Help Lightning
Help Lightning is a private B2B SaaS company that sells an enterprise AR-based Remote Visual Guidance platform, using patented Merged Reality and AI-assisted tools to enable remote expert support for field service, call centers, and manufacturing at large enterprise customers in 80+ countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersBirmingham, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Help Lightning does
Help Lightning is a private B2B SaaS company founded in 2009 as VIPAAR by Dr. Bart Guthrie at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and rebranded in 2016 under current CEO-then Gary York (now Chairman; Marc Guthrie became CEO in December 2021). The company sells an enterprise Remote Visual Guidance platform that combines AR-enabled video collaboration, patented Merged Reality, AI-assisted features, spatial computing, and IoT integration to allow field technicians, call-center agents, and manufacturing staff to receive remote expert guidance via mobile devices, browsers, and smart glasses. Its technology stack spans iOS, Android, web, and AR hardware (Microsoft HoloLens, Vuzix, RealWear, Zebra, Six15), and the platform is integrated with major enterprise systems including Salesforce, ServiceNow, Genesys (via AppFoundry), IFS, and ServicePower.
The product portfolio includes the core platform, the AI Speed-Assist suite (VoiceScript AI, IntelliAssist AI, ClearSight AI, SmartFolders AI, SmartTag AI, GuidePoint AI), Curated Quick Knowledge, Auto-Guided Self-Help, Industry 4.0 Spatial Computing, AI-Enabled Value Analytics, the Fieldbit industrial AR offering (acquired November 2021), and vertical modules for Call Centers, Field Service, and Manufacturing. The Mercury program bundles strategic consulting, multi-year program management, success engineering, and best-practices applications with enterprise licensing. Help Lightning reports 90 customers in the Fortune 500 and Forbes Global 2000, 100+ total customers, 69,890+ users, and 52M+ fast help sessions across 80+ countries, with documented outcomes including 11.7x faster problem resolution, 20%+ customer-care efficiency gains, 40%+ cost reductions, and 30%+ customer satisfaction improvements.
Go-to-market is enterprise field sales with quote-based multi-year contracts and a deep partner ecosystem spanning solution partners (Genesys, IFS, Salesforce, ServiceNow, ServicePower), service partners (Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro), and AR hardware partners. Revenue mechanics are subscription-based with professional services bundled into the Mercury program; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company has raised approximately $13.5M in disclosed funding — an $8M Series A led by Resolve Growth Partners in August 2020, a $2.5M strategic investment from Larsen & Toubro for a 6.35% stake in May 2021, and a $3M growth-equity addition from L&T and Engage in June 2021 — and holds SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA compliance certifications.
Help Lightning firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Help Lightning
- Legal name
- Help Lightning, Inc.
- Website
- https://helplightning.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Help Lightning is a private B2B SaaS company that sells an enterprise AR-based Remote Visual Guidance platform, using patented Merged Reality and AI-assisted tools to enable remote expert support for field service, call centers, and manufacturing at large enterprise customers in 80+ countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Help Lightning industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Augmented Reality Collaboration Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Helpdesk & End-User Support Services (BPAEABAB)
Keywords
Where Help Lightning is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birmingham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Help Lightning business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Enterprise SaaS Subscription: Enterprise-wide platform licensing typically including the Mercury program with strategic consulting, multi-year program management, success engineering, and best-practices applications. Revenue model focused on value creation rather than technology alone.
- Professional Services: Included in enterprise license - Mercury program provides implementation support, training, business analytics dashboard, engineering support for API integrations, and transformation services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise License with Mercury Program |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Help Lightning product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Help Lightning provides an enterprise remote visual guidance platform that uses merged reality, augmented reality, and AI to allow remote experts to see through a field technician's camera and virtually place their hands, tools, or 3D objects into the technician's environment in real time. The platform is sold primarily to large industrial, manufacturing, and service organizations to support field-service technicians, customer support agents, and training scenarios.
