Roxanne Varza, director of Station F, the world’s largest start-up campus, reveals on The Big Question whether Europe is a good place for growth and shares her secrets for success.
The Big Question is a brand new series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today’s agenda. In this episode, Angela Barnes met with Roxanne Varza, the director of Station F, to discuss whether it’s possible to build a successful start-up in Europe.
‘Well, if you like Start-ups, you should stay in Palo Alto’ is something Roxanne Varza has heard many times.
The Californian, previously described as the ‘queen of tech’ or the ‘young empress of start-ups’, has been running Station F in Paris since 2017. Station F is the world’s largest start-up campus, running a number of programs, a bit like a university, to help get start-ups off the ground and has seen over 6,000 businesses pass through its doors since opening.
In 2022, Station F had its first unicorn – a company valued at over 1 billion U.S. dollars – called Hugging Face. After its value growth, along with many others, we sat down with Roxanne to ask her the secret to success in the world of start-ups.
Is Europe a good place for start-ups?
When Roxanne first moved to France in 2009 to do her masters, the start-up ecosystem was very different. Those wishing to launch start-ups were leaving the country and heading to California.
“It has maybe done 360 degrees change,” Roxanne tells Angela.
“And I would say now we’re actually seeing people wanting to move here. […] France is kind of rising to the forefront of European ecosystems.”
According to some research from McKinsey, Europe generates 36% of all formally funded start-ups, but it creates only 14% of the world’s unicorns.
We asked Roxanne if she thinks US start-ups are more successful than their European counterparts. She laughed, telling Angela she “hates that.”
Roxanne goes on to explain that the big difference is the maturity of the market. While the French government is working hard to support start-ups, the ecosystem simply hasn’t had enough time to blossom to the gigantic scale of the US.
There are three key areas though which are really blossoming in France, in part, Roxanne says, due to the incredible local talent. The first is A.I. and the second is climate. Roxanne attributes this to Europeans being “more climate sensitive”.
And the third field is quantum computing – a rapidly-emerging technology which uses technologically advanced computers to solve highly complex problems. To put it simply, if AI is the app, a quantum computer is the phone running the app.
What are the big problems with the European start-up ecosystem?
Despite all the governmental support, one key issue still facing the start-up industry in France is exits. Many companies, when they get to the point where they want to list on a public stock exchange, have opted for the Nasdaq or one of the US exchanges instead of staying on home turf.
“Our exit market is just not comparable to exit markets overseas,” Roxanne explains.
She goes on to note that it’s not just in one industry, but across all start-ups and connects back to the market in France just not being as mature.
“This comes back to also just educating the market in general and educating potential acquirers, they just don’t have that culture yet. So I think this is something that the government is looking to change and actively working on.”
What is Station F?
Station F is an enormous refurbished train depot in central Paris. Inside there are 1,000 different start-ups working at any one time and each following a specific program to help them progress.
“We have 30 different programs, so that’s the equivalent of 30 different accelerators and incubators on campus and a number of other services,” Roxanne explains.
“We have 30 different public services in France. This is obviously something that you definitely need. You need to work with government services to get a business up and running.
“We have numerous events, workshops, tons of mentors, tons of different perks and tools that we offer. So really I think this is a different level of service that we’re providing.”
To ensure those working at Station F aren’t just locals or those from privileged backgrounds, Roxanne has created a number of initiatives.
There is the fighters program which helps to support people from underprivileged and underrepresented backgrounds to develop their business ideas with a view to eventually joining one of the existing programs.
They have also built a co-living facility called Flatmates which can house up to 600 entrepreneurs and is priced much more reasonably than many housing options in Paris.
“Living here in shared apartments, […] I think that also brings together a closeness outside of the office that a lot of entrepreneurs overlook,” Roxanne tells Angela.
“We talk about burnout. We talk about all kinds of things that people experience as entrepreneurs. They can actually find that support in the home by people who are living similar things or have lived them already.
“And we have a number of other facilities, including a restaurant we just opened. We also have a sports facility that’s coming. So we’re also encouraging people to have more balanced lives.”
What is the key to a successful start-up?
When asked what advice she would give to someone wanting to get into the world of start-ups Roxanne’s overwhelming sentiment was passion and adaptability.
“The idea matters not as much as who is building it, why they’re doing it, what their driver is. What sets them apart from other people doing the exact same thing?”
Watch the full episode above to learn more about the world of European start-ups.
