What Fréquence Commune does

Fréquence Commune is a French Société Coopérative d'Intérêt Collectif (SCIC), founded in 2020 and previously operating as Action Commune, that accompanies municipalities and citizen/participatory lists in democratic transformation. The cooperative provides consulting, training, facilitation, and standardized methodologies covering citizen assemblies with real decision-making power, participatory budgeting, shared municipal governance, and policy co-design with residents. Its product portfolio combines bespoke municipal accompaniment engagements, a library of modular add-on services (training in local democracy, citizen mobilization, mandate installation, citizen assemblies, shared budgets, co-designed public policy), and content assets including a 290-page analytical report (2020-2026), a podcast series, video library, a 55-minute documentary, and an interactive cartography tool tracking over 700 citizen and participatory lists across France.

The cooperative employs roughly 10-15 core team members plus additional contributors and operates a sales-led, direct-engagement go-to-market targeting majority and minority elected officials, municipal agents, citizen collectives preparing for elections, and democracy researchers. Revenue is generated through professional services fees for multi-year accompaniment contracts, fee-based training seminars (e.g., 1,200€ HT per person for the inter-communal seminar), and recurring membership contributions from eight categories of sociétaires (employees, founders, accompaniers, municipalities, collectives, volunteers, researchers, partners); 100% of profits are reinvested in the cooperative's mission rather than distributed.

Between 2020 and 2026, Fréquence Commune delivered over 90 municipal accompaniments and supported the broader movement that grew citizen and participatory list wins from 66 communes in 2020 to 159 in 2026 — covering 7.75 million inhabitants in 2026 and 19,000+ candidates. Named municipal clients include Poitiers, Auray, Strasbourg, Montpellier (via the 'Nous sommes' documentary list), La Crèche, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Plouguerneau, Le Plateau-des-Petites-Roches, and Penne. Financial support is provided by Fondation Danielle Mitterrand, Fondation Un Monde Par Tous, and Open Society Foundations, and the cooperative maintains an ecosystem partnership network that includes BRUDED, Colibris, ANVITA, and others.

Name

Fréquence Commune

Legal name

Fréquence Commune

Website

https://frequencecommune.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Fréquence Commune is a French SCIC cooperative that accompanies municipalities and citizen/participatory lists in democratic transformation through consulting, training, facilitation, and editorial content for local governance across France.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Participatory Democracy Consulting & Training

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Civic, Citizenship & Community Engagement Education (EDAAAEAI)

Keywords

• Participatory democracy consulting
• Municipal accompaniment services
• Citizen assembly facilitation
• Local governance training
• Cooperative advisory services

Headquarters

HQ city

Grenoble

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Municipal accompaniment services: Professional services accompanying elected officials and municipalities in democratic transformation, including consulting, training, and ongoing support throughout mandates
2. Training seminars: Fee-based training seminars for elected officials, such as the inter-communal seminar for local democracy delegates at 1200€ HT per person
3. Membership contributions: As a SCIC cooperative, revenue includes sociétaire (member) contributions from 8 categories: employees, founders, accompaniers, municipalities, collectives, volunteers, researchers, and partners. 100% of profits remain in the cooperative for mission fulfillment

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fréquence Commune is a cooperative that accompanies French municipalities, elected officials, and citizen collectives in the democratic transformation of local governance. Its core services include training programs on local democracy, accompaniment in setting up citizen assemblies with decision-making power, participatory budgeting implementation, internal governance design, and policy co-construction with residents. It also produces analytical research, podcasts, videos, and an interactive cartography of citizen lists across France.

