In France, a 2014 legislative act gave a dedicated legal framework to a specific form of companies whose corporate object is intended to pursue social values. The context of this act is marked by a new role of civil society which is tasked by public bodies to deliver numerous social policies (social cohesion, insertion, education, environment...). It is then worth differencing non-profit practices arising from “social economy” approach, in the sense of the historical movement that took root at the beginning of the XIX˚ century, from the “social and solidarity economy” in the sense of a group of bodies which may be considered as key players in the field of social innovation cutting across the boundaries between private and public sectors.