STATION F 公佈 2026 Future 40，園區生態圈初創融資額創 €2B 紀錄

STATION F has unveiled its 2026 Future 40, highlighting promising startups emerging from its Paris campus, as companies across its wider ecosystem raised a record €2 billion this year.

Six companies in the new cohort have participated in Y Combinator and subsequently returned to France, reflecting a growing willingness among founders to build global businesses in Europe after spending time in Silicon Valley.

Founded by Xavier Niel in 2017, the 50,000-square-metre campus supports more than 1,000 startups annually through 40 programmes. Around 9,000 startups have passed through STATION F since its launch, and founders from 60 nationalities are represented on campus.

I spoke to Camille Aubery, an investor at STATION F, to learn more.

The eighth edition of Future 40 spans AI, deeptech, developer infrastructure, robotics and climate tech, with sovereign AI and physical AI emerging as notable themes. Selected from more than 1,000 startups, the 40 companies represent approximately four per cent of the campus's 2026 startup community. The cohort has raised €110 million to date, making it one of the better-funded editions.

Notable funding includes Arlequin AI (€28 million), CURA ($10 million), Cleavr (€8 million) and Lemrock (€7 million). Of the selected companies, 31 are at pre-seed or seed stage, and two are at Series A.

Across all eight editions, Future 40 companies have collectively raised €1.2 billion. Separately, companies across the wider STATION F ecosystem raised a record €2 billion in 2026, surpassing the more than €1.5 billion raised in 2025. Major rounds from alumni Multiverse Computing (€500 million) and Alan (€480 million) helped drive this year's total.

Why founders are choosing to bootstrap

Five companies in this year's Future 40 are bootstrapped. Aubery attributes this partly to a changing funding environment: in 2021 and 2022, startups could sometimes raise money with little more than an ambitious idea and a short pitch deck.

“That's no longer the case, but there's also a growing conviction among some founders that they want to retain control of their businesses.”

AI tools are also allowing startups to accomplish more with smaller teams. Oguste, for example, reached €400,000 in annual recurring revenue in less than a year while remaining bootstrapped. Revox used an AI agent to book 250 calls with prospective customers in a single month, work that previously might have required several sales representatives.

“So founders can operate much more efficiently and delay fundraising until later, or potentially avoid it altogether.”

Two of the five bootstrapped companies are now raising funding, while others have chosen to remain independent.

Physical AI, specialised founders and industry partnerships

STATION F is seeing growing interest in robotics and hardware that combine physical products with AI.

This year's Future 40 includes Bleu Robotics, which develops AI models for industrial humanoid robots; Allude, which builds infrastructure for AI agents and robots in factories; and AICE, which develops low-cost subsea drone swarms for defence and critical infrastructure.

“We're also seeing more technically specialised founders and researchers on campus,” Aubery said.

“In this year's Future 40, 47 per cent of the teams have at least one PhD, while 75 per cent are repeat founders. That reflects how the profiles of the companies we're supporting are changing.”

STATION F also brings industry partners onto campus to support startups in specialised sectors.

“We're constantly looking at the needs of different industries and identifying partners that can help us attract startups working on those challenges,” Aubery explained.

In healthtech, its partnership with Sanofi connects startups working in AI-driven drug discovery, healthcare data and biological modelling with pharmaceutical R&D expertise and opportunities for proof-of-concept collaborations. The Care Forward programme, launched with Doctolib, AP-HP and Roche, offers access to clinical environments, regulatory expertise and healthcare professionals, helping founders move technologies towards real-world use.

Why founders are returning from Silicon Valley

France has developed a strong early-stage funding ecosystem, but access to later-stage capital remains a challenge, as it does across much of Europe.

“We still lack liquidity and sufficient late-stage capital,” Aubery said.

Yet she is seeing signs of a shift in where founders choose to build. Six companies in this year's Future 40 have participated in Y Combinator and subsequently returned to France.

“Previously, founders might have gone to San Francisco and stayed there. Now they're recognising that they can benefit from the US ecosystem, build networks and access opportunities there, but still return to France to develop their businesses.

“t's cheaper to build here, and you can create a global company without necessarily being based in the US. That's a really encouraging development.”

Choosing the Future 40: ambition matters more than revenue alone

Selecting the Future 40 is, according to Aubery, “the one thing we don't want AI to do.”

“The criteria aren't entirely objective. Of course, we consider revenue, customers, fundraising, traction and milestones, but those numbers don't tell the whole story.

What we're really trying to assess is a startup's potential impact on its industry, the importance of its innovation, and whether the founders are the right people to build that business.”

STATION F looks for founders with global ambitions, rather than companies focused solely on domestic markets.

“We review every application twice because some founders are better at presenting their businesses than others. We want to make sure we're evaluating the underlying potential rather than simply how well someone has written an application.”

STATION F also wants to recognise startups that are genuinely involved in the campus community. Startups typically stay on campus for 18 months to two years, although some remain longer and others move into their own offices. Fourteen companies in this year's selection come from F/AI, with others supported by programmes associated with CentraleSupélec, Microsoft, TotalEnergies, Entrepreneur First and HEC.