Product overview

Fréquence Commune is a Société Coopérative d'Intérêt Collectif (SCIC) offering a portfolio of services centered on local democratic transformation. Its core offering comprises Accompaniment Services for municipalities and citizen lists (including formations, citizen assembly setup, shared municipal budgets, and policy co-design with residents), a Podcast Series (2026), a Video Series (2026), a 290-page Research Report on participatory communes 2020–2026, an interactive Cartography tool for tracking citizen lists, and a Documentary film. These products collectively serve elected officials, citizen collectives, and residents seeking to implement participatory democracy at the local level, from pre-election list formation through post-election mandate implementation and minority/opposition strategies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Accompagnements des municipalités Core consulting and accompaniment service for elected officials and municipal staff seeking to transform local democracy, including formations for agents, elected officials, and work with residents on citizen assemblies, shared budgets, and participatory policy design.
• Prendre le pouvoir pour le partager – Rapport d'analyse 2020-2026 290-page research report documenting six years of experiences and learnings from participatory communes, covering internal democracy, citizen involvement, administration collaboration, resource management, feminist approaches, and intercommunal challenges.
• Cartographie des listes citoyennes et participatives Interactive mapping tool tracking citizen and participatory lists across France, with over 300 self-registered lists and more than 600 estimated to exist, including a democratic compass tool with 6 criteria to evaluate whether a list represents genuine democratic practice.
• Documentaire – J'irai voter pour nous 55-minute documentary film about the 2020 municipal campaign of the participatory list 'Nous sommes' in Montpellier, following a team of politically novice citizens preparing to win the mayoral race through inclusive, radical, and creative democratic methods.
• Municipales 2026 – Accompagnement des listes participatives Support program for citizen and participatory lists preparing for the 2026 municipal elections, including facilitation, campaign strategy, collective organization, and inter-list coordination through the 'Horde' of facilitators.
• Accompagnement pour les collectifs citoyens et les élu·es d'opposition Two-day inter-collective training and support program for citizen collectives that did not win the 2026 elections and for elected officials in opposition, covering minority mandate exercise, influence strategies, and collective organization outside institutions.
• Séminaire inter-communes pour les élu·es délégué·es à la démocratie locale First inter-communal seminar for elected officials delegated to local democracy, covering resident participation design, municipal participation plans, internal governance, and transversal coordination. Priced at 1200€ HT per person.

Quantifiable outcome

• 159 communes won by participatory lists in 2026 (2x the 66 from 2020)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• ANVITAminorOthersPartner organization shown in logo section, nature of partnership not specified
• BRUDEDminorOthersNetwork of territories committed to energy transition, shown as partner organization
• Colibris - Le MouvementminorOthersEnvironmental movement organization, shown as partner
• Collectif Transition CitoyenneminorOthersCitizen transition collective, shown as partner organization
• Coopérative OasisminorOthersCooperative focused on social transformation, shown as partner
• Démocratiser la PolitiqueminorOthersOrganization working to democratize politics, shown as partner
• Hameaux LégersminorOthersOrganization focused on lightweight hamlet development, shown as partner
• Terres de LuttesminorOthersOrganization supporting territorial struggles, shown as partner
• IFOPminorOthersPolling institute commissioned for survey on French citizen preferences regarding municipal governance and citizen lists
• Citecoop - Volumes coworking spaceminorOthersCooperative coworking space hosting the November 2026 inter-communal seminar

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Fonda: French civic-engagement think tank producing research, advocacy and training for civic associations and local actors; overlaps with Fréquence Commune's research-report and capacity-building activities for civic collectives.
• Democracy International: European nonprofit advocating for and supporting democratic innovations including citizen participation at the local level; comparable advocacy-plus-capacity-building model and European municipalist orientation.
• ANVITA: French association gathering local elected officials focused on digital and civic innovation; partner of Fréquence Commune with overlapping member base among French elected officials and overlapping citizen-participation mission.

Others

• Decidim: Free/open-source digital civic participation platform originating from Barcelona en Comú; not a direct competitor but a commonly used infrastructure layer for participatory processes of the type Fréquence Commune designs and facilitates.

Direct peers

• People Powered: International hub for participatory democracy programs supporting governments and civic organizations to launch and strengthen participatory programs; comparable mission, training/capacity-building model, and elected-official engagement focus.
• Réseau Actions Communes: Former sister organization of Fréquence Commune (created 2022 from earlier Action Commune initiative) focused on mobilizing citizen and participatory lists; separated in 2025 but historically the closest peer in mobilizing electoral civic engagement in France.
• MASS LBP: Canadian civic engagement firm specializing in citizens' assemblies, civic lotteries and deliberation design for governments; comparable professional-services methodology and government clientele to Fréquence Commune's accompaniment offerings.
• Involve: UK charity and think tank on deliberative democracy that designs and delivers citizens' assemblies, training, and research — directly overlapping with Fréquence Commune's citizen assembly, training and research-report offerings.
• Décider Ensemble: French national association promoting participatory democracy and supporting elected officials with citizen participation tools; directly comparable to Fréquence Commune's municipal accompaniment, training, and national encounter programming in the same French market.

Broad incumbents

• Open Government Partnership: Multinational initiative of 75+ governments advancing open government, civic participation and accountability reforms; broader in scope than Fréquence Commune but overlapping mandate in supporting local democratic transformation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Fr%C3%A9quenceCommune
• Instagraminstagram.com/mob.ledemocratie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/frequencecommune

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Fréquence Commune