Fleur Pellerin, former French Minister of Small and Medium Companies and the Digital Economy, has become somewhat of a celebrity in the South Korean startup sector, not only because she is a South Korean adoptee who was adopted as a child by French parents who has risen to the upper echelons of French politics, but also for her reputation as an avid entrepreneur and investor working to build bridges between Korean and European markets. Since becoming a Minister in 2012, Pellerin’s frequent visits to South Korea have garnered domestic attention, especially as many find the story of her adoption and subsequent political success highly inspiring.During her latest visit to Jeju Island, a popular Korean vacation spot, on Oct. 25, The Miilk was fortunate enough to talk with her about mounting concerns over a global recession and its potential impact on the startup market.Pellerin, who now heads up the Paris-based venture capital firm Korelya Capital, said she remains upbeat about the global startup and venture capital sectors, despite recent economic slumps caused by rising interest rates and inflation, and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. “Although I can’t say for certain how long this [economic downturn] will last, the biggest difference between our situation now and former economic crises is that we have a lot of money now, a lot of dry powder to burn through,” Pellerin said in an interview that took place on the island, while participating in an ESG conference. While discussing global venture capital firms that raised a decent amount of money last year, she explained “It’s just that investors are more cautious than before; there’s still money to invest.”After she stepped down as the French Minister of Culture in 2016, she co-founded Korelya with former French financier Antoine Dresch. Backed by Korean internet giant Naver, which has sunk €200 million into the investment fund Pellerin has used the fund to back European startups, such as the high-end audio speaker manufacturer Devialet and recruitment platform Jobteaser.In 2017, Korelya led the $13 million Series A round for the AI voice-recognition platform Snips, which was later acquired by US audio system manufacturer Sonos for $37.5 million.
