Station F’s and Sequoia’s Roxanne Varza on how to stop tech companies moving to the US
Feb 9, 2024
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Roxanne Varza, director of Parisian startup mega campus Station F, talks about the growth of the French tech ecosystem, the mindset of founders, angel investing, and the challenges of attracting US venture capital firms.
Founders currently have an optimistic outlook and are focused on building great companies.
The strengths of French tech, including talent, AI, and government interventions.
Deep dives
Overview of Startup Europe podcast episode
This episode of the Sifda podcast kicks off the new format, focusing on longer interviews with major players in European tech and startups. The guest is Roxanne Farsa, the director of station F, a startup mega campus in Paris. Roxanne discusses the current mindset of founders and the optimism in the startup ecosystem. She highlights the emergence of serious founders who are committed to building great companies. Roxanne also talks about the state of French tech, the government's interventions, and the factors driving momentum in the ecosystem. She emphasizes the strengths in AI and the promising talent coming back to France to start companies. Additionally, Roxanne touches on the challenges of attracting international VCs to Paris and the importance of a strong exit market. She shares her experience as an angel investor, her preferences for B2B startups, and her observations in the current investment landscape. The episode concludes with discussions about Station F, including plans for expansion, the upcoming hotel, and the impact of the mega campus on the French startup ecosystem.
Key Points
1. The startup podcast is transitioning to longer interviews with major players in European tech and startups.
2. Roxanne Farsa, director of the startup mega campus Station F, is the guest on this episode.
3. Founders currently have an optimistic outlook and are focused on building great companies.
4. The French tech ecosystem is thriving, supported by government initiatives, strong funding landscape, and momentum-building events.
Insights
1. The emergence of serious founders committed to building successful companies.
2. The strengths of French tech, including talent, AI, and government interventions.
3. The challenges of attracting international VCs to Paris and the importance of a strong exit market.
4. Roxanne's experience as an angel investor, preferences for B2B startups, and observations in the investment landscape.
Highlights of Station F
1. Station F is a startup mega campus in Paris, supporting early-stage companies and providing a hub for networking and collaboration.
2. Plans for expansion to other ecosystems and partnerships to replicate the success of Station F.
3. The upcoming Station F hotel, catering to visitors and entrepreneurs to enhance their experience.
4. The role of Station F in shaping the French startup ecosystem and driving innovation.
Startup Europe is back for our new-look podcast, where we'll be focussing exclusively on longer form interviews with some of the biggest names in European tech.
Last year we brought you conversations with founders, operators and investors behind companies like Wise, Monzo, Figma, Delivery Hero and Kry and we have a whole load more for you in 2024.
This week it's Roxanne Varza, director of Parisian startup mega campus Station F.
In the years since Station F opened in 2017, France has seen startup funding more than triple and the number of unicorns more than quadruple.
And now Paris is at the centre of the Gen AI boom too. Mistral, PhotoRoom and Poolside are just a handful of the buzzy AI startups based there raising huge amounts of funding.
As an angel investor (and one of Sequoia’s most active scouts in Europe) with more than 60 deals under her belt now, Varza is also getting to place some bets in the sector.
In the first episode of the Sifted podcast this year, editor Amy Lewin speaks to Varza about what’s on founders’ minds right now, Station F’s expansion plans and what she’s learnt so far as an angel investor.
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