Product overview
Help Lightning is a market-leading Enterprise Remote Visual Guidance platform that provides AR-enabled remote collaboration software. The unified platform includes the core Help Lightning Remote Visual Guidance Platform enhanced with the AI Speed-Assist suite (VoiceScript AI, IntelliAssist AI, ClearSight AI, SmartFolders AI, SmartTag AI, GuidePoint AI), patented Merged Reality technology, Curated Quick Knowledge, Auto-Guided Self-Help, Industry 4.0 Spatial Computing, and AI-Enabled Value Analytics. Solution-specific modules include Help Lightning for Call Centers, Help Lightning for Field Service, and Help Lightning for Manufacturing. The platform acquired Fieldbit (November 2021), adding industrial AR capabilities for spatial computing and guidance automation. Help Lightning operates across iOS, Android, mobile browsers, web expert stations, and smart glasses environments, with frictionless ecosystem integrations including Salesforce, ServiceNow, Genesys, IFS, and ServicePower.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Fieldbit: Industrial AR platform acquired by Help Lightning providing spatial computing, knowledge collaboration, guidance automation, and remote expertise for field service operations.
- Help Lightning for Call Centers
- Help Lightning for Field Service
- Help Lightning for Manufacturing
- Help Lightning Fieldbit
Products and services
- Help Lightning Remote Visual Guidance Platform Enterprise SaaS platform that merges a remote expert's hands, tools, or 3D objects into the on-site user's live camera view in real time, enabling remote visual guidance, diagnostics, repair, inspection, and training for field technicians and customers. Targeted at large industrial, manufacturing, and customer-support organizations.
- Help Lightning Field Service Solution
Quantifiable outcome
- 11.7X faster problem resolution compared to alternatives
- +11 more outcomes
Companies that use Help Lightning
Customer profileNamed customers20 records
Segments9 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Help Lightning technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability10 records
Feature7 records
Help Lightning partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- GenesyscoreIntegration partner making Help Lightning available through Genesys AppFoundry. Enables call center agents to access AR-enabled remote assistance within Genesys customer experience platform.
- ServiceNowcoreIntegration with ServiceNow enabling customer service agents to better serve internal and external customers using AR-enabled remote assistance software. Integration announced September 2021.
- SalesforcemajorSolution partner offering applications with Help Lightning integration for CRM-connected remote assistance.
- IFSmajorSolution partner with IFS integrations for field service management-connected remote assistance.
- ServicePowermajorSolution partner offering applications with Help Lightning integration for field service and warranty management.
- Tech MahindramajorService partner offering services that can be enhanced by Help Lightning's remote assistance software for enterprise customers.
- Microsoft HoloLensmajorTechnology partner for augmented reality hardware compatibility. Help Lightning supports Microsoft HoloLens 2 mixed reality environment.
- VuzixmajorTechnology partner offering AR smart glasses compatible with Help Lightning platform.
- RealWearmajorTechnology partner for hands-free AR smart glasses enabling field technicians to receive remote expert assistance.
- Zebra TechnologiesmajorTechnology partner with HD4000 smart glasses compatible with Help Lightning. Also PartnerConnect program member with solution validation.
- Six15 TechnologiesmajorTechnology partner for ST1-RA augmented reality glasses. Joint announcement of plug-and-play AR remote assistance solution.
- TSIA (Technology & Services Industry Association)minorIndustry partner supporting co-education and thought leadership initiatives with Help Lightning.
- Service CouncilminorIndustry partner supporting thought leadership through research reports and co-education initiatives.
- Blumberg Advisory GroupminorIndustry partner providing analyst perspective and co-authoring the annual Buyer's Guide to Enterprise Remote Visual Guidance.
Scale indicators18 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Help Lightning competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- TeamViewer: TeamViewer's enterprise remote-access and support platform (including its AR-based Frontline product line) competes directly with Help Lightning in remote visual assistance for field service and customer support. Both target enterprise IT, field service, and industrial use cases with cross-device support.
