LA COMPAGNIE DES TIERS-LIEUX

What LA COMPAGNIE DES TIERS-LIEUX does

La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux is a French nonprofit association (loi 1901) headquartered in Lille that serves as the regional network coordinating more than 300 active third places (tiers-lieux) across the Hauts-de-France region, while also operating the national tiers-lieux.org social network that lists 4,295+ third places across France. Its core function is to animate, network, and accompany third-place operators and project carriers through territorial and thematic circles, peer-to-peer compagnonnage, collective training, and structured accompaniment programmes — most notably serving as the Hauts-de-France regional operator for the national 'Accompagner les tiers-lieux' programme administered by GIP France Tiers-lieux, which has supported 60+ places over two years and is scheduled to end in July 2026.

The organization's product surface is a multi-platform open-source ecosystem. The flagship tiers-lieux.org platform is powered by Communecter (GPL-licensed) and provides directory, social network, and single-sign-on capabilities. Supporting sub-products include Forum des Tiers-Lieux (Discourse), Chat (Element/Matrix), Wiki Movilab (10,000+ pages of collaborative documentation), collaborative Notes and Drive, LaSuite Meet visio, Appel à Communs (a co-financing platform), Aiguillage des Tiers-Lieux (a guidance platform built on Cerema's recommandations-collaboratives software and integrated with beta.gouv.fr), and Comm'un Lundi (a monthly event platform). Open data APIs and CSV exports are published under the Open Database License (ODbL), and the platform integrates OpenStreetMap/CARTO for mapping and PostHog for analytics on Aiguillage.

The business model is a hybrid of membership dues (paid adhesion via Tibillet Coop) and diversified public co-financing from the European FEDER fund, ANCT, Métropole Européenne de Lille, Caisse des Dépôts, ADEME, and GIP France Tiers-lieux. Core customer segments are third-place operators and practitioners (primary), emerging third-place project carriers (primary), local and regional public authorities (secondary), and inhabitants of Hauts-de-France (secondary), with a specialized public-authority segment in rural/fragile areas served through the Aiguillage platform for brownfield rehabilitation support. Go-to-market is community-led and content-driven, relying on the open-access tiers-lieux.org directory, peer referrals, in-person events (Grand Tour, En Compagnie des tiers-lieux, Journées Portes Toujours Ouvertes), newsletters, social media, podcasts, and the Movilab knowledge base.

Name

LA COMPAGNIE DES TIERS-LIEUX

Legal name

La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux

Website

https://tiers-lieux.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux is a Lille-based French nonprofit association that coordinates and accompanies a network of 300+ third places in Hauts-de-France and operates the national tiers-lieux.org social network listing 4,295+ places, delivering peer support, training, and open-source digital infrastructure to third-place operators, project carriers, and local authorities.

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues (Adhésions): La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux operates as a membership association. Individuals and organizations join by paying membership dues (adesion). The membership platform uses Tibillet Coop (a cooperative ticketing and membership software).
2. Public Subsidies and Grants: The association is co-financed by public funds: European FEDER, ANCT (Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des Territoires), Métropole Européenne de Lille, Caisse des Dépôts, and ADEME. Additional regional co-funding comes from Hauts-de-France regional programs and the programme 'Accompagner les tiers-lieux' administered by GIP France Tiers-lieux.
3. Event and Training Revenue: Revenue generated through training programs, events (e.g., Les JPTO, En Compagnie des tiers-lieux annual event), and public-facing programming offered to members and partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

LA COMPAGNIE DES TIERS-LIEUX is a French nonprofit association (loi 1901) that operates a regional network of third places (tiers-lieux) in Hauts-de-France, providing digital coordination tools, networking, training, and accompaniment services to third-place operators, project carriers, public authorities, and citizens. Its core service is animating the regional ecosystem through a social network and directory (tiers-lieux.org), collaborative workspaces, open-data tools, and public-private partnerships.

Product overview

LA COMPAGNIE DES TIERS-LIEUX operates a multi-platform ecosystem centered on tiers-lieux (third places) networking and support. The core platform tiers-lieux.org serves as a social network with location discovery (4,295 places), community tools (Forum, Chat via Element/Matrix, collaborative Notes and Drive), and an Observatoire dashboard for data visualization. Supporting platforms include Aiguillage des Tiers-Lieux for project guidance, Appel à Communs for co-funding commons, Comm'un Lundi for monthly events, and Wiki Movilab for documentation. The regional branch in Hauts-de-France manages a network of 300+ places with accompaniment, training, and publication services. The platform is built on open-source software (Communecter) with open data APIs published under ODbL license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• tiers-lieux.org social network and directory Online social network and directory of third places (tiers-lieux) that allows operators to list, discover, and connect with peers; regional focus on Hauts-de-France with 4,295 listed places.
• Association membership Paid annual membership in the nonprofit association, providing access to the network, digital tools, accompaniment, and regional animation activities.
• Training and accompaniment program Training, accompaniment, and skill-building services for third-place operators and project carriers, including support for emerging projects and brownfield (friches) rehabilitation.
• Regional coordination and animation (Comm'un Lundi, Aiguillage) Regional community animation services including the Comm'un Lundi open meetup and the Aiguillage service that routes project carriers to appropriate accompaniers within the network.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 300 active third places connected in Hauts-de-France
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, moderate and minor.

