def METHOD_NAME(app_name: str, variant_name: str, host: str) -> str:
    """Starts a container with the variant an expose its endpoint
    Arguments:
        app_name --
        variant_name -- _description_
    Returns:
        The endpoint of the container
    """
    response = requests.post(
        f"{host}/{BACKEND_URL_SUFFIX}/app_variant/start/",
        json={"app_variant": {"app_name": app_name, "variant_name": variant_name}},
        timeout=600,
    )
    if response.status_code != 200:
        error_message = response.json()
        raise APIRequestError(
            f"Request to start variant endpoint failed with status code {response.status_code} and error message: {error_message}."
        )
    return response.json()["uri"]