A Nordic owner, an active board and the capital to keep building.
Helm is majority-owned by Axcel, the Nordic private equity firm, and our founders remain shareholders. Axcel has backed us since December 2021 (closing early 2022), when Helm was BullWall, to help a fast-growing Danish ransomware containment company scale internationally. That backing gives customers, partners and our team a stable company to build on, today and through the next stage of growth.
Axcel is a private equity firm founded in the Nordics in 1994, with more than 30 years of experience in building market leaders. It invests across Northern Europe in four sectors, Technology, Business Services & Industrials, Healthcare and Consumer, from teams in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Frankfurt.
Axcel has raised ten funds, with more than EUR 6.9 billion in committed capital from Nordic and international investors. It currently owns 28 companies and has made 82 platform investments. Its approach centres on targeted initiatives that drive profitable growth, built with the management teams of the companies it owns.
When Axcel became BullWall’s majority shareholder in December 2021 (closing early 2022), it backed a company that had grown fast since its start in 2016, with software built for the moment ransomware gets in and a market presence in the US and the UK through reseller partners. The aim was to accelerate that growth and build a leading global player in ransomware protection.
Our founders kept a significant shareholding, and one of them, Michael Slipsager, sits on our board today. The partnership has carried us through the years since, and now into our second founding as Helm.
Security is a long-term relationship. When you choose a partner to contain ransomware, you need to know that partner will be there next year, and the year after. Axcel’s ownership gives Helm the stability and the capital to keep investing in the platform, in our partners and in the people who support you.
It also matters when you are asked about it. Regulations such as DORA and NIS2 expect organisations to assess the resilience of the suppliers they depend on. Clear ownership, an independent board and a long-term investor make that assessment simpler. And as our platform keeps expanding, that backing helps us build ahead of the threats our customers face.
Helm has delivered continuous growth and profitability every year since 2016.
When you choose a partner to contain ransomware, you need to know that partner will be there next year, and the year after.
Our board brings together Axcel’s partners, one of our founders and independent experience from enterprise software. It works with the leadership team on the direction of the company and its next stage of growth, and keeps Helm focused on one promise, decisive control before, during and after an attack.
Frank Stensballe Vium
Chairman of the Board
Christoffer Müller
Member of the Board, Partner at Axcel
Michael Slipsager
Member of the Board, co-founder
Neda Nia
Member of the Board, Chief Product & Growth Officer at Stibo Systems