• GIP France Tiers-lieux (Groupement d'Intérêt Public)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2024GIP France Tiers-lieux is the national public interest group that administers the 'Accompagner les tiers-lieux' programme. La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux serves as the regional operator for Hauts-de-France, coordinating accompaniment missions (compagnonnage, collective training, individual support) for third places. Over 60 third places were supported in 2 years. The programme ends July 2026.
• CRESS Hauts-de-France (Chambre Régionale de l'Économie Sociale et Solidaire)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRESS Hauts-de-France collaborates with La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux on shared objectives around the social and solidarity economy. CRESS featured the company in its newsletter to discuss the end of state support for the third-place movement in 2026.
• Cerema (Centre d'études et d'expertise sur les risques, l'environnement, la mobilité et l'aménagement)coreTechnology or IntegrationCerema develops and maintains 'Recommandations-collaboratives', the open-source software powering the Aiguillage des Tiers-Lieux platform. Cerema's team manages the platform's accessibility compliance, security, and evolution. The platform is hosted by Alwaysdata SARL in France.
• Thematic and Regional Networks (Movilab Wiki, RFFLabs, TILIOS, etc.)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe tiers-lieux.org ecosystem connects with multiple thematic and regional networks tracked through the observatory: RFFLabs (French FabLabs network), TILIOS (6 places), Les Communs des Tiers-Lieux, Movilab wiki (10,000+ documentation pages), and regional networks (La Rosêe/Occitanie, Tiers-Lieux BFC/Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, SUD Tiers-Lieux/Sud-Est, RELIEF/Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, etc.).
• Movilab (Tiers-Lieux Commons Documentation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovilab is the collaborative wiki hosting documentation for the third-place movement: legal portals, foncier/immobilier (land and real estate) resources, economic models, and operational guides. Built with the working group of the Association Nationale des Tiers-Lieux. La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux refers members to Movilab resources through its accompaniment programme.
• Communecter (Open-Source Platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationCommunecter is the open-source software (GPL licensed) that powers tiers-lieux.org, the national social network and directory for third places. It provides the technical infrastructure for listing places, user accounts, content publishing, and the SSO system used across the ecosystem's tools.
• P.A.N.I.E.R.S (Pour l'Accès à une Nourriture Inclusive, Écologique, Régionale et Solidaire)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerP.A.N.I.E.R.S. is a regional programme in Hauts-de-France (run by Bio en Hauts-de-France, Réseau des AMAP, and Les Jardins de Cocagne) that distributes subsidized local organic food baskets to people in food precarity. El'Cagette and APTAHR serve as local relay points for this initiative.
• Bio en Hauts-de-FranceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional organic farming association that partners with La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux network members (e.g., APTAHR) to supply local organic produce for food access programs like Nutrichèques and P.A.N.I.E.R.S.
• Plan Alimentaire Territorial (PAT) - ThiéracheminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Thiérache Territorial Food Project partners with APTAHR on food access initiatives, including the Nutrichèques programme that enables families to purchase local produce at subsidized rates from approved local farmers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Beta.gouv.fr: French government's digital public services incubator that hosts the open-source software powering the Aiguillage des Tiers-Lieux platform. Indirectly comparable as a digital commons orchestrator and the institutional home of one of La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux's core platforms.
• CRESS Hauts-de-France: Regional chamber of the social and solidarity economy (ESS), an existing strategic partner of La Compagnie. Comparable in representing a network of social-economy actors, but with a broader ESS mandate beyond third places specifically.
• Le Mouvement Associatif: National federation of French associations representing collective interests of the loi 1901 nonprofit sector. Operates one layer above La Compagnie but addresses overlapping challenges (nonprofit sustainability, public funding, governance) relevant to its model.

Broad incumbents

• La Ruche: Network of coworking and social innovation spaces across France with comparable community-building, event programming, and member-services orientation. Larger commercial footprint but overlapping member base and mission in the social economy.
• Plateau Urbain: Largest French operator of temporary third places and vacant-property activation, primarily in Île-de-France. Operates commercially in adjacent real-estate-and-third-place space with broader geographic and operational scope than La Compagnie.

Direct peers

• La Myne: Regional third-place network in the Lyon metropolitan area serving as the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes counterpart to La Compagnie des Tiers-Lieux. Comparable community-led model, territorial circles, and open-source digital infrastructure approach.
• Association Nationale des Tiers-Lieux (ANTL): National federation representing French third places, co-developer of the Movilab wiki and broader third-place commons with La Compagnie. Operates at the same conceptual layer (network orchestrator) but at national rather than regional scope, making it the closest institutional counterpart.
• France Tiers-Lieux (GIP France Tiers-lieux): Public-interest group (Groupement d'Intérêt Public) that administers the national third-place policy and the 'Accompagner les tiers-lieux' program. Functions as both partner and counterparty to La Compagnie, with overlapping mandate on French third-place coordination and funding.
• Tiers-Lieux BFC: Regional third-place network in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté tracked through the tiers-lieux.org observatory. Operates with similar territorial and thematic circle structure, providing a direct regional peer for benchmarking.
• La Rosée: Occitanie regional third-place network offering similar peer accompaniment, training, and resource pooling services as La Compagnie. Directly comparable in mission, scale, and community-led GTM motion.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CiedesTL
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@lacompagniedestiers-lieux7973/playlists
• Facebookfacebook.com/compagnie.tiers.lieux.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/la-compagnie-des-tiers-lieux

Compliance1 record

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 LA COMPAGNIE DES TIERS-LIEUX