France's largest startup campus Station F turns nine. Here's why it's nervous about the election

The biggest threat to France's startup scene isn't the market or AI. It's the ballot box, according to data from startup incubator Station F. The world’s largest startup incubator, based in Paris, celebrates its ninth anniversary this week as Europe’s maturing tech ecosystems become increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and changing geopolitics. Station F has worked with more than 9,000 startups since it opened its doors in 2017. Since then, it has spun out companies such as Hugging Face, quantum giant Pasqal and Pollen Robotics. The campus that turned a disused railway station into the world's largest startup hub released a batch of numbers to mark the anniversary that tells a story about building a tech company in Europe. Artificial intelligence everywhere Artificial intelligence is having its moment at Station F, and this year its new F/AI program brought every major AI player onto campus, including Mistral AI. Some 77% of Station F companies say AI has reduced their hiring needs, but 82% are actively hiring or plan to in the coming months, according to Station F data. One of the biggest AI tools that the startups at Station F use is Anthropic's Claude, which is used by 90% of Station F teams. That marks a dramatic reversal from 2025, when OpenAI held the dominant position on campus and Anthropic ranked third, behind Mistral. The campus has also been the launching pad for several notable AI acquisitions. Earlier this year, Koyeb, a Future 40 alumnus from the 2024 cohort, was acquired by Mistral. Previous exits with an AI angle include Pollen Robotics (acquired by Hugging Face), Mithril Security (by H Company), and Sonio (by Samsung). The founders got older The average Station F founder is now 36.5 years old, which is up from 31 in 2018. Of them, one in five has a PhD. There is less of the "drop out and disrupt" mythology that defined tech culture a decade ago. The people building companies here have come with experience of working a real job or real-life experience. A lot of that shift is due to AI and the ideas getting funded right now tend to require genuine technical depth, not just a clever pitch deck. Nobody's dreaming of an IPO anymore Half of Station F founders expect their company to end with probably an acquisition. The IPO dream has quietly faded, with only 9% thinking they will ever list publicly, down from 16% last year, data shows. About a third of Station F residents have always come from outside France. Today, more than 60 nationalities call the campus home at any given time. The United States is still the biggest foreign contingent after France, but the countries that follow are Morocco, Germany, the United Kingdom, Algeria and India. French election anxiety Station F was born the same week French President Emmanuel Macron won his first presidential election. The timing was an omen marking a young, pro-business president. But nine years on, another election is looming for next year, and the mood is downhearted. More than half of founders say the election is one of their biggest concerns right now. Of those, 47% are most worried about a far-right outcome and 24% fear the far left. Anti-immigration policy is at the heart of worry on the campus where one in three people are not from France, and where the prospect of tighter borders and harder visa rules would make business more difficult. “A strong change in immigration policy is seen as one of the biggest threats to building a global or competitive business,” Station F said. Nine years in, Station F is bigger and more technically serious than ever. It is also more uncertain about what comes next.