From support provided by Orange Fab to an international rollout, Day One is taking another step forward in its growth.
There are announcements that particularly well illustrate what Open Innovation can achieve. The success of Day One, a corporate social engagement platform, is a great example of this.
Supported by Orange Fab and a graduate of Orange’s Women Entrepreneurs program, the startup won a Group-wide request for proposals to create a new engagement platform for employees worldwide.
This marks a new milestone for this mission-driven company, which aims to make social engagement simpler, more accessible, and more tangible within organizations.
Empowering everyone to get involved
Day One was born out of a conviction. Employees want to be able to find meaning in their work, but a lack of time, resources, or simply opportunities can still hold them back from taking action.
The startup therefore offers a platform that enables companies to provide access to various forms of engagement: volunteering, pro bono work, time donations, community-focused team-building activities, and programs dedicated to employees between jobs or nearing the end of their careers.
The goal? To facilitate connections between employees who want to make a difference and nonprofit organizations that need their skills and time.
Today, Day One has supported more than 150 organizations, mobilized 30,000 volunteers, and contributed more than 42,000 days of volunteer service to nonprofit organizations.
A journey that doesn’t end there
This new Group-wide collaboration is part of a particularly exponential growth trajectory.
During its development, Day One raised 2 million euros in a funding round with equal representation from male and female investors, before continuing its expansion and creating 25 jobs in the region.
In 2026, the startup also reached a new strategic milestone with the acquisition of Kolabee, its Orléans-based competitor. This acquisition enables Day One to strengthen its expertise and offerings in the area of employee social engagement.
This growth reflects a clear ambition: to make social engagement a true driver of success for companies, their employees, and nonprofit organizations.
From Innovation to Impact
For Orange Fab, this success also serves as a concrete example of how supporting a startup can be a long-term commitment.
The challenge of Open Innovation isn’t limited to identifying new solutions. It also involves creating connections between startups and large corporations, enabling experimentation with new approaches, and—when the solution meets the needs—facilitating its scaling up.
Day One is now among the startups whose solution has already found a place within the Group. Business & Decision, an Orange subsidiary, has been using the platform for several years.
With this new Group call for proposals, a new chapter is beginning—one of international deployment and a strengthened ambition to enable even more employees to move from the desire to act to taking action.
A success story that continues to unfold
From a startup supported by Orange’s innovation programs to a solution poised to scale up within the Group, Day One’s journey fully illustrates the momentum we aim to create around the startup ecosystem.
Behind this journey is a team driven by a strong vision, embodied in particular by Elise Thibault-Gondré, co-founder of Day One.
Fundraising, job creation, acquisition, expansion into new markets, and now international deployment: these milestones all attest to how far the company has come.
At Orange, we are proud to have supported this journey and to see Day One continue to grow with such ambition.
The story is just beginning.