How Europe Missed the Mark: Lessons From South Korea

European Straits #70

Dear all,

I recently spent time with Fleur Pellerin to learn more about Korelya Capital, the venture capital firm she’s managing in Paris. Fleur has had an unusual trajectory. A former senior civil servant, she made her name in politics by helping then-presidential candidate François Hollande with tech-related issues and later becoming a cabinet minister. When she left politics in 2016, she raised money from a single LP, the South Korean tech giant Naver Corporation, and set up her own firm to invest in European startups.

One part of our conversation was on how Naver’s interest in investing in Korelya Capital came about. Fleur herself has a connection with South Korea, having been born there before she was adopted by a French family at just six months old. But why exactly is Naver interested in the European startup scene? Fleur shared some insights and then I searched for more—and it helped me realize one reason, among many, why Europe is still so weak in the current Entrepreneurial Age…