STATION F has invested in selected Future 40 companies since 2022, including Pimento, subsequently acquired by Mistral, and Flowie, acquired by Sovos.

Past cohorts have also included Fintecture, Tomorro, Spore.bio, WhiteLab Genomics and Syntetica.

The challenge of turning corporate pilots into customers

Corporate partnerships are central to STATION F's ecosystem, but converting initial pilots into lasting commercial relationships remains difficult.

LVMH provides opportunities for startups to test solutions across its maisons, while TotalEnergies uses its campus relationship as part of an acquisition strategy.

“TotalEnergies acquires up to four companies a year from the campus, so its involvement is also part of an M&A strategy,” said Aubery.

“Those relationships can begin with a pilot and eventually lead to an acquisition.”

Why Paris attracts founders — and where it falls short

Paris offers founders technical talent, proximity to investors and corporate partners, and lower costs than hubs such as San Francisco. Aubery pointed to France's concentration of engineers and technical professionals, “and they're relatively affordable compared with places such as San Francisco.”

The concentration of investors, customers, corporate partners and talent in the capital also makes it easier to build connections, although that comes at a cost to other French cities.

“It's an advantage for founders, but a disadvantage for France more broadly, because so much activity is concentrated in Paris rather than other cities such as Marseille.”

Quality of life is another attraction, even amid the demands of startup building.

“STATION F is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can find people working late into the night. But there's still a stronger emphasis on balancing professional and personal life than in some other ecosystems. We're not operating entirely within the 996 culture.”

STATION F also offers co-living accommodation, with around 600 rooms available for approximately €500 a month, giving international founders a relatively affordable place to start.

A decade of STATION F

STATION F will mark its tenth anniversary in 2027, amid political uncertainty surrounding France's upcoming elections.

“Next year will be a major milestone for us. We're planning a big celebration to mark ten years of STATION F and reflect on how much the ecosystem has changed since 2017,” shared Aubrey.

The Future 40 2026

AICE: AICE builds swarms of fast, low-cost subsea drones for fleet and critical-infrastructure defence.
AIM Intelligence: Ensuring generative AI is secure, aligned, and controllable.
Allude: Allude builds the infrastructure that makes AI agents and robots operable in factories.
Alouette AI: Agentic AI for Industrial Engineering, requiring sovereigned 100% verified Digital Blueprints.
Arlequin AI: Arlequin is an AI native deeptech platform designed to support high-stakes decisions
Bending words: Helping high school students get good grades
BioSky: Satellite-AI grid intelligence for the world’s power sectors
Bleu Robotics: Bleu Robotics develops AI model for industrial humanoid robots
Blynt AI: We fix the last mile of speech recognition through fine-grained model customisation
Cleavr: Cleavr is the first AI coworker that collects your cash autonomously.
Coach: The AI coach for in-person sales reps
Coforix: We build the data infrastructure hospitals need to use AI in clinical care.
CURA: Decarbonising cement with retrofit-ready electrochemical pre-calcination carbon capture technology.
Deepeye Medical: We empower doctors to see more, in less time when planning therapy for EU’s #1 cause of blindness
Ethylowheel: ETHYLOWHEEL develops contact-based alcohol detection technology to prevent drunk driving.
ExtraJool: ExtraJool cuts industrial electricity bills by converting waste heat into on-site power.
GetMint: GetMint turns AI search into a growth channel: track AI answers, publish content, run ChatGPT ads.
Invertix: Applied AI for Energy Infrastructure
Kuli: Kuli gives brand marketers insight and 20× execution capacity to win in social & creator marketing.
Lemrock: Lemrock builds the infrastructure for agentic commerce
Lineshift AI: AI-powered software that automates complex workflows for modern businesses.
Marble: The first generative learning world for kids aged 6-12.Noïa Labs: In stealth.
Norma: Pioneering Supercapacitive Carbon Capture: harnessing energy storage to cut capture energy and costs
NuMind: The Frontier AI for Document Extraction
Oguste: AI-native legal due diligence for real estate transactions
Onbox: In stealth.
Ooak data: We build RL env from real world company data
Prior Foundry: Prior Foundry is building AI infrastructure for government decision-making.
RainPath: RainPath reinvents tissue diagnosis with optics and AI: cancer diagnosed faster, at lower cost.
Revox: Revox deploys phone AI agents that turn your leads into revenue.
Shiplog: Shiplog grows revenue from existing customers with agentic customer intelligence.
Smalk: The AI Search Ad Network connecting brands to thousands of AI-trusted media publishers.
Stellar: The control layer over all telecom networks for resilient and sovereign connectivity
SYNRA: SYNRA turns a camera into a full-field vibration sensor for infrastructure & machine diagnostics.
Timper: The AI operating partner for real estate development
Topograph: Topograph is a worldwide corporate data provider, connected to official sources in real-time
Weflayr: Weflayr is the Margin Optimisation Layer for SaaS Platform
Youngr Labs: AI virtual cell lab for age-related diseases and longevity
ZKAI Labs: The intelligence layer for programmable money