Mireille Helou, chief executive of Orange Silicon Valley, a US-based subsidiary of France-headquartered telecommunications company Orange, was interviewed by Adam Sterling, executive director of University of California, Berkeley’s Centre for Law and Business.
Sterling opened by asking Helou how her experience in Africa had influenced her stint in Silicon Valley. Helou said that Orange had put their expertise at the disposal of Africa-based portfolio companies to look at synergies and help them understand country-specific regulations.
With local teams in each of 20 countries across Africa, Orange helped startups meet compliance, which differentiated them from other venture capitalists.
Helou then commented on future plans to drive innovation as part of the Orange culture. The company aimed to invest in 100 networking, agricultural technology and other seed-stage startups by 2025. They had also committed to being carbon neutral by 2040, according to Helou, who added: “Innovation is about bringing benefit to the whole society.”
When asked what surprised Helou about Silicon Valley after having been there a short time, she mentioned the amount of money that was there and added: “Sometimes it is too technology-driven and not impact and innovation-driven.”