SARATOGA SPRINGS — Capital Region-based startup Helios Life Enterprises continues to make waves, earning an invitation to the 2023 South By Southwest Conference and Festivals to showcase technology that can analyze voice tones.
Helios CEO and co-founder Sean Austin said the invitation is “the biggest nod” the company has received, saying roughly 800 companies apply before the field is narrowed down to 40.
“Just being in that company is totally humbling,” said Austin. “It’s a very large platform for us to get out there, an international platform. Totally excited that we’re in the AI category, because that is right now probably the hottest type of startup.”
The honor comes on the heels of some very strong months for the company. Helios has recently presented at the TechCrunch Battlefield 200 and the Eagle Alpha Alternative Data Conference, and Austin said that more hedge funds are beginning to test Helios’ data and products.
“All of last year, we had, I want to say six total. We’re almost at that right now to start this year,” Austin said. “The fact that we will probably edge last year’s total account by mid-February or the end of February is a pretty good signal that we’ve elevated our brand.”
Helios’ technology can analyze audio and voice tones to find a relationship between the words that are spoken and the tone in which they are spoken with.
“If you win an award, you can say words that don’t actually sound super positive, like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe it,’ like you’re in disbelief. That’s made true by voice tone,” explained Austin.
Helios will showcase its technology as part of the Artificial Intelligence category, one of eight different categories at the South By Southwest Pitch competition. Austin said the company will have roughly three minutes to pitch.
The first part of the pitch will consist of a personal story that connects to Helios’ work, said Austin.
As a high school senior, Austin suffered a knee injury during a state semifinal football game. Austin said he told his father, “This is a horrible moment,” and his father replied, “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“You can say that phrase in so many ways with voice tone, that it means so much to someone,” he continued. “Our story ties into that so tightly, this whole concept of emotion, or meaning, or understanding, that can be driven from something that is innately human.”
The second part of the pitch will discuss “the reality of the company,” Austin explained.
“There’s some major, major hedge funds on the planet seeing value. There’s more than ever testing it, and we’re sure a good portion of them will be able to apply it to their portfolios,” said Austin. “We see a trajectory now that’s becoming more and more real, which we’ve always believed in. But being able to tell that, because we’ve had five or six more months than TechCrunch, just adds a whole reality to it.”
South By Southwest is also assisting Helios and other companies with their pitches, assigning each of them a pitch coach.
“That is a weekly engagement that South By Southwest is supporting,” Austin said. “I’ve actually already started that. I can also openly say that I’ve not had a pitch coach before, so I think it’s very helpful to have that feedback.”
The opportunity for Helios to pitch at events like South By Southwest helps make the company “more and more prominent,” with Austin saying he believes Helios will hit an inflection point in 2023.
“I believe fully that 2023 is the year where that inflection point happens,” said Austin. “I think people are going to jump on board and use it. We’ve spent so much time making it real, we’re working with some very top universities on the research this year. It means everything to us, because if we hit that inflection point, we can proliferate it into space.”
The company is also still in the process of crowdfunding, Austin said. Helios, with the help of a company called Fairmint, is offering the opportunity to buy shares of the company for a minimum of $500. Shares are available at helioslife.enterprises.
“It’s a way that you can just buy shares through Fairmint for us,” Austin said. “We’re a private company, of course, not on the New York Stock Exchange or anything. But it makes it very accessible.”
Austin said Helios has “hundreds” of local investors and are hoping for hundreds more. He said the Capital Region has meant a lot to the company, noting many of Helios’ employees are longtime locals. In addition to Austin, chief revenue officer Kevin Vanderwarker is an area native, and co-founder Dr. Gerwin Schalk attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
“It means a lot,” said Austin. “It means a bunch to use that knowledge and push it forward, and have a big impact, and show that you don’t have to be in New York City to make a startup and grow something that’s really impactful.”
