People who have built, backed and advised.
Still doing all three.
Every person at Helecom has operated in the markets they advise on. The partners we bring into the Group extend that principle, bringing depth in their own domain, not just a name on a page.
Peter Helesic
Founder · Group Principal
Founder · Group Principal · Helecom Group
Peter Helesic
Helecom Group was founded in Vienna over twenty years ago on a single thesis: that the most valuable thing you can give a founder is someone who has operated in the market they are trying to enter, and will stay involved until the outcome is clear. As the Group’s principal, Peter brings two decades of cross-border operational experience across manufacturing, technology, professional services and consumer sectors in Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and beyond. He is an active co-investor within the Danube Angels network and co-founder of StepUpp Ventures in London. He leads both the Advisory and Invest divisions alongside the broader Helecom team.
Over two decades he has advised and invested across manufacturing, technology, professional services and consumer sectors in Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and beyond. He is an active principal investor, a member of the Danube Angels network, and co-founder of StepUpp Ventures in London. He leads both Advisory and Invest.
Twenty years. Both sides of the market. Still picking up the phone.
- Group
- Advisory
- Invest
Advisory
Cross-border expansion, organisational design and commercial strategy for European founders.
The Advisory team brings operational depth to every engagement. We have operated in the markets we advise on, and that distinction matters when the decisions being made have real commercial consequences. The team covers market entry, agility and commercial architecture, each led by a named partner with a track record in that specific domain.
Andrea Nagy
- Advisory
Andrea Nagy is an organisational design and agility partner with a background spanning change management, marketing, and leadership development across international business environments.
As a certified SAFe 5 Scrum Master and accredited change manager, she brings both the methodological rigour and the human understanding that structural transformation requires. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy and execution, helping leadership teams redesign how decisions are made, how information moves, and how people stay aligned when organisations grow faster than their operating models. She draws from a deep toolkit of modern frameworks, always with a clear focus on outcomes that are visible in daily work, not just on paper.
At Helecom, Andrea leads the Agility pillar, working directly with founders and executive teams on organisational design, cross-border team alignment and the leadership behaviours that either accelerate or stall growth at scale.
Outside the office, Andrea is the founder of La Oliva and a certified olive oil sommelier, trained at O.N.A.O.O. in Imperia, Italy. She also has a passion for mycology, reflecting a genuine curiosity for mastering complex systems.
Francesca Rossi
Partner • Strategy & Marketing
- Advisory
Francesca Rossi is a strategic marketing partner and founder of Sir Fred Group, a London-based advisory firm working with venture capital funds, private equity, and portfolio companies on institutional positioning, fund narrative, and investor communication.
With 20 years of experience across the full marketing spectrum, from live events and brand strategy to digital, social, and commercial growth, she operates as a senior CMO-level partner with both the strategic depth and executional range that complex organisations require. Her background spans finance, technology, and infrastructure, with a consistent focus on how capital environments build authority, earn LP confidence, and navigate institutional due diligence.
At Helecom, Francesca leads the Strategic Marketing pillar, working with founders and executive teams on positioning, brand authority and investor communication across European and international markets.
Outside the office, Francesca is a yoga practitioner and, being Italian, stylish without effort. She has a taste for the extreme: fast cars, skydiving, horse riding and the kind of freedom that comes with all three.
Karl Cerny
Partner · Commercial Excellence
- Advisory
Karl Cerny is a commercial excellence partner with a career built at the intersection of large-scale revenue transformation and operational leadership across B2B markets in Europe and beyond.
As a former President of the Xerox European Production Printing Group, overseeing a $2.3bn business, and with senior executive roles at Danaher and Unisys, he brings the kind of institutional depth that comes only from having run complex commercial organisations through real market conditions. Holding an MBA from INSEAD, his work focuses on identifying the structural constraints that prevent businesses from converting growth ambition into measurable results, and implementing the operating models, leadership disciplines and commercial systems that close that gap.
At Helecom, Karl leads the Commercial Excellence pillar, working with founders, investors and executive teams on sales diagnostics, commercial performance assessments and leadership development programmes for growth-stage and PE-backed companies.
Outside the office, Karl is an enthusiastic cook with a deep appreciation for good food and wine, and finds equal satisfaction on a long mountain hike.
Invest
Early-stage conviction capital with an operator’s view on every deal. CEE, DACH and global reach.
The Invest team combines two decades of CEE-DACH operational experience with specialist network reach across the UK and broader EMEA. Paul Putz brings structured angel investment expertise and deal flow through the Danube Angels network. Francesca Rossi brings global capital access and investor readiness expertise through StepUpp Ventures, and Nenad Pacek contributes EMEA market intelligence and senior introductions through EMEA Business Group.
Paul Putz
CEO & FOUNDER · Ventures Associate
- Founder • Danube Angels • Invest
Paul Putz is the founder of Danube Angels and a Vienna-based specialist in corporate finance, business investment and wealth management with a focus on the DACH and CEE region. He founded Paul Putz & Partner Management Consulting GmbH, which advises companies on corporate financing, transaction structuring and capital market access, working alongside banks and institutional investors on their behalf.
His career spans investment banking in Prague, board-level roles at investment companies, and the directorship of Business Development at Newex AG, the Eastern European stock exchange. He holds an Executive MBA from California State University.
