Le NEZ à l'OUEST

What Le NEZ à l'OUEST does

Le Nez à l'Ouest is a French non-profit association (loi 1901) founded in May 2016 in Nantes, France, that delivers professional hospital clown interventions in healthcare and elder-care settings. Its core activity consists of regular scheduled visits — weekly or biweekly — by trained clown duos to partner facilities, including pediatric services at CHU de Nantes, the ESEAN/EEAP establishments for sick and polyhandicapped children, and multiple EHPADs (nursing homes) in the Loire-Atlantique department. Each intervention is built around improvisation tailored to the patient's health state, age, mood, and cognitive capacity, drawing on diverse artistic skills (music, singing, dance, circus, puppetry, theatre, magic). Duos rotate across the year to vary artistic propositions, and the methodology is reinforced by five annual practice analysis sessions with a healthcare professional and ongoing coaching from a dedicated artistic referent trainer (Julien Gigault, since April 2023).

The association's business model is a hybrid of corporate partnership/mécénat, public subsidies, individual donations, and member fees. It operates with approximately 8 paid professional clown artists and a small salaried administrative team (1–10 employees total). Corporate sponsorship is sold in three publicly disclosed tiers — €1,000 for a single visit, €11,000/year for monthly EHPAD visits, and €22,000/year for twice-monthly visits in paediatrics or EHPAD — with 60% corporate tax deductibility; individual donations are 66% tax-deductible under the association's "reconnu d'intérêt général" status. Public funding comes from the Ville de Nantes (annual subsidies 2017–2023), DRAC and ARS under the culture-santé convention, and Conseil Général Loire-Atlantique. Operations are concentrated in the Pays de la Loire region (primarily Loire-Atlantique, with brief historical coverage in Vendée), with growth driven by long-term establishment conventions, referral within the local healthcare community, and a diversified portfolio of approximately 20 corporate and foundation partners including Malakoff Humanis, Fondation Transmission et Fraternité, Fonds de Dotation Après-Demain, AG2R La Mondiale, BNP Paribas, and Sodebo. The association joined FFACH in 2022 and in May 2024 appointed a new Director General (Gilles Ducassé) to professionalize and scale the organization.

Name

Le NEZ à l'OUEST

Legal name

Le Nez à l'Ouest

Website

https://www.lenezalouest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Le Nez à l'Ouest is a French non-profit founded in 2016 that sends trained professional clown duos to deliver regular, personalized improvisational visits in pediatric services, EHPADs, and disability establishments across the Nantes / Loire-Atlantique region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospital Clowning Services

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialized Assisted Living for Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities (Adult) (HLADABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Dementia & Alzheimer’s Respite Care (HSABAGAF)

Keywords

• Hospital clowning services
• Healthcare arts programs
• Pediatric care visits
• Elderly care entertainment
• Nonprofit health interventions

Headquarters

HQ city

Nantes

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Corporate partnership / patronage (mécénat financier): Companies finance all or part of an existing or in-development intervention program, chosen by target audience (hospitalised children / elderly) or territory. Three tiers offered: single clown visit (€1,000), annual monthly visits in EHPAD (€11,000), annual twice-monthly visits in paediatrics or EHPAD (€22,000). Corporate donations benefit from 60% tax deduction (within 0.5% of turnover).
2. Individual donations from the public: Individual donors contribute to fund clown visits in healthcare settings. A €30 donation funds one clown visit for one person. Donations are deductible at 66% for income tax purposes (within 20% of taxable income).
3. Annual subsidy from public institutions: Regular annual subsidy from the Ville de Nantes (since 2017-2023), and project-based or operational support from DRAC and ARS under the culture and santé convention. Also receives subsidies from Conseil Général Loire-Atlantique.
4. Annual membership fees (adhésions): Members pay an annual fee to join the association. Members gain voting rights at general assemblies, can participate in decisions, receive updates on association news, promote the association, volunteer, and are invited to events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Le Nez à l'Ouest delivers regular hospital clown duo visits in pediatric, EHPAD, and disability care settings across the Nantes region, providing individualized, improvisational artistic performances to hospitalized children, elderly residents, and persons with disabilities. The association funds these interventions through corporate sponsorship packages, individual donations with tax benefits, public subsidies, and annual membership fees.

