Station F celebrates two years with a residence for its entrepreneurs

Installed in a former industrial building in the XNUMXth arrondissement of Paris and funded by Xavier Niel, the founder of Free (Iliad group), Station F permanently hosts a thousand start-ups for periods of three months to two years maximum.

Start-ups find emulation, advice, contacts with large groups or venture capital investors, and administrative facilities (Pôle emploi, the Cnil, Urssaf are present on the site for example).

The incubator has already had some great successes, with start-ups developing or leaning on a large group.

Alsid, a cybersecurity start-up founded by two alumni of Anssi - the public defense agency for French computer networks - raised 13 million euros in April to accelerate its development.

For its second year, 410 young start-ups from Station F raised a total of € 317 million from investors, said Roxane Varza, director of the nursery.

As the start-ups are carefully selected, the bankruptcy rate during the program is relatively low (3%).

More than a quarter carry out a "pivot" during the program, that is to say profoundly modify their project to adapt to the realities of the market, according to its statistics.

"Being an entrepreneur is not easy," said Marwan Elfitesse, in charge of start-up programs at Station F. "33% do not pay themselves any salary," he said.

Hence the interest for Station F to offer its protégés - 4.500 people work on the site - a residence that can accommodate them for the duration of their stay.

"It was part of the Station F project from the start," said Roxane Varza, and the new real estate project is therefore included in the 250 million euros of investment announced for the entire Station F project.

The residence will offer single rooms with shared bathroom for 399 euros per month, with private bathroom for 549 euros per month, and studios for couples at 799 euros per month.

Located on the site of a former printing works in Ivry, the building with three towers was designed by the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.

The residence will benefit from a number of services adapted to those in their XNUMXs, including an electric scooter service, to reach Station F in ten minutes.

Station F, inaugurated in the presence of Emmanuel Macron who had just acceded to the presidency of the Republic, has become one of the international symbols of the dynamism of start-ups in France.

One third of hosted start-ups are run by foreign entrepreneurs, led by the United States, followed by China and Morocco.

Station F has other projects to serve the needs of its residents, including a hotel next to Station F. The nursery itself has no formal expansion plans yet, according to Ms. Varza.

The field of activity most represented at Station F is professional software (B to B) in service on demand (SaaS) which represents 15% of young shoots. Next come artificial intelligence (12%) and online commerce (11%).