Who we are
At the national level, Avise has four main missions:
- Providing tools and guidance to all SSE and SI stakeholders during every phase of the project life cycle, from creating an enterprise to assessing its impact, thanks to a free online resource centre on the website Avise.org;
- Facilitating national communities of SSE and SI support organisations across French regions;
- Supporting SSE enterprises and developing national-level programs;
- Funding SSE and SI projects via the European Social Fund+ (ESF+). Avise has been an ESF intermediate body since 2004 and funds SSE, SI and their ecosystem through calls for projects. Since 2025, Avise has also the role of the French National Contact Point (NCP) for EaSI funds, managed directly by the European Commission.
In a few key figures, Avise represents:
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30
Employees
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600
Professionals who support social innovators and social enterprises
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6,000
SSE enterprises supported yearly by the “DLA” – the Local Support System for SSE
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600,000+
People given tools and resources through its portal Avise.org
At the European level, Avise participates in the Social Innovation+ (SI+) Initiative launched by the European Commission, as the National Competence Centre for Social Innovation (NCCSI) for France. It has been mandated NCCSI in 2021 by the European Commission, with the objective to achieve the ecological and solidarity-based transition by supporting SI, whether driven by public, private or civil society, while strengthening cooperation between them.
As part of its involvement in the SI+ Initiative, Avise is also a member of the European Community of Practice on Social Innovation (CoP SI) and its NCCSI Working Group, aiming to consistently develop and enhance capacities of National Competence Centres across the European Union.