Helios & Partners

What Helios & Partners does

Helios & Partners (legal entity Helios & Partners Advisory Inc., headquartered in Dallas, TX with primary operating presence in Santa Monica, CA) is a privately-held consumer ecosystem investment firm and venture studio founded in 2023. The company targets growth-stage and Series A companies in the $5-25M revenue range across beauty, wellness, luxury beauty, cybersecurity, AI, fintech, and influence-driven media sectors in the US, LATAM, and Asia. Its core proposition is the proprietary Consumer Ecosystem Investing™ (CEI™) framework, which combines permanent equity partnership with a fully-integrated, in-house marketing infrastructure covering go-to-market strategy, talent, branding, distribution and commerce, PR and influencer, media (digital to TV), retail, and creative engineering.

The firm operates through five wholly-owned sub-brands — Helios Media (PR and social media), Forge (media planning and buying), Hyperlux (AI, web, applications, and retail innovation), Auris (social commerce and strategic communications launched May 2026), and Candela (Latino marketing agency) — supported by 100+ professionals across nine offices in Santa Monica, Dallas, Bogotá, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Its underlying technology stack includes the CEI™ methodology, full-stack marketing infrastructure embedded directly into portfolio companies, and a strategic investment in WhatIsMyAEO.com for AI-driven brand visibility diagnostics across major AI answer engines.

Commercially, Helios monetizes through a hybrid equity-for-services model: it earns equity tranches per year in exchange for full-stack marketing services, then invests via SAFE in the portfolio company's first funding round. It runs five accelerator programs annually with global institutional partners, a Government Innovation vertical for FDI recruitment and public-sector ecosystem development, and has accelerated 11 portfolio companies whose graduates have collectively raised $84MM. The company is led by CEO Humphrey Ho and is founder-controlled with no disclosed parent or external institutional ownership.

Name

Helios & Partners

Legal name

Helios & Partners Advisory Inc.

Website

https://heliospartnership.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Helios & Partners is a consumer ecosystem investment firm and venture studio that provides permanent equity capital plus full-stack marketing infrastructure to growth-stage brands in beauty, wellness, AI, cybersecurity, and influence-driven sectors across the US, LATAM, and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Brand Growth Equity & Marketing Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer & Retail Growth Equity (FSANACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity (FSANACAO)

Keywords

• Venture studio services
• Permanent equity partnership
• Consumer brand investment
• Growth stage marketing
• Accelerator programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Equity Investment Returns: Permanent equity partner model where H&P takes equity stakes in growth-stage companies. Earns additional equity tranches per year in exchange for marketing and growth services, and enters the first funding round via SAFE investment.
2. Marketing Services: Provides full-stack marketing services (Go-to-Market, Talent, Branding, PR, Media, Retail) in exchange for equity compensation alongside capital investment.
3. Strategic Investment Portfolio: Strategic investments in platforms like WhatIsMyAEO.com that democratize AI-driven discovery insights, expanding their ecosystem and potential returns.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Helios & Partners invests equity capital in growth-stage consumer brands and provides a snap-in, full-stack marketing infrastructure covering Go-to-Market Strategy, Talent, Branding, Distribution & Commerce, PR/Influencer, Media, Retail, and Creative Engineering through its proprietary Consumer Ecosystem Investing™ framework. Operating across 9 offices in the US, LATAM, and Asia, it pairs permanent equity partnership with in-house 100+ professionals to scale portfolio companies from Series A through global expansion.

