Xavier Niel, the Paris-born tech billionaire, is on a mission to turn France into an innovation powerhouse. 

For those who are not familiar with Xavier’s background, he is best known for his colossal ventures in the internet and telecommunication industries. He began his entrepreneurial journey at just 17 years young, using Minitel services, a French forerunner of the internet, to provide ‘online’ chat services. He subsequently co-founded France’s first internet service in 1994, Worldnet, bringing millions in France to the World Wide Web. Currently he is best known as founder and majority shareholder of the French Internet service provider and Mobile operator Iliad (Free).

“We have always been obsessed by providing our users with the fastest and most convenient access to the Internet, at the best price. And nothing else. We are very focused. It makes the difference I hope :)”, Xavier told us.

In 2013, Xavier funded École 42, a groundbreaking free computer programming school in Paris.

Among other ventures, in 2017 Xavier then funnelled €250 million into building Station F, which is the largest startup incubator in the world. 

With all this taken into consideration, where does Xavier see the French, and specifically Parisian, startup ecosystem now, and can it become Europe’s leading tech hub?: “I think that Paris is 3 years behind London. 5 years ago, it was 10 years behind. Hopefully, Paris will catch-up and be the most vibrant tech scene of Europe in 5 to 10 years :)”

Full interview on eu-startups.com. Photo by eu-startups.com