Facebook poised to open first startup incubator in Paris' giant Station F innovation campus
Facebook has announced that it will open its first ever startup incubator based in an abandoned listed train station in Paris and working with 10 to 15 startups on new projects every six months.
Facebook poised to open first 'startup garage' in Paris' Station F innovation hub / Facebook
The social network's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg made the announcement from what is soon to be the world's largest startup hub, Station F .
The campus is a 34,000 square metre space in the French capital that will bring together thousands of entrepreneurs, accelerators, investors and experts under one roof to build "the strongest startup ecosystem you can imagine," according to its founders.
Facebook's so-called 'startup-garage,' will be based there and starting from April will house around 80 desks on a mezzanine near the entrance.
“We’re thrilled to be a founding partner and start the Facebook Startup Garage here,” Sandberg said today, telling Station F founder Xavier Niel that she believed Facebook was going to learn more "even more" from working with his company than they would learn from working with Facebook.
The program could allow Facebook to scout out potential acquisitions early, and according to Tech Crunch there will be Facebook engineers and weekly workshops so young upstarts can take lessons from the success of the social behemoth.
Other launch partners for Station F include accelerator program Vente Privée and HEC Paris. The project will also encompass a restaurant, a bar, 100 shared apartments, eight event spaces and more. You can take a virtual reality-powered tour of the campus here.