We welcome Groupe SOS Pulse

It is our pleasure to present Euclid Network’s member Groupe SOS Pulse (France). We sat with Kevin Goldberg, General Director of Groupe SOS Pulse, to speak about his organisation, the social entrepreneurship landscape in France and their reasons for joining Euclid Network.

Please Kevin, tell us more about Groupe SOS Pulse.

Groupe SOS Pulse is a branch of Groupe SOS, a French holding company for social enterprises. This branch was established in 2017 to respond to the demand of social entrepreneurs to grow and scale their impact internationally. The activities of Groupe SOS Pulse can be divided into 5 actions:

• Incub: incubate new projects
• Scale: accelerate and grow existing social enterprises
• Lab: assist private enterprises to grow their social impact
• Space: provide social entrepreneurs with a workspace
• Fund: support social entrepreneurs to access funding

We are active around the world, providing coworking spaces in i.e. Cape Town, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Tunis and Casablanca.

How would you describe the social enterprise sector in France?

In France there has definitely been a boom in the social enterprise sector in the past 10 years. Both from the public and private side there is a large interest in social entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, you often hear the same stories and meet the same people at conferences. This tells me we are still operating in a bubble. While the ecosystem for social enterprises is growing – in France there are many support organisations, dedicated funds and a special legal framework- it sometimes seems like there are not enough actual entrepreneurs. Plus, entrepreneurs often don’t realise that they are social entrepreneurs.

I think we have come a long way in the past 10 years. We are now at a point that all the conditions are in place to help social entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Just the question remains: are there enough actually enough social entrepreneurs?

Why did you join Euclid Network?

Well firstly because Groupe SOS is a major actor in Europe when it comes to social entrepreneurship, but we haven’t been very involved at the European level. By joining Euclid Network we aim to become more active in Europe and find new partners to build projects that actually contribute to the social enterprise sector.

Secondly, we try to improve our methodology every day and want to learn more from European counterparts. We are looking for cross border learning and expansion of our European network.

Thirdly, we want to have our say at the European level. Social entrepreneurship is a good model that combines the benefits of the private and public sector. We should promote this model, also in Europe.

What are you excited about this year?

We are working with Christophe Itier – French high commissioner for the social and solidarity economy and social innovation – to host an international event on how governments can better support social enterprises in their country. As Groupe SOS Pulse is deeply committed to developing social entrepreneurship in the world, this event will be a major milestone for us.

“By joining Euclid Network we aim to become more active in Europe and find new partners to build projects that actually contribute to the social enterprise sector.”