Paris, the City of Light, is part of the mutations of the global economy and ecosystems. As proof, the birth of Xavier Niel’s Ecole 42 in the heart of the 17th arrondissement, which has just been ranked the 1st programming school in the world in a recent ranking. April 2017 will be the month when Station F, the largest startup incubator in the world, will open its doors. A unique place will bring together the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem on a surface of 34,000 m², open permanently because creativity does not rest. Added to this is an infrastructure designed to accommodate the greatest number, but above all tailor-made support for Startups by companies, VCs and major schools. Among these large companies, Facebook has just announced the implementation of its startup support program within Station F.
For the first time in its history and in the world, Facebook is putting a real physical incubator in one of the most prestigious cities in the world for its tourism.
Will digital tourism be born? It is already the case with the many digital events across the world.
Facebook, whose “success story” cannot be denied, relies on a constantly evolving economic model. The creativity of the social network in terms of innovation and acquisition of other networks makes it the leading and, above all, the most essential player in the world. The personalization of its content is the best there is in terms of UX. This is made possible thanks to data, the new black gold of the 21st century. Data provided by its 1.79 billion users in the world, including 24 million in France, not counting Instagram users, now owned by the firm with the big F. Useful data to share better and manage Smart Cities like Toulouse as efficiently as possible, but above all to make exchanges between humans more fluid.
Mark Zuckerberg‘s firm will therefore support 10 to 15 startups working on data over 6-month cycles. For this, the firm’s best experts are mobilized to ensure that these young shoots become solid trees to constitute the most beautiful digital ecosystem.
The support does not stop there because the entire Station F will benefit not only from the know-how of experts in terms of Marketing, Growth Hacking and UX/UI but also from its global reach. Beyond startups, it is an entire city, a country, and even an economy that will benefit from this momentum.
Ventes Privées, another success story, this time French, is also setting up its incubator within Station F. The world leader in online clearance with Jacques-Antoine Granjon at its head, is experiencing exponential success, so innovation does not stop at one sector and Fashion tech is a good example. Here, the incubator aims to support startups working on the best possible customer experience thanks to IoT, but also on another way of consuming and producing clothing through smart textile materials. For this, the group will support 20 startups over a 9-month cycle.
Finally, Startups on site will be able to directly meet VCs (Venture Capital) including Ventech in order to maximize the execution of their business.
Beyond startups, it is an entire city, a country, and even an economy that will benefit from this momentum.
This incubator is just the beginning!
The question is: Who is next?
See you on April 1st for the inauguration with 24H00i and Startup. Live: https://stationf.co/apply/
