For Startups & Founders

HELIO for Startups

Your engineering-first partner for MVPs, v1 products, and AI solutions. We bring CTO-level guidance, product thinking, and production-grade code—without the overhead of building an in-house team.

Startup Engineering Services

We specialize in three engagement models designed for early-stage companies.

🚀

Web & Platform Engineering

Full-stack product development for SaaS platforms, marketplaces, and web apps.

  • ✓ Modern stack: React/Next.js, Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS
  • ✓ Authentication, payments, analytics out-of-the-box
  • ✓ Production-ready from week one
  • ✓ CI/CD, monitoring, and observability included
📱

Mobile Product Engineering

Native iOS/Android or cross-platform mobile apps with backend integration.

  • ✓ React Native or Swift/Kotlin for native performance
  • ✓ Push notifications, offline-first, real-time sync
  • ✓ App Store / Play Store launch support
  • ✓ Analytics and crash reporting from day one
👥

Embedded Startup Squad

A dedicated team working as your extended engineering department.

  • ✓ Tech lead + 2-3 senior engineers embedded in your workflow
  • ✓ Weekly sprints, daily standups, full transparency
  • ✓ We handle hiring, retention, and infrastructure
  • ✓ Scale up/down as your needs evolve

Why founders choose HELIO

We're not a dev shop—we're your technical co-founder for hire.

🧠

CTO-level guidance

We bring architecture decisions, tech stack selection, and trade-off analysis—not just execution.

🎯

Product thinking, not backlog factory

We challenge requirements, suggest alternatives, and prioritize features based on impact—not ticket count.

📊

Go-to-market technical readiness

Security audits, compliance docs, SOC 2 prep, and investor-grade technical due diligence support.

⚡

Milestone-driven delivery

Fixed milestones with clear scope and timelines. No scope creep, no surprises.

The HELIO Launch Stack

Battle-tested tech choices optimized for speed, scale, and maintainability.

▸

Frontend: React, Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS — modern, fast, maintainable.

▸

Backend: Node.js, Python (FastAPI/Django), or Go — depending on use case.

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Database: PostgreSQL for relational, Redis for cache, S3 for storage.

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Infrastructure: AWS (preferred), GCP, or Vercel/Netlify for frontend. Docker + Kubernetes for serious scale.

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AI/ML: OpenAI API, AWS Bedrock, vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate), LangChain for agent workflows.

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Observability: Sentry for errors, DataDog for metrics, PostHog for product analytics.

HELIO Launch Kit

Pre-built modules and integrations to ship faster.

🔐 Auth & User Management

  • • Email/password + social login (Google, GitHub)
  • • Magic link authentication
  • • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • • Multi-tenancy / workspace support

🗄️ CRUD & Data Models

  • • Auto-generated admin panels
  • • REST or GraphQL APIs
  • • Real-time updates via WebSockets
  • • File uploads to S3/CloudFlare R2

💳 Payments & Billing

  • • Stripe integration (subscriptions, one-time)
  • • Invoicing and receipt generation
  • • Usage-based billing support
  • • Webhook handling for payment events

📧 Email & Notifications

  • • Transactional email (SendGrid, Resend)
  • • Push notifications (web, mobile)
  • • In-app notification center
  • • Email templates and personalization

📊 Analytics & Tracking

  • • PostHog or Mixpanel for product analytics
  • • Custom event tracking
  • • User session replay
  • • Conversion funnels and dashboards

🤖 AI Features

  • • Chat interfaces with streaming responses
  • • Document parsing and RAG pipelines
  • • AI agent workflows (LangChain/LangGraph)
  • • Vector search and semantic matching

Prototype in 4 Weeks Program

Go from idea to working MVP in one month.

1

Discovery & Architecture

We map your requirements, define the MVP scope, and design the technical architecture. Deliverables: wireframes, data model, tech stack decision.

Output: Architecture doc, Figma wireframes, GitHub repo initialized.

2-3

Core Build Sprint

We build the MVP core: authentication, data models, main user flows, and a functional UI. Daily updates, weekly demos.

Output: Working prototype deployed to staging environment.

4

Polish, Testing & Launch Prep

Final polish, bug fixes, load testing, and deployment to production. We hand over documentation, credentials, and a roadmap for v2.

Output: Production-ready MVP, handover documentation, post-launch support plan.

HELIO AI Studio

Monthly AI product development engagement.

For startups building AI-native products, we offer a dedicated monthly engagement model:

  • ✓ 1 senior AI engineer + 1 full-stack engineer embedded in your team full-time.
  • ✓ Weekly sprint cycles with demo and planning sessions.
  • ✓ AI infrastructure setup: vector databases, RAG pipelines, prompt management, observability.
  • ✓ Model evaluation & iteration: we test multiple approaches, measure performance, and optimize for cost and quality.
  • ✓ Monthly retainer with flexible scope: you can adjust priorities each month as your product evolves.

Ideal for: AI-powered SaaS, LLM-based automation tools, AI agents, chatbots, document intelligence products.

Ready to build your MVP?

Book a discovery call and we'll map out your technical roadmap, MVP scope, and timeline—no commitment required.

Book a discovery call