Meta, Hugging Face and Scaleway have partnered up to launch an AI accelerator programme geared towards European startups.
Meta’s GenAI VP Ahmad Al-Dahle announced on Tuesday that the programme would aim to “accelerate innovation, drive business growth and strengthen the European tech ecosystem.” The programme is based out of Station F in Paris, the world’s largest startup campus, and is supported by the Parisian business school HEC Paris’ incubator, Incubateur HEC Paris.
This seems to be one of the first AI accelerator programmes with a focus on startups from the EU. Last week, AWS announced an accelerator programme for startups in the Asia Pacific and Japan regions, with 40 startups coming from India.
Similarly, earlier this year, GitHub also announced $400,000 in funding for ten startups specifically focusing on open-source AI-based solutions. This was a part of their 10-week GitHub Accelerator programme.
Who, When, And Why?
The Meta-backed programme will run for four months, with a focus on European startups that are using open-source foundation models to develop advanced AI solutions. This is in alignment with Meta’s overall focus towards open-source AI models.
Applications are currently open for startups to sign up and will close on August 16. A total of five startups in the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or product stage will be selected to undertake the programme, which is scheduled to start on October 1, 2024, and go on till early February 2025.
According to the programme details, startups will be selected by a panel of experts from Meta, Hugging Face, Scaleway and HEC Paris Incubator. Due to a focus on open-source models, startups will be picked based on their use of foundation models and integration plans.
The partnership also means that startups will gain benefits from each of the partners in different areas. According to the programme overview, “Selected startups will benefit from technical mentoring by Meta, access to Hugging Face’s tools and Scaleway’s computing resources to develop services based on open-source AI technology.”
