processes.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• AVISE: French resource center for the social and solidarity economy, supporting associations, foundations, and social-economy enterprises with consulting, evaluation, and capacity-building resources. Adjacent ecosystem player rather than direct competitor, often sharing the same association customers as COPAS.

Broad incumbents

• Wavestone: Large French-origin consulting firm with a substantial public-sector practice serving French ministries, agencies, and local authorities. Competes with COPAS for larger public-sector mandates while offering a much broader portfolio of strategy, transformation, and regulatory advisory services.
• Kea & Partners: French strategy and transformation consultancy with a dedicated public-sector practice serving governments and public agencies. Comparable to COPAS in serving French public authorities but operating at substantially larger scale and broader scope.

Emerging players

• Décider Ensemble: French association and resource center dedicated to citizen participation, democratic deliberation, and consultation methodologies. Overlaps with COPAS's participatory-democracy and evaluation practice but operates as a think-tank/network rather than a fee-for-service consultancy.

Direct peers

• Civiteo: French civic-tech firm specializing in citizen participation, participatory budgeting, and DECIDIM-based deployments for local authorities. Direct competitor to COPAS's DECIDIM-based Plateforme de concertation offering and adjacent to its territorial-data diagnostics work.
• Cabinet Amnyos: French social and urban-policy consultancy with a comparable footprint across local authorities, associations, and social-sector actors in France. COPAS senior consultant Saïd Bechrouri worked at Amnyos from 2001 to 2005, and the two firms compete for the same municipal and association mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scop-copas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 COPAS