Meta, in collaboration with Hugging Face and Scaleway, has announced the launch of a new "AI Startup Program" aimed at accelerating the adoption of open-source AI solutions across Europe. The program is open to startups from EU member states and seeks to extend the economic and technological benefits of open models to a broader ecosystem.
Based at STATION F in Paris, the world's largest startup campus, the program will run from September 2024 to February 2025. It will support five startups in their MVP or product stage, selected by a panel of experts from Meta, Hugging Face, and Scaleway. These experts will evaluate projects based on their use of open foundation models or plans to integrate such models into their products and services.
Selected startups will receive technical mentoring from Meta's Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) teams, access to Hugging Face’s platform and tools, and computing power from Scaleway. This initiative follows the first edition of the accelerator announced in November 2023, which supported companies like Pollen Robotics, Fringuant, and Qevlar AI.
"For more than a decade Meta has been a pioneer in open innovation in AI," said Marco Pancini, Head of EU Affairs at Meta. "Through this program we can help European developers innovate faster, bringing growth to their markets and propelling the European ecosystem forward."
Clément Delangue, CEO and co-founder of Hugging Face, added: "The success of Meta’s first AI startup program is a testament to Europe’s incredible AI talent. Hugging Face is excited to support the program’s second cohort through open-source!"
Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway, commented: "As Europe's leading provider of AI compute power, we are delighted to join forces once again with Meta and Hugging Face. Combined with the power of open source models such as Llama and the unique reach of Hugging Face, we’re honored to empower the next generation of European AI startups."
Roxanne Varza, Director at Station F., expressed enthusiasm for the expanded scope: "With all the momentum and enthusiasm in AI right now...we are very excited that Meta – along with their partners Hugging Face and Scaleway – are planning to bring the program to a European level."
Applications for the program are open until August 16, 2024. Startups can apply via fb.me/AIStartupProgram.