Through Danube Angels, Paul has built one of the region’s most active structured angel co-investment networks, enabling investors to participate in growth-stage companies across CEE and DACH from EUR 1,000.
Helecom works within the Danube Angels network as an active investment partner, bringing operational depth and cross-border expertise to every deal.
Outside the office, Paul makes his own wine, sings, reads widely and travels whenever the opportunity arises; a man who takes quality seriously in every area of life.
Francesca Rossi
CEO & FOUNDER · StepUpp Ventures
- Founder · StepUpp Ventures · Invest
Francesca Rossi is the founder of StepUpp Ventures, a London-based venture studio working with early-stage founders to become investor-ready and access global capital networks.
Her work focuses on the critical gap between where a founder is and where they need to be to raise successfully. Through a structured 90-day programme, StepUpp sharpens positioning, builds traction evidence and prepares founders for the rigour of institutional investor evaluation, with direct access to a growing network of VCs, angels and institutional investors across multiple markets.
At Helecom, Francesca brings the StepUpp pathway to portfolio companies ready to raise internationally, giving founders a connected route from Central European operational expertise to global capital access.
Outside the office, Francesca is a yoga practitioner and, being Italian, stylish without effort. She has a taste for the extreme: fast cars, skydiving, horse riding and the kind of freedom that comes with all three.
Nenad Pacek
CEO & Founder · EMEA Business Group
- FOUNDER · EMEA Business NEtwork·
Nenad Pacek is the founder and CEO of EMEA Business Group, one of the foremost authorities on business strategy across Europe, Middle East and Africa, trusted by Microsoft, Visa, Nestlé, Pfizer, Google, Red Bull and Mercedes-Benz for institutional-grade market intelligence and strategic guidance.
His work spans market entry strategy, competitive intelligence and senior advisory across some of the most complex and fast-moving business environments in the world. With decades of on-the-ground experience across the EMEA region, he brings a level of market depth and executive network that few advisors operating at this scale can match.
At Helecom, Nenad contributes directly to investment decisions and portfolio company strategy, providing EMEA market intelligence, senior introductions and co-advisory support on deals where regional depth and institutional relationships make the difference.
Outside the office, Nenad is a devoted family man and an active sportsman; equally at home on a tennis court, a basketball court or his boat. Travel and reading complete the picture.
The Helecom Shop stocks products the team genuinely uses and stands behind. The focus is on sustainable, natural and thoughtfully produced goods: from Tierra Verde eco-cleaning and body care, to MelliGEL natural energy gels and NILIO alcohol-free beer. Every product on the platform has been chosen because it meets a standard the team applies to everything, quality that is real, provenance that is clear and a purpose that goes beyond the transaction.
Daniela Mikolasek
Head of e-Commerce
- heleshop
Daniela Mikolasek is a business and marketing professional with a background in brand development, design and commercial operations. She previously co-owned and led a yoga apparel brand, where she built the product range, visual identity and customer experience from the ground up, developing a sharp instinct for what makes a product worth recommending and what does not.
Her approach to every project is practical and discerning. She keeps pace with trends without being led by them, focuses on solutions that work in the real world, and brings a standard of care to her work that comes from genuine personal investment in the outcome.
At Helecom, Daniela leads the Shop, curating a selection of tools, resources and products for founders, operators and investors who value quality and intentionality. Every product on the platform has been chosen because the team believes in it enough to put the Helecom name behind it.
Outside the office, Daniela is a mother of two based in Vienna, an avid cyclist, hiker and ski tourer, and someone who travels with her family as often as life allows.
Andre Savic
head of IT & Infrastructure
- heleshop
Andre Savic is a full stack developer and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in software engineering, machine learning and cybersecurity. He is the founder of Rubberduck Labs, a Burgenland-based technology studio specialising in practical AI applications and automation for businesses.
His work sits at the intersection of technical depth and real-world utility. Where many practitioners chase capability for its own sake, Andre’s focus has always been on building systems that remove friction from daily operations: AI assistants, automated workflows and custom software that people actually use. He brings over ten years of hands-on experience with machine learning, Elixir and cloud application development to every project.
At Helecom, Andre leads the IT and infrastructure function for the Shop, ensuring the technical foundation of the platform is robust, scalable and built to support the Group’s broader digital ambitions.
Outside the office, …
Flora Maria Fuchs
Digital Marketing
- heleshop
Flora Maria Fuchs is a digital marketing professional with a BSc in International Business Administration from WU Vienna, where she specialised in Marketing and Consumer Research. She is currently completing her Master’s in Business Communication, having extended her studies through international programmes in Paris and Buenos Aires.
Her marketing experience combines academic rigour with hands-on practice across community management, supporter communication and digital engagement. She brings a multilingual perspective to her work, operating fluently across German, English and French, and has developed a strong instinct for how brands build meaningful relationships with their audiences across different cultural contexts.
At Helecom, Flora supports the digital marketing activity for the Shop, working on content, community and the digital presence that connects the Helecom network with the right audiences.
Outside the office, Flora is a seasoned traveller with a genuine curiosity for new cultures and perspectives. She danced at the 2026 Vienna Opera Ball and brings that same dedication and discipline to everything she takes on.
Work with us
The right conversation
starts here.
Whether you are a founder looking for advisory support, an investor seeking curated deal flow, or someone who wants to understand what the Group can offer, the conversation starts in the same place.
helesic@helecom.eu