For eighteen months, the new generation of European founders is no longer content with exploring San Francisco: they are settling there. AI has refocused global technology dynamics within a few blocks of Hayes Valley, where engineers, researchers and investors operate at a pace impossible to replicate anywhere else. For Hexa, which has supported the creation of B2B startups for more than ten years, this shift requires a structural change. The studio opens Hexa House San Franciscoa work residence dedicated to its entrepreneurs, designed to make systematic an anchoring which, until now, was done on a case by case basis.
Watch our full interview with Thibaud Elzière in the video below:
Hexa House San Francisco: why the European studio is now setting up its startups in the Bay Area
With the opening of Hexa House San FranciscoHexa is taking a new step in its startup creation strategy: housing, immersing and supporting its founders in the heart of the global AI hub. Located in Cole Valley, the house offers a hybrid living and working space intended to accommodate Start program teams for three months.
Until now, only a few teams temporarily set up shop in the Bay Area, often as part of Y Combinator, but now immersion is becoming an essential part of the program.
An American anchor that extends a long history with San Francisco
For more than ten years, San Francisco has supplied Hexa’s pipeline. Front, one of his greatest achievements, was born from his time at Y Combinator. In recent years, several AI-native companies created by Hexa (Basalt, Tandem, etc.) have already expanded their operations between Paris and San Francisco. The studio notes that the product iteration cycle, the density of specialized engineers and the access to early users make it a unique acceleration territory.
The accelerated exodus of European founders towards the AI ecosystem
For two years, Hexa has observed a clear change in the profiles of entrepreneurs, more technical, more product-oriented, more comfortable with AI-first technologies. This new generation no longer wants to “visit” San Francisco but to create their startup there.
This migration responds to an objective context:
– unrivaled concentration of AI and researcher talents;
– continuous arrival of models, frameworks and experimental APIs;
– direct access to specialized American investors;
– execution speed higher than that of European ecosystems.
Matthieu Gombeaud, CEO of Hexa, summarizes this change of order:
“What was only a one-off movement became a larger migration: a dense European community formed in San Francisco. Nowhere else can we find such a density of talent, creativity and speed of execution: this accelerates a trajectory in a way that is impossible to reproduce remotely. »
The Hexa House: the missing piece of the Start program
The program Start has been the studio’s creation mechanism for more than ten years: 12 months to go from an idea to an independent business. Ideation, co-founding, product design, technological development, go-to-market: Hexa provides human capital, functional expertise, dedicated partners and pace of execution.
But one element was missing, for AI-first oriented projects, remaining only in Europe created a gap with the dynamics of the American market
From now on :
– each Start promotion will pass three months required in San Francisco ;
– the founders will be able to live and work in the house;
– Hexa partners will provide ongoing support;
– the house will become an operational hub for workshops, product sessions and meetings with the local ecosystem.
This brick allows Hexa to bring its projects to a level of speed and maturity aligned with IA-first standards.
Thibaud Elzière, co-founder, concludes: “AI has changed the game. To build something truly major, entrepreneurs must now be as close as possible to the ecosystem that is pushing the limits. Hexa House San Francisco provides this missing link and increases the chances of building the most ambitious companies. »
