Invest
We invest in founders we would work alongside.
And we work alongside the ones we back.
CEE
London
EMEA
Business Group
Most investors have capital but no operational depth. Most advisors have depth but no capital.
Helecom Invest is built for founders who need both. We invest within the Danube Angels network.
The Helecom team has operated and invested across the CEE-DACH market for over twenty years. Every investment we make is backed by that experience, not just due diligence on a spreadsheet, but a genuine operator’s view on whether the company can do what it says it can do, in the markets it says it can do it. We co-invest as active members of Danube Angels, a structured angel network of 200+ investors across CEE and DACH, founded by Paul G. Putz.
Angel Network · CEE / DACH
Peter is an active co-investor within the Danube Angels network, a structured angel co-investment platform with 200+ active members across the CEE and DACH region. Through Danube Angels, investors can participate in curated opportunities from as little as EUR 1,000.
Strategic Partner · EMEA
Market intelligence and business advisory for corporations operating across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Trusted by Microsoft, Visa, Nestlé, Pfizer, Google and Red Bull. Helecom is a member of the EMEA Business Group network.
Strategic Partner · United Kingdom
London-based venture studio and strategic partner to Helecom. Works with early-stage startups to become investor-ready in 90 days, with direct access to global VC networks and institutional capital. Based in Marylebone, London.
Investment approach
Conviction, not volume.
Operators, not observers.
We take a small number of positions each year. Each one is chosen because we believe we can make a material difference, not just by providing capital, but by opening doors, challenging assumptions and staying involved through the difficult decisions.
01 · What we look for
Founders who know the gap between their ambition and their current reality
We back founders who are clear-eyed about what they have built and honest about what they have not yet figured out. Certainty is not a good signal. Clarity combined with urgency is. We want to work with people who will use our network, challenge our thinking and hold us accountable, not just take the money and send quarterly updates.
02 · Where we focus
European growth-stage companies with cross-border ambition
Our primary focus is companies operating in the CEE and DACH markets, or companies from outside the region seeking to enter it. We also invest through our UK partnership into companies targeting the British market or raising from UK-based institutional capital. Extended EMEA reach comes through our partnership with EMEA Business Group. Sector-agnostic, we follow the quality of the founder and the logic of the opportunity.
03 · What we bring
Capital plus the network and operational depth to make it count
Co-investment network
Danube Angel.
Shared conviction, collective reach.
Danube Angel is a structured angel co-investment network operating across the CEE and DACH regions. Through the network, individual investors can participate in curated opportunities from EUR 1,000, lowering the barrier to professional-grade deal flow without lowering the quality of the diligence behind each investment.
Peter is an active participant and deal contributor within the Danube Angels community. Companies backed by Helecom Invest are presented to the network as co-investment opportunities where appropriate.
For investors
Access curated deal flow from EUR 1,000
Capital plus a room full of operators
Reach
CEE · DACH · EMEA
Active investor communities across Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and beyond, with extended reach across EMEA through the EMEA Business Group partnership.
Your European growth story starts in Vienna.
Your global raise can start in London.
StepUpp Ventures is a London-based venture studio and Helecom’s strategic partner for global capital access. Together, we give founders something most European advisors cannot offer: a connected path from Central European operational expertise to international institutional capital.
StepUpp works with early-stage founders to close the gap between where they are and where they need to be to raise successfully, through hands-on execution support, investor positioning and direct access to a global network of VCs and institutional investors. When a Helecom portfolio company is ready to raise, StepUpp is already in the room.
stepuppventures.com
Investor readiness
From idea to fundable in 90 days
StepUpp's structured programme gets founders ready to raise, sharpening positioning, building traction evidence and preparing them for global investor scrutiny.
Capital access
Direct routes to global VC and angel networks
Based in London with an active and growing network of VCs, angels and institutional investors across multiple markets, StepUpp opens doors that geography alone would otherwise close.
Combined reach
CEE operational depth. Global capital access.
Helecom's European market experience combined with StepUpp's international investor network gives portfolio companies a reach that neither could offer alone.
Journal
Two conversations
We work with founders
and the people who back them.
For founders
You are building something worth backing. You need capital that comes with more than a term sheet.
If you are a growth-stage company with real traction and a clear view of the market you are going after, and you want an investor who will still pick up the phone at 8pm on a Friday, the conversation starts here.
- Early-stage to growth-stage investment
- Operational involvement, not passive capital
- CEE, DACH and UK market access
- Connection to Danube Angel co-investor network
- StepUpp Ventures pathway for UK fundraising
For investors
You want access to curated European deal flow with an operator's diligence behind every opportunity.
Through the Danube Angels network, individual investors can participate in professionally curated opportunities across CEE and DACH from EUR 1,000, with regular reporting, clear documentation and a community of co-investors who know the markets they are backing.
- Curated deal flow, CEE and DACH focus
- Co-investment from EUR 1,000
- Operator-led diligence on every deal
- Regular communication and portfolio updates
- Direct access to Peter and the Helecom network
Capital gets you in the door.
Strategy keeps you there.
Helecom Advisory and Helecom Invest are separate disciplines, but they are designed to work together. The founders we back often need strategic advisory support alongside capital. The clients we advise sometimes reach a point where capital becomes part of the conversation. Both doors open from the same place.
Most advisors tell you what to do. We have already done it.
Cross-border market entry, organisational design and commercial strategy for founders expanding across European markets, delivered by operators, not consultants.
Start the conversation
If you are building something serious,
let's find out if we fit.
Peter takes a small number of investment relationships each year. One conversation is enough to know whether there is alignment, and if there is, what happens next moves quickly.
[email protected] ·