- XMReality: Swedish AR-based remote guidance platform focused on industrial and field-service use cases with knowledge management and self-help tools. Closely comparable to Help Lightning in target buyer (manufacturing, field service engineers), product (AR remote guidance with knowledge transfer), and pricing model.
- Librestream: Provider of Onsight AR-based remote expert collaboration software for industrial and field-service applications. Directly competes with Help Lightning in delivering AR-assisted remote visual support to enterprise field technicians and service organizations.
- CareAR (Apex Systems): AR-based remote visual assistance and self-service platform owned by Apex Systems (ASGN). Competes directly with Help Lightning across field service, IT support, and customer service use cases, with a similar AI-augmented knowledge management focus.
Broad incumbents
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist: Microsoft's HoloLens/Teams-integrated remote-assist capability bundled with the Dynamics 365 Field Service suite. Represents the biggest competitive threat to Help Lightning as a deep-pocketed incumbent offering overlapping functionality within an enterprise system of record.
- PTC (Vuforia): PTC's Vuforia AR platform and broader Creo/ThingWorx industrial IoT stack address front-line worker productivity and AR-guided workflows. Competes with Help Lightning Fieldbit in industrial AR and CAD-connected remote assistance for manufacturing and service.
- Zoom: Zoom's video communication platform (including Zoom Contact Center and Zoom Rooms for Touch) increasingly overlaps with Help Lightning's call-center and collaboration use cases. While not AR-native, Zoom's enterprise distribution and AI Companion features represent indirect competitive pressure.
- ServiceNow Field Service Management: ServiceNow's FSM suite with its own Visual Remote Assistant capability competes both as a partner and a substitute for Help Lightning. As a core enterprise workflow platform, ServiceNow can natively absorb remote-assist workflows that today route through Help Lightning's integration.
Emerging players
- Scope AR: AR knowledge platform with WorkLink (remote assistance) and Toolbox (procedural AR guidance) products. Comparable to Help Lightning's merged-reality and guided self-help modules, though with a smaller customer footprint and focus on Unity-based AR experiences.
- Atheer: AR service-management platform (Atheer Air) targeting field service, IT support, and manufacturing with remote expert and self-help workflows. Directly comparable product set to Help Lightning's field-service and manufacturing solutions.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Help Lightning social profiles
Digital presenceHelp Lightning compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Help Lightning financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Help Lightning leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Help Lightning subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Help Lightning funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Help Lightning M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Help Lightning
What does Help Lightning do?
Help Lightning provides an enterprise remote visual guidance platform that uses merged reality, augmented reality, and AI to allow remote experts to see through a field technician's camera and virtually place their hands, tools, or 3D objects into the technician's environment in real time. The platform is sold primarily to large industrial, manufacturing, and service organizations to support field-service technicians, customer support agents, and training scenarios.
Is Help Lightning a public or private company?
Help Lightning is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Help Lightning founded?
Help Lightning was founded in 2009. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Help Lightning based?
Help Lightning is headquartered in Birmingham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Help Lightning make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Enterprise SaaS Subscription is the primary driver. The others are professional Services.
Who are Help Lightning's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are TeamViewer, XMReality, Librestream and CareAR (Apex Systems). Broad incumbents are Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, PTC (Vuforia), Zoom and ServiceNow Field Service Management. Emerging players are Scope AR and Atheer.
Does Help Lightning have an API?
Yes. Help Lightning offers APIs, SDK, and SmartLinks (No Code) for integration with other solutions and customer portals. The platform provides frictionless integration with ERP, CRM, Call Control, and Field and Maintenance Management Systems. No specific API documentation URL, auth method, rate limits, or versioning details are publicly disclosed.
What industry is Help Lightning in?
Help Lightning's product category is Augmented Reality Collaboration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEABAB, Helpdesk & End-User Support Services. Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7373.