Ten years of existence. In the new urban wave of the social and solidarity economy in Bordeaux, there are few structures that can already celebrate their decade. La Ruche, an incubator dedicated to social innovation projects from Paris, is one of the initiators who believed and launched the movement in the urban renewal of the 2010s in Bordeaux. A Gironde arrival in 2014, the same year as the opening of the Darwin ecosystem business camp on the right bank.
How the social and solidarity economy asserted itself in Bordeaux
Since then, the sector has been booming with the emergence of numerous support sites. “ The soil is quite favorable in Bordeaux and New Aquitaine. The ecosystem is very dense, with great collaboration between all structures, not just those from the ESS either. », observes Nathalie Le Roux, director of La Ruche Bordeaux. Beyond welcoming teams through the rental of offices in the city center, the structure has supported more than 550 impact projects in six years since the creation of its emergence program. Three years after following the course, 75% of businesses are still in business. All for 160 jobs created.
Towards a general public third place
« When La Ruche arrived in Bordeaux, it caused a stir in the local ecosystem because it came from Parisrecalls Elise Depecker, director of the social innovation incubator Atis. Today, the multitude of offers shows the interest in supporting social innovation. La Ruche stood out on the issue of inclusiveness, initially by addressing women and then people far from entrepreneurship. »
A small stone in the modest building of the ESS which, in Bordeaux Métropole as in France, accounts for 10 to 12% of the overall economy in value. Hence the importance for project leaders to be specifically supported. If the presence of complementary players makes it possible to structure ourselves at each stage, La Ruche wants to go further on two links. It will launch a program of events dedicated to people far from employment but with ideas to present them with the existing support systems in the ESS. This “Refinery of Possibilities” as it is called will take place in the Cité Bleue, a new alternative location emerging north of the city center. Another resolution, to open up more to the general public with the opening of a third place for 2025 in the Saint-Michel district.
La Foncière solidaire comes out of the woods in Bordeaux Métropole to house ESS stakeholders
Too little funding
Despite the dynamism of the sector, many point to a glass ceiling to go even further because of the difficulties of access to financing. There is complexity for a structure like ours to raise funds each year. I mobilize a lot of partners each time and it’s tiring because we should spend a lot more time working on the impact of our projects », Addresses Nathalie Le Roux. Such is the grievance for secure, long-term funding expressed at the national ESS forum in Niort at the end of January.
“Funding is the first need for supported projects. Either they crack the code of their economic model quickly, or they must move towards micro-credit”, shows the manager. Traditional investment players, banks or private funds, are often reluctant to support cooperative models when it comes to projects with significant needs. This is evidenced by the recent liquidation of Railcoop which, among other shortcomings, never managed to convince a major player to support it.
Railcoop, anatomy of a fall announced for the Bordeaux-Lyon train project
