Station FA Paris-based startup hub founded by French billionaire Xavier Neill is gearing up for a new edition. F/ai Accelerator Program In an effort to strengthen its position as a stepping stone for promising AI startups.

Launched. In January this yearF/ai plans to launch its second batch this September, with the goal of helping a handful of AI-focused startups move from initial product to real revenue in a matter of weeks.

Spanning 538,000 square feet, Station F is often described as a co-working space, but its footprint extends beyond physical space, its director Roxanne Varza told TechCrunch.

Here is an example. Future of Station F 40 The annual selection, in which the team names the most promising teams among the nearly 1,000 companies it welcomes each year. In 2024, TechCrunch observed that almost all annual groups have incorporated AI into their core business.

Station F has a front-row seat to the rise of AI startups today, capitalizing on its position as a cornerstone of “la French Tech.” StartupHub has successfully leveraged its position to acquire equity stakes in its Future 40 companies. “We are investing. [in these companies] From 2022,” Warza said.

Thanks to both its size and Nile connections, Station F has become a frequent stop for officials looking to connect with Europe’s tech scene, with at least 11 presidential visits since President Macron’s 2017 inaugural visit.

F/ai was the first batch of the program. Supported by a long list of major tech companies. — AMD, Anthropic, AWS, Clay, Google, G42, Hugging Face, Lovable, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, OVHcloud, Snowflake, and Qualcomm — not to mention numerous VC funds.

The second group will add a few more big names, TechCrunch has learned: Eleven Labs, Nebius, Rippling, OpenRouter, HubSpot, and GitHub.

“The goal was to bring all the big players together and make it very easy for him. [AI] Startups want to launch in Europe to connect with them,” Varza said.

Two teams from the accelerator’s first batch have already gained international recognition: Alpac, Jo Won the World Grand Final. Of PitchA contest organized by Deel; and Rippletide, which won gave Open AI Codex Hackathon.

While awards rarely hurt, especially when they bring in funding, F/ai is focused on helping its partner generate revenue, targeting €1 million (about $1.14 million) within six months. “We’ve heard a lot of criticism about the slow pace of commercialization of European startups,” Varza said. “It brings them in line with what investors are seeing in the US.”

Investors seem to like what they’ve seen so far. The first cohort collectively raised $34 million in pre-seed funding, according to Station F. The teams’ track records may also have helped: 80% of these 20 AI startups were founded by repeat entrepreneurs, a third of whom hold Ph.D.

The founder profile is largely skewed because F/ai selects its cohort exclusively through recommendations from founders, partners and investors — a practice France’s tech scene is sometimes accused of.

But while teams can’t apply directly, they can contact one of F/ai’s many partners, and perhaps soon alumni, Varza said. He added that Station F had something. 30 other programs Startups can apply.

Accessibility seems to be a key focus for F/ai, which in the past has hosted the likes of Touring Award winner Yann Leckon for private chats. “Today, if founders here want to talk to people at that level, they all think they need to go to America and join a program there. We actually want to show that you can live here and do it from here,” Varza said.