Facebook’s first startup incubator will be in Paris

Station F is set to become the world’s biggest startup space. The campus, opening in April, will also play host to Facebook’s first startup incubator.

Based in a former train station built in 1929, Station F will host 3,000 desks for 1,000 startups across 34,000m2 of space. Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has announced that the social network will have 80 desks near the building’s entrance.

On a six-monthly cycle Facebook will work with ten to 15 startups in the location to help them develop their businesses. “We’re thrilled to be a founding partner and start the Facebook Startup Garage here,” Sandberg said at the event in Paris. It’s the first time Mark Zuckerberg’s company has invested in a physical space for startups.

Facebook’s Garage will help data-driven startups in France and has already picked some of its first intake. These include Chekk, which allows personal management of information online; location service, Mapstr; The Fabulous, a science-based health app; and Karos, which helps with carpooling.

“These startups and the rest of the entire Station F campus will be able to benefit from Facebook’s experts and experience in a variety of fields, including marketing, technical development, UX/UI, and more,” Station F’s creator Xavier Niel said in a post on Medium.

Niel, a French billionaire who created telco Free ISP and other mobile businesses, has also created a merit-based coding school, École 42. His Station F campus when complete will include thousands of desks as well as private officers, meeting rooms and spaces for events.

At Station F there will also be a 360-person auditorium, post office, pop-up shop, café and a 4-kitchen restaurant and bar that will be open to the public. Venture capital funds including Daphni, Ventech and Kima Ventures (from Niel) have committed offices to the the site, which is still being renovated.

In 2018 a 600-person housing extension that hosts co-living accommodation will open.