Product overview

Helios & Partners operates as a consumer ecosystem investment and growth platform rather than a single unified product. The company offers a portfolio of sub-brands (Helios Media, Forge, Hyperlux, Auris, Candela) that together provide full-stack marketing services including PR/social media, media planning/buying, AI/innovation, social commerce, and Latino-focused marketing. Core service offerings include the H&P Venture Studio for accelerating founders with permanent equity and marketing infrastructure, H&P Accelerator Programs for institutional integration of high-growth entities, and H&P Government Innovation for FDI recruitment and regional ecosystem development. The investment mandate targets the $5-25M revenue intersection where wellness meets AI and influence drives media, across US/LATAM/Singapore at growth and Series A stages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Helios Media: Public Relations | Social Media - Amplifying Impact
• Forge
• Hyperlux
• Auris
• Candela
• H&P Venture Studio
• Consumer Ecosystem Investing™

Products and services

• H&P Venture Studio Venture studio that accelerates founders through permanent equity and full-stack marketing infrastructure, providing snap-in board, talent, and operational leadership to scale ventures from vision to execution.
• H&P Accelerator Programs Accelerator programs run in partnership with global organizations to integrate high-growth entities into their core businesses using the proprietary Consumer Ecosystem Investing™ framework; infrastructure for identifying, vetting, and relocating strategic assets that drive measurable operational scale.
• H&P Government Innovation Service partnering with the public sector to identify and relocate high-impact global businesses, establishing a permanent operational footprint in regional economies through FDI recruitment and innovation district architecture.
• Helios Media Public relations and social media amplification brand within the Helios ecosystem, delivering earned and owned media strategies across global markets in English, Chinese, and Spanish.
• Forge Media planning, buying, innovation, CRM, and identity services brand focused on purposeful media deployment for portfolio companies.
• Hyperlux Innovation-focused brand covering AI, Web, Applications, Retail, E-commerce, Gaming, and Experiential offerings for portfolio companies.
• Auris Strategic Communications Lab Strategic communications lab for high-growth brands in beauty, healthcare, and technology sectors, specializing in influencer marketing, social, commerce, and luxury brand positioning.
• Candela Latino marketing agency providing creative, social commerce, media, technology with AI, and PR/influence services for brands targeting Latino and US-LATAM markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• $84MM raised by portfolio graduates
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Auris (Strategic Communications Lab)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2026Strategic communications lab backed by Helios & Partners, led by Dora Williams (executive director) and Yuki Bi, CEO of Helios Worldwide. Applies venture capital-style 'listen-first' methodology to communications strategy for high-growth brands in beauty, healthcare, and technology sectors.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Stagwell: Marketing and communications holding company investing across digital transformation and consumer engagement. Comparable holding-company structure spanning marketing services and equity-style bets.
• WPP: World's largest advertising and marketing services holding company with global operations across creative, media, and PR. Comparable global multi-discipline marketing capabilities, though operating at vastly larger scale.
• Omnicom Group: Global marketing and corporate communications holding company spanning advertising, media, PR, and branding services. Comparable full-stack marketing services posture to H&P's subsidiary ecosystem.
• The Brandtech Group: Marketing-technology holding company integrating agency services with strategic investments in marketing-tech platforms. Comparable combination of brand/marketing capabilities with equity stakes in adjacent platforms.

Direct peers

• Idealab: Pioneering venture studio that creates and operates companies with capital, talent, and operational infrastructure. Comparable hands-on operator-investor model with equity in portfolio companies.
• Silas Capital: Growth-equity investor focused on differentiated, scalable consumer brands. Comparable because of the consumer/retail growth-equity mandate and full-stack strategic support model.
• Founders Factory: Global venture studio that pairs capital with dedicated operational teams to scale early-stage companies across verticals. Closest comparable to Helios & Partners on the studio + permanent-equity model.
• Antler: Global early-stage venture firm combining capital with founder-building resources across 20+ countries. Comparable venture-studio model and multi-region footprint analogous to H&P's tri-continent presence.
• Lerer Hippeau: NYC-based VC firm investing in consumer and media brands at seed and Series A. Comparable consumer-sector focus and founder-support orientation across portfolio companies.
• BrandProject: Early-stage consumer brand accelerator providing capital alongside operational support in marketing, supply chain, and growth. Directly comparable consumer-brand investment thesis and equity-for-services orientation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heliospartners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Helios & Partners