Inside Station F, a startup incubator catalyzing the French AI scene

In Paris' refreshing district 13, airy railway depots, converted into startup incubators, are now the epicenter of France's high-tech boom.

Walking along Station F, it's not difficult to see 366,000 square feet of space being affected by Silicon Valley. The facilities are a sub-constructed yoga studio reminiscent of a huge cafeteria and a large technical campus.

However, Station F director Roxanne Varza told Business Insider he was not trying to become an American incubator. “We're inspired by a lot of players and we respect the Y-combinator, but we're not trying to become Silicon Valley,” she said.

Currently, politics is driving international founders, including Americans, Valza told BI during a recent visit.

Trump 2.0 drives a talent transition

The Donald Trump and Brexit elections are one of the biggest catalysts to drive international founders to Station F, Valza told BI. After France, the US and the UK are the most representative nationalities on campus, houses entrepreneurs from 70 nationalities, Varza said.

During political volatility, the campus was a magnet for its founders seeking a global outlook and supply of talent. Trump 2.0 – And that aftermath, including the announcement of Stargate and Deepshek, intervened through European founders, Valza said.

The US high-tech ecosystem secured $20.9 billion in VC funding in 2024, about 17 times more than France. However, Paris is catching up to its global counterparts. In 2025, the technology research platform Dealroom overtook the London mantle and billed the city as the new technology champion in Europe. From 2017 to 2024, the total value of Paris-based startup companies increased by 5.3 times more than any other European high-tech hub.

Climate technology founders in particular have come to the station from the US as they cut the Trump administration for the US green industry, Valza said.

Material Discovery Startup Entalpic, launched in 2024, has seen a surge in US applicants who have been competing for jobs at their company since the start of the year. Duval had planned to move the startup from Station F once he reached the 20 employees, but decided to stay. “There are so many resources here: meeting rooms, onboarding, events, opportunities to meet people. That's a good thing,” he said.

Competitive fairness

Station F, a handicraft of French billionaire Xavier Neil, was launched in 2017 to promote entrepreneurship in the French technological ecosystem.

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The Station F team accepts approximately 40 startups each month. In addition to accessing the incubator's coworking space, startups will acquire resources and mentorship, including government officials such as Meta, Microsoft and major high-tech companies, with offices at station F.

Station F's Flagship Founders Program offers founder workshops and master classes. In return, the incubator acquires a 1% stake. This is a preferred number over the 6% obtained by Y Combinator. The incubator also aims to write checks ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 each year.

The result was a hub of innovators who worked together all week to devote their ideas. This is far from what every corner of LinkedIn sees as the ass of the loose working culture jokes we envision compared to Silicon Valley.

Station F has welcomed everyone from Ethiopia's Prime Minister to Cisco's CEO. On the morning of arrival, Github CEO will speak for Q&A as part of Vivatech, a French flagship technology event such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang. “The primary reason people come here is because of access to people,” Varza added.

A hotbed of AI startups

Like many of its international counterparts, Station F doubled the AI ​​boom.

Government initiatives under French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as generous funding from the country's national bank, Bpifrance, have messed up AI startups in the region.

In 2023, the French AI startup raised $1.9 billion per pitchbook data. In 2024, this figure rose by more than 50% to $2.98 billion. Notable rounds included a $600 million salary increase for Mistral in June 2024 and a $220 million seed round for H's mammoth in May 2024.

So far, French AI companies have raised $1.7 billion in VC funding, and Macron announced additional private sector funding in February that was allocated to the country's AI ecosystem.

High-profile investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst and Lightspeed Ventures flocked to prolific AI startups founded in France, including Mistral, Dust and Poolside.

The embrace face of an open source AI company, now worth $4.5 billion, was once incubated at Station F. Currently, around 40% of French AI startups are emitted from the program, Varza said.

In 2024, 34 out of 40 top startups advertised on Station F were AI companies.

“Station F is one of the largest AI communities in Europe,” says Varza. “This is also an entry point for so many Tier One investors coming to Europe. We're also seeing an increase in Series A and B rounds.”

Not only does AI startups help raise funds, but Station F is also taking part in regulatory debates over the French technology ecosystem, Varza added. “Now, the government is talking about how to financially encourage AI companies and drive creation. We are very actively discussing.”

Joint Culture

I wanted to talk to the founders of AI and Climate, but within two minutes, Varza had grabbed two of them for me to talk.

It was a reflection of how Station F works. It promotes collaborations around competition. Despite the vast space, I have seen founders of various startups gather in different pockets of the station, gathering in company events such as Q&AS and lively restaurant spaces.

“We saw incredible things happen when people work in a nearby space,” Valza said. “We see everything from the collaboration between VR and AI companies, and we're also seeing companies end and we're getting a team in the neighborhood.”

She recalled how one startup in the incubator wanted to pivot and copied ideas from the adjacent company. “It's our only imitation, but they both were pretty successful,” she added.

Station F is working on initiatives with Japan and the Gulf region, but what excites her most is the opportunity to take what's incorporated into Paris and “build those bridges” internationally across Europe.