42 Paris: The Cradle of the 42 Project has had a Significant Glow-Up

Established in 2013 to address the shortage of qualified IT professionals in the French market, 42 Paris is the cradle of the entire 42 project. Having recently moved into a brand-new building, the campus has become a true tech landmark in the French capital. Now led by Grégoire Martinez, 42 Paris is looking to the future, aiming to further expand its presence in the French IT ecosystem, and continue growing both its Piscines and student base.

While it initially appeared to many as some sort of UFO, 42 Paris rapidly managed to attract candidates after its launch! Backed by Xavier Niel, a French tech entrepreneur, and offering a revolutionary, unconventional and peer-learning-based educational model, it quickly attracted high-potential individuals who had long been seeking alternative educational pathways. With an extensive expertise in IT and tech, Xavier Niel’s vision was to raise a new generation of programmers, something the market had been sorely lacking for years. Twelve years later, the numbers speak for the campus’ success, as 42 Paris has now hosted over 23,000 Pisciniers and nearly 11,000 students.

Recently, the campus underwent a major upgrade. After two years of construction at its historical site, during which the campus was temporarily relocated, 42 Paris was finally returned to its brand new, state-of-the-art building. Formally inaugurated on June 19th, 2025, the new building boasts 1,400+ workstations distributed across 6 clusters (ranging from 117 to 280 workstations each) and a total area of 9000sqm. “We now hold 5 Piscines every year, with close to 600 participants each: two in winter (February, March) and three in summer (July, August, September). Our goal is to make them even bigger following our recent move!”, says Grégoire Martinez, director of 42 Paris.

42UP from the inside

In addition, the campus offers its students several perks, such as several cafeterias, a gym, yoga studio, lecture rooms, and a music studio.

42 Paris also has an extensive Alumni community. “Our alumni work for a vast array of different companies across many different industries, including big tech companies (Mistral AI, Open AI, Hugging Face…), fintech (Ledger, Qonto), infrastructure (Scaleway, CGI) or even cybersecurity and defense (Stormshield, French Defense Ministry, Thalès).” says Grégoire Martinez.

Grégoire Martinez, director of 42 Paris

But it doesn’t end there. Many 42 Paris Alumni have gone on to launch their own startups and companies. For instance, BeReal was founded by a former 42 Paris student! In alignment with its bold vision for education and technology, 42 actively encourages entrepreneurship among its graduates through several initiatives, including its incubator program at STATION F.

Moving forward, 42 Paris’ mission is to keep its position as a leader in the tech industry by expanding its portfolio of professional and academic partnerships: “we are creating more and more bridges with other players — both corporates & academics. As an example we already have a partnership with the leading business school HEC to foster connections between our students.” — Grégoire Martinez concludes. Moving forward, 42 Paris is committed to advancing its educational model, empowering a diverse range of talented individuals, and driving innovation across the global tech ecosystem.