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Doha – University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) officially inaugurated its presence at STATION F, the world’s largest startup campus, on Thursday in Paris. The event also marked the launch of NextAfrica, UM6P’s acceleration program at STATION F.
NextAfrica is the first transcontinental Europe-Africa acceleration program dedicated to Greentech, Agritech, and Healthtech. It offers a hybrid approach combining immersion at STATION F with access to UM6P’s infrastructure in Morocco, allowing startups to develop, test, and structure their innovations.
“NextAfrica reflects our ambition to create an ecosystem where African and European startups collaborate, innovate, and grow together,” said Fahd Benkirane, Managing Director at UM6P France.
“Through our presence at STATION F and UM6P’s strong foothold in Africa, we offer entrepreneurs a unique framework to accelerate their development and address tomorrow’s technological and societal challenges,” he added in a press release.
Lamia Hanafi, Head of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at UM6P France, who has created the NextAfrica program, further clarified: “This program reflects a strong ambition: to connect Europe and Africa through entrepreneurship and innovation.”
“By offering startups the opportunity to work in two complementary environments, we aim to build impactful solutions for the sustainable development of both regions,” she elaborated.
The inauguration, themed “Innovating Together: A Bridge Between Europe and Africa to Shape the Future,” underlines UM6P’s vision of building an intercontinental ecosystem that drives the emergence of groundbreaking solutions.
Over a six-month period, selected startups will benefit from STATION F’s cutting-edge entrepreneurial environment while gaining access to UM6P’s advanced technological infrastructure through StartGate, its startup-dedicated campus.
Participants will also receive mentorship from African and European experts and strategic connections to investors and industrial partners.
As part of this initiative, UM6P Ventures will also establish a presence at STATION F to enhance funding opportunities for startups and foster synergies between European and African venture capital ecosystems.
Read also: UM6P Science Week 2025 Closes with Promise of African Leadership in Science
“By alternating between STATION F and StartGate, startups will experience a dual immersion — gaining exposure to the European market while staying anchored in an African innovation hub,” explained Yassine Laghzioui, Director of Entrepreneurship & Venturing at UM6P and CEO of UM6P Ventures.
“This initiative reflects UM6P’s vision: to connect talent, infrastructure, and capital in order to nurture the next generation of African tech scale-ups,” he continued.
The event introduced the first NextAfrica cohort, featuring twelve promising startups from both continents across two key sectors: HealthTech — represented by Pelican Health, SenseBiotek, VG2D Pharma, Inn’Pulse, NeuralTeks, BlocReg Solutions, iAvicenne, and Rosetta Omics — and AgriTech, represented by Sand to Green, ISTYA, AgroSfer, and IrWise.
This inauguration builds on the partnership announced on January 29, when UM6P and STATION F first revealed their collaboration to promote innovation while bridging Europe and Africa.
At that time, UM6P President Hicham El Habti stated that the alliance would provide startups with tools to “tackle Africa’s technological, economic, and environmental challenges while strengthening this bridge between the two continents.”
STATION F, located in Paris’s 13th district, opened in 2017 and is housed in a former rail freight depot spanning 34,000 square meters.
The facility supports over 1,000 startups and has established partnerships with major technology companies including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Zendesk.
