From derelict train terminal to global tech hub, Station F has become the world’s largest startup campus—representing a new chapter for business incubation. It recently secured funding for a record-breaking 35 of its “Future 40” high-growth startups.
Station F has been in the spotlight since its inception in 2017. Its founder, Xavier Niel, is considered a spiritual icon for French entrepreneurs. He disrupted the French telecommunications market with Free Telecom, which launched his entrepreneurial career. Subsequently, he founded École 42, an open-source programming school offering free education to young people regardless of their academic background. Through his Kima Ventures, he has also invested in Silicon Valley unicorns such as Airbnb, Uber, Snap, and Square. The visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Station F’s opening ceremony underscored the government’s commitment to innovation and entrepreneurship, further amplifying Station F’s visibility.
Regarding the name Station F, rather than Station France, Niel explained that ‘F’ represents France, but also Femmes (women), Founders, and Freyssinet—the original name of the railway station (Halle Freyssinet)—as a tribute to the great architect and entrepreneur. With such rich symbolism, the completion of Station F signifies more than just a spatial reconstruction; it embodies a mission to foster entrepreneurship, innovation, and multiculturalism.
Taking root, growing globally
After eight long years, Station F has grown to become a hub for European startups, investors, and tech giants. Thousands of startups have taken root and flourished, supported by tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon (AWS), and Huawei, as well as leading institutions like HEC Paris and IP Paris. Traditional industry giants like L’Oréal, TotalEnergies, LVMH, and Visa also provide support, seeking to expand their impact and explore avenues for growth.
Startup projects at Station F focus on key areas such as artificial Intelligence, climate technology, and healthcare. Notable companies incubated there include Hugging Face, an AI star that has expanded into the US market; Alan, a French health insurance technology company; and Greenly, a green tech firm that recently secured €49 million in seed funding.
As of 2024, startups at Station F have collectively raised over €1 billion for the third consecutive year, representing approximately 14% of all startup funding in France annually. This figure surpasses the total funding for the entire Italian tech industry in 2023 and marks a fourfold increase from the €250 million raised when Station F was established in 2017.
Notably, Station F annually selects 40 of its most promising startups for its “Future 40” list, considered a leading indicator of high-growth potential within the incubator. In 2024, a record-breaking 35 of the “Future 40” companies secured funding, highlighting the maturity and dynamism of the startup ecosystem.
Beyond its startup support system, Station F cultivates a unique entrepreneurial atmosphere through its “soft culture”. The campus features game rooms, Lego walls, container meeting rooms, and even a bicycle repair shop and shared kitchen. The Italian restaurant La Felicità, operated by the Big Mamma Group, serves as an unexpected gateway to Station F: diners arriving for pasta often stumble upon one of the world’s largest startup campuses.
Station F also fully delivers on its founding mission, hosting technology professionals from around the world during the “Working Day” event at the French Artificial Intelligence Action Summit, and frequently holding forums focused on women’s entrepreneurship and impact.
When incubated startups bloom
Here are four startups that Station F has supported.
Hugging Face helps you embrace AI
Hugging Face is a well-known name in the artificial Intelligence field. Hugging Face, an open-source model library company, is best known for its Transformers library, an open-source framework widely used in machine translation, text generation, speech recognition, and other areas. Hugging Face, a startup team of four, joined Station F as early as its opening in 2017, receiving incubation support from Microsoft, Ubisoft, and others. In 2022, Hugging Face announced a $100 million Series C funding round led by Lux Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Coatue, Betaworks, and NBA star Kevin Durant, among others. This valued the company at $2 billion, making it a prominent success story and Station F’s first unicorn.
Alan disrupts the insurance industry with purpose
Alan exemplifies how modern technological innovation can merge with the established traditions of the French insurance sector. Through its digital platform, Alan offers users transparent and simplified health insurance management, positioning itself as the ‘Revolut’ of the insurance industry. Alan’s founder, Jean-Charles Samuelian, an MIT Computer Science graduate, driven by dissatisfaction with the inefficient and bureaucratic services of traditional French insurance companies, created a more transparent and user-friendly platform. Alan has attracted significant investor interest since its inception, raising over €300 million in funding. Investors include Index Ventures, Temasek, Coatue, Lakestar, and others.
Greenly analyzes carbon emission data
Climate tech has consistently been a key focus of Station F’s incubation program. With increasingly stringent regulations on carbon emissions, how can SMEs manage their carbon emission costs? Greenly’s solution is to use artificial intelligence to help them calculate and reduce their carbon footprint. Leveraging its data analytics and artificial intelligence, Greenly collects and analyzes carbon emission data from business operations and their supply chains, providing customers with comprehensive carbon impact assessment reports. In 2023, the company’s annual recurring revenue exceeded $10 million. In 2024, Greenly secured $52 million in Series B funding, with investors including Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, Benhamou Global Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, HP, HSBC, and others.
Ping Pang Paris turns table tennis club into a tech and fashion brand
It’s not surprising that a sports club like Ping Pang Paris could emerge from Paris. Featuring design-centric sports facilities, advanced interactive and training systems, Ping Pang Paris allows patrons to enjoy coffee and read its own fashion magazine after a match, with sustainably-themed merchandise also available. While no funding information has been disclosed, Ping Pang Paris has rapidly gained popularity due to its innovative model and aesthetic, becoming a trendy destination in the heart of Paris.
Aalia Tech and Tamisium use AI for medical equality
There are many creative ideas that apply artificial intelligence technology to the medical field, and Aalia Tech is one of them. Aalia Tech aims to facilitate communication between doctors and patients who speak different languages through real-time translation applications. With the increase in global population mobility, this use case has become more and more common. Considering people’s emphasis on privacy protection, the platform emphasizes that no third party is required during use and repeatedly promises to protect medical confidentiality.
Compared with Aalia Tech, Tamisium’s work may be beyond general imagination. Founder Emmanuelle Schott-Fona previously worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. She was keenly aware that the effectiveness and safety of drug treatments may vary depending on age, race, gender, etc. If the trial is not representative, the results are biased and less applicable. Take the United States as an example. In 2020, 75% of the participants in clinical trials of new drugs in the United States were white, while “ethnic minorities” accounted for nearly 40% of the U.S. population. Therefore, she tried to integrate artificial intelligence into clinical trials, optimize the recruitment process of clinical trials, and ensure representation to improve the scientific nature of clinical trials and the universal applicability of results.
From an abandoned train station to a mecca for entrepreneurship, Station F not only reshaped the urban space, but also promoted the prosperity of the French innovation ecosystem. Although many people often say that “China and the United States are leading, and Europe is watching”, at Station F, we can still see the sparks of technology and civilization shining.