Station F, a startup incubator located in Paris and established by the French billionaire Xavier Niel, is preparing for a new iteration of its F/ai accelerator program to enhance its role as a launchpad for promising AI startups.

Initiated in January of this year, F/ai intends to commence its second batch this September, with the goal of assisting a select group of AI-centric startups transition from initial product phases to actual revenue within a few weeks.

Covering 538,000 square feet, Station F is frequently labeled as a co-working space, yet its impact goes beyond just the physical environment, according to its director Roxanne Varza in a discussion with TechCrunch.

A case in point is Station F’s Future 40 annual selection, where the team identifies the most promising groups from nearly 1,000 companies they host each year. In 2024, TechCrunch noted that almost all of the selected cohort integrated AI into their fundamental business operations.

Currently, Station F is well-positioned to witness the growth of AI startups, capitalizing on its status as a key element of “la French Tech.” The startup incubator has also successfully used its influence to secure equity interests in its Future 40 firms. “We have been investing [in these companies] since 2022,” Varza mentioned.

Supported by its expansive size and Niel’s network, Station F has become a popular destination for officials wanting to engage with Europe’s tech ecosystem, hosting at least 11 presidential visits since President Macron’s first tour in 2017. It has also received notable figures from the AI sector, including Sam Altman, and is now utilizing these connections for F/ai.

The inaugural cohort of F/ai’s program was endorsed by an impressive lineup of major tech companies — AMD, Anthropic, AWS, Clay, Google, G42, Hugging Face, Lovable, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, OVHcloud, Snowflake, and Qualcomm — along with various VC firms.

The second cohort is expected to include even more prominent names, as reported by TechCrunch: Eleven Labs, Nebius, Rippling, OpenRouter, Hubspot, and Github.

“The objective was to unite all the key players to simplify connections for [AI] startups aiming to launch in Europe,” Varza shared.

Two teams from the accelerator’s initial batch have already achieved international acclaim: Alpic, which triumphed in the global grand finale of The Pitch, a contest hosted by Deel; and Rippletide, which won the OpenAI Codex Hackathon.

While accolades are generally beneficial, especially when they bring in funding, F/ai is concentrated on enabling its cohort to generate revenue, aiming for €1 million (approximately $1.14 million) within six months. “We’ve received a fair amount of criticism regarding the slow commercialization pace of European startups,” Varza remarked. “This aligns them with what investors are observing in the U.S.”

Investors appear to be pleased with the progress so far. The first cohort collectively secured $34 million in pre-seed funding, as per Station F. The proven track record of the teams may have also contributed: 80% of these 20 AI startups were founded by serial entrepreneurs, a third of whom possess PhDs.

The founder demographics skew in this manner primarily because F/ai chooses its cohort exclusively based on recommendations from founders, partners, and investors — a method that may contribute to the insularity and elitism sometimes attributed to France’s tech sector.

However, although teams cannot apply directly, they can connect with one of F/ai’s numerous partners, and possibly soon with alumni, Varza stated. She noted that Station F has around 30 other programs available for startups to apply for.

Accessibility appears to be a significant priority for F/ai, which has previously hosted notable figures like Turing Award winner Yann LeCun for private discussions. “Nowadays, if the founders here wish to speak to individuals at this caliber, they often believe they need to travel to the U.S. and enroll in a program there. We really want to demonstrate that it’s possible to stay here and accomplish it from this location,” Varza conveyed.

Last month, Meta and Snap introduced new smart glasses, highlighting the industry’s rapid push to integrate a camera and AI assistant onto users’ faces. As the burgeoning market becomes increasingly competitive, newcomers like Even Realities are encroaching on the established players.

Even Realities, a Shenzhen-based startup founded three years ago, has secured $150 million in a pre-Series B funding round led by Meituan and existing investor Tencent; this funding round has valued the startup at $1 billion. Founder and CEO Will Wang informed TechCrunch that while competitors are pursuing devices equipped with cameras focused on content capture and AI, his company is prioritizing display-first glasses that transmit information directly into the wearer’s view without compromising privacy.

The earlier investors of Even predominantly include renowned Chinese firms such as Sequoia China.

Founded in 2023 by former Apple engineers, Even’s CEO Wang was involved in the development of the Apple Watch and iPhone; the other co-founders come from various tech backgrounds, including two from luxury eyewear brands like Lindberg. The startup quickly launched its first product, Even G1, in 2024, which Wang describes as the lightest waveguide smart glasses available at that time.

Even exceeded its original goal of selling 10,000 units, becoming the first company in this category to surpass that milestone, according to the CEO. It raised funds more swiftly than anticipated and expanded its team from 30–40 employees in 2024 to 300–400 now.

The latest flagship product, Even G2, was released last November and completely omits the camera. Instead, the glasses feature a heads-up display embedded in the frames that provides information to the wearer, controlled by a companion ring, the Even R1, which users interact with by tapping and swiping.

Omitting the camera is a crucial aspect of Even’s privacy approach, though not the only element, Wang elaborated. He noted that smart glasses are likely the most personal computing devices individuals will ever utilize. Since they are worn on the face throughout the day, they must be comfortable for both the wearer and those nearby, so privacy is integral to both the hardware and software design. Features such as voice translation convert audio to text without saving recordings; user data is encrypted, and the infrastructure complies with stringent European privacy regulations, Wang emphasized.

Even’s most dedicated users heavily utilize Conversate, a copilot that interprets conversations in real time, clarifying unfamiliar terminology or providing follow-up information as needed, and then syncing a summary to their mobile devices.

Nevertheless, Even has concentrated its investments primarily in optics (covering display and overall optical performance), which Wang believes distinguishes smart glasses from other consumer electronic devices.

“With a phone or a watch, the display is a standard OLED or LCD screen. Smart glasses represent the first product category that depends on optical displays, which necessitate an entirely different technological framework; the microchip, optics, and waveguide must all be designed cohesively. That’s where our greatest investments have been,” Wang stated.

The company has developed a proprietary optical technology dubbed Even HAO, or Holistic Adaptive Optics, a comprehensive design that merges the microchip, waveguide, and prescription compatibility from the outset, as opposed to assembling components that were developed separately. 

More than half of Even’s customer base resides in the U.S.—its most rapidly expanding market—and the majority of its developer community is located there. The company does not yet sell in China, despite manufacturing operations across various factories there; its primary markets include the U.S., Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and Europe. “The demand is significant, so we want to ensure we’re fully prepared first,” Wang remarked.

Even prices its products near the top of the category while still achieving considerable sales volume, positioning it as a profitable entity in the market, according to Wang. “Most of our clientele consists of male professionals aged between 30 and 50. A survey we conducted revealed that about a third of our users hold executive positions in their companies,” he added. The frames are priced at $599 before tax; the prescription lenses or ring add an additional $200–$300, bringing the average order total to around $1,000.

This article has been revised with details about previous investors in the company.