Product overview

Le Nez à l'Ouest is a non-profit association (Loi 1901) founded in 2016 that provides professional clown hospital services in healthcare facilities across the Nantes region. The organization operates as a single, unified service offering—sending teams of professionally trained clown artists to bring moments of joy, lightness, and artistic expression to hospitalized children, people with disabilities, and elderly residents in nursing homes. The core offering consists of regular scheduled visits (weekly or bi-monthly) by clown duos who improvise personalized theatrical performances adapted to each person's health condition and environment. Services span pediatric hospital departments, nursing homes (EHPAD), and specialized establishments for children with disabilities. The organization differentiates through professional artist training, partnership-based funding models, and a structured intervention methodology that includes pre-visit briefings with care teams and post-visit debriefings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pediatric Hospital Clown Interventions Weekly bedside interventions by professional clown duos in pediatric hospital services, including CHU de Nantes (Pediatric Emergency, Day Hospital, Short-Stay Hospitalisation Unit) and ESEAN (Establishment for Sick Children and Adolescents). Performances are improvisational and tailored to each child's health state, age, and mood, incorporating music, theatre, circus, song, poetry, and dance to reduce anxiety and improve quality of life.
• EHPAD (Nursing Home) Clown Visits Regular bi-monthly or monthly visits by professional clown duos to elderly residents in EHPAD facilities (including Maison de retraite St Joseph, EHPAD La Madeleine, EHPAD La Grande Providence, EHPAD Les Jardins de la Chenaie). Performances are individualized to address cognitive impairments, Alzheimer's, and dementia, providing moments of lightness and joy to counter loneliness and isolation.
• Disability Care Clown Interventions Bi-monthly interventions by clown duos to ESEAN (Establishment for Sick Children and Adolescents) and EEAP (Establishment for Children and Adolescents with Multiple Disabilities), providing theatrical performances adapted to children with polydisability and special needs. Performing duos improvise based on each child's cognitive and physical capacities.
• Corporate Partnership Programs Long-term sponsorship programs for companies to fund clown intervention programs in healthcare establishments, with three tiers: single clown duo visit (€1,000), annual monthly visits in EHPAD (€11,000), and annual twice-monthly visits in paediatrics or EHPAD (€22,000). Partners may choose target audience (hospitalised children or elderly) and territory, with conventions signed annually.

Quantifiable outcome

• Approximately 30 individuals receive personalised clown performances per duo per day of intervention.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• FFACH (Fédération Française des Associations de Clowns Hospitaliers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe association joined FFACH in 2022. FFACH is the national federation that defends and promotes the hospital clown profession and its legitimacy in care settings. Le Nez à l'Ouest adheres to and supports FFACH's projects.
• SAMOA (Société d'Accompagnement de la Mutation des Offices de Salons et d'Antibes — accélérateur culture, Nantes)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIn 2021, the association received 10 months of support from the SAMOA Culture Accelerator in Nantes, which helped structure its coordination and administration functions.
• Les Sémillantes (Cabinet de Conseil, Nantes)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConsultancy firm providing Dispositif Local d'Accompagnement (DLA) support in 2021 and 2023 to help structure the association's coordination and administration, including creation of the General Director and Artistic Coordinator positions.
• Julien Gigault (Artistic Trainer)supportingOthersReferent artistic trainer and coach for the clown team since April 2023. Provides 2 annual coaching sessions per clown artist and collective artistic training. Also a hospital clown at Le Rire Médecin since 2008. Engaged under a 3-year partnership agreement.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Le Rire Médecin: France's largest and longest-established hospital clown association (founded 1991), operating nationwide with ~100 professional clowns across 50+ paediatric services. Direct functional peer on the paediatric side, with a much larger scale and national corporate mécénat pipeline.
• Théodora Foundation: Swiss-origin international hospital clown charity active in 8 countries including France (founded as Théodora-France, where current Le Nez à l'Ouest artistic coordinator previously worked). Direct functional peer focused on children in hospitals — a major competitor for both corporate partnerships and paediatric talent.

Others

• Le Collectif des Clowns en Établissement de Santé: Professional collective representing hospital clowns across France and promoting training, ethics, and quality standards. Indirect peer — an industry coordination body whose work shapes the operating environment for Le Nez à l'Ouest and its competitors.
• Fédération Française des Associations de Clowns Hospitaliers (FFACH): National federation of which Le Nez à l'Ouest is a member since 2022. Not a competitor but the industry body that legitimises member associations, sets professional standards, and coordinates collective advocacy — a strategic ecosystem dependency.

Emerging players

• Le Cheval Bleu: French hospital clown organisation focused on paediatric and elderly care with a comparable duo-visit model. Smaller-scale but directly analogous service and fundraising structure, and a fellow FFACH affiliate.

Direct peers

• Docteurs Clowns: French hospital clown association operating in multiple regions with professional clowns serving paediatric and elderly populations. Directly comparable operating model (duos, professional artists, partnership conventions) and a head-to-head competitor for the same pool of French corporate sponsors.
• Association Les Clowns de l'Espoir: French non-profit deploying professional clown duos in hospitals and EHPADs. Direct functional peer in the same hospital-elder-clowning segment, targeting the same mécénat pool and competing for healthcare establishment conventions.
• Soleil Rouge (Les Clowns Soleil Rouge): French hospital clown non-profit running regular duo visits in healthcare and elder care facilities. Closely comparable GTM (long-term conventions, duo-based improvisation) and a fellow FFACH member competing in similar regional geographies.
• Dr. Clown (Association Française): French hospital clown association operating in hospitals and care institutions with regular duo visits. Directly comparable service model, partnership-driven revenue, and footprint of professional clowns — overlapping target partners and donor pool.
• Clowns Stéthoscopes: French hospital clown association serving paediatric wards with professional artists. Peer of comparable scale and operating model, also affiliated with FFACH, competing for the same hospital partnerships and foundation grants.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCHOivUMAQw17ZcT7ih0UbpQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/lenezalouest
• Instagraminstagram.com/lenezalouest

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Le NEZ à l'OUEST