Vienna + Manila

Underestimated women.
Underestimated threats.
One answer.

We train gifted women in Southeast Asia into security engineers and put their skills to work where Europe is most exposed: secure software for enterprises facing the talent shortage, and defense against industrial disinformation.

The school & services venture

heldin academy

Secure software engineering by women the world overlooked.

A two-year, tuition-free coding school in Manila: a basic income while learning, employment after graduation. Our engineers deliver dev services for European clients from day one.

Apply now The program Dev services
The mission R&D venture

heldin resilience lab

Our R&D initiative detecting, countering and measuring coordinated disinformation in Europe. It applies the same AI-native security engineering we sell to the security of the information space, and runs separately from heldin's commercial raise.

Explore the lab at heldin.eu →

Investor? Invest in heldin →  ·  Senior developer or educator? Join our team →

The opportunity

Europe has a talent crisis.
The Philippines has untapped potential.

4.5M
cybersecurity experts
missing globally
424,000
unfilled cybersecurity
roles across Europe
1 in 3
European companies
cannot find tech talent
15M+
people living in poverty
in the Philippines alone

Europe's demand for cybersecurity and software talent has outpaced supply for years — and the gap is widening. For DACH companies, this means delayed projects, unsecured systems, and fierce competition for a shrinking pool of qualified engineers. Meanwhile, in communities like Tondo in Manila, gifted women with the ability to become world-class tech professionals have no path into the profession.

heldin closes both gaps at once.

Mariebeth teaching women at the Tondo workshop

▸ POC COHORT • TONDO, MANILA • 2025

The Flywheel Model

A unique self-increasing flywheel.

heldin flywheel: select, train, develop, employ. 100 percent year-on-year growth, structurally funded. THE FLYWHEEL 01 02 03 04 Select Gifted women from the Philippines. Train Paid track to secure-software engineer. Develop Secure software for EU clients. Employ Most grads are employed in-house. 100% YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH STRUCTURALLY FUNDED

▸ A self-sustaining flywheel. Every cohort funds the next.

1. Select

The most talented women in underserved communities across Southeast Asia, selected for aptitude.

2. Train

Two years, full-time, tuition-free, with a basic income. Real projects from day one, guided by senior engineers.

3. Develop

Secure software for European companies, built under senior supervision to European quality standards.

4. Employ

Most graduates are hired by heldin: they deliver for clients and train the next cohort. The model grows with every turn.

The result: 100% year-on-year growth, structurally funded, without continuous external capital.

Europe's tech talent shortage and Southeast Asia's untapped potential are the same problem. heldin is built to solve both.

Mariebeth teaching a woman with her baby at the Tondo workshop

▸ POC COHORT • TONDO, MANILA • 2025

Our Services

Senior-supervised, security-first software delivery.
Without the hiring headache.

DACH companies working with heldin get access to rigorously trained developers and cybersecurity analysts — delivered remotely, at competitive rates, with full quality oversight.

Secure Software Development

Custom development with security-by-design built in from day one. OWASP standards. ISO 27001 alignment. Delivered by trained engineers, supervised by seniors.

From 2027

Cybersecurity Services

Threat analysis, vulnerability assessments, and security consulting — delivered by trained analysts with hands-on project experience, supervised by certified professionals.

Vienna-based leadership. Filipino delivery team. Built for DACH quality standards.
Not a staffing agency. We own the training pipeline and the quality guarantee.
Every engagement finances a woman's path out of poverty. Impact is a structural outcome of quality work.
Start a conversation
Angel Round · Now Open

A proprietary talent engine for Europe's cybersecurity shortage.

We turn overlooked women into Europe's next secure software workforce.

heldin is a scalable secure-software-development company with a proprietary talent engine. Our product is secure software development. Our engine is a women-first talent pipeline. Our impact is economic mobility for women who the world has so far chosen to overlook.

20 women trained in POC in Tondo
€7k first client revenue
€150k+ committed from early investors
€55k grant from aws — Austria's federal promotional bank
Funded by
aws First Incubator Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Wirtschaft
The investment thesis

Europe faces a structural cybersecurity workforce shortage that will not self-correct. heldin builds the missing pipeline by training high-potential, underserved women in the Global South into AI-native secure software and cyber engineers.

Our learn-to-earn model turns education into a self-sustaining revenue engine: women gain real project experience while European companies access trusted, cost-effective secure development capacity. We combine a fast-growing cybersecurity market with measurable social impact — converting overlooked talent into digital resilience, economic mobility, and scalable returns.

Angel Round

€500,000 to prove the flywheel.

heldin is raising its first angel round to launch a 100-woman pilot cohort in the Philippines, build DACH client demand, and establish the company as a Vienna FlexCo.

Voting shares from €150,000 · Non-voting from €10,000

Welcoming especially female investors!

Schedule Investor Call
What our engineers build

Real training means real projects.

Training only matters if it leads to real work. heldin's engineers deliver secure software and cybersecurity for European clients, and take on mission-driven projects that put their skills to work for society. Our flagship mission project:

Flagship project

heldin resilience lab

An R&D initiative that detects, counters and measures coordinated disinformation. It applies the same AI-native security engineering we sell to the security of the information space, and runs as mission R&D, kept separate from heldin's commercial raise.

Explore the resilience lab →

One of a growing portfolio of projects our graduates build.

heldin academy · Apply · Mag-apply

You have what it takes. We'll prove it to the world.

Ikaw ay may kakayahan. Patutunayan natin ito sa mundo.

heldin academy is looking for women in Manila who are curious and determined, whatever your background or formal education. You don't need a degree. You don't need experience. You need potential and drive.

Naghahanap ang heldin academy ng mga kababaihan sa Manila na may sigla at determinasyon, kahit anong pinagmulan o antas ng edukasyon mo. Hindi mo kailangan ng diploma. Hindi mo kailangan ng karanasan. Kailangan mo lang ng potensyal, ng determinasyon.

Who we're looking for
Hinahanap namin
  • You love solving problems
  • You learn fast and want more
  • You pay attention to the details
  • You are reliable and show up
  • You want to grow, and keep growing
  • Mahilig kang maghanap ng solusyon
  • Mabilis kang matuto at naghahanap ng kaalaman
  • Mapanuri ka at maingat
  • Maaasahan ka
  • Nais mong lumago, at patuloy na lumago
What you get Makukuha mo
  • Two years of free training in software development and cybersecurity
  • Basic income while you learn
  • Real projects for European clients from day one
  • Employment with heldin or DACH companies after graduation
  • A community of women building careers together
  • Libreng dalawang taong pagsasanay sa software development at cybersecurity
  • Basic income habang nag-aaral
  • Tunay na trabaho para sa mga kliyenteng European mula sa simula
  • Trabaho sa heldin o sa mga kumpanya sa Europa pagkatapos ng programa
  • Isang komunidad ng mga babaeng nagtatayo ng kanilang kinabukasan
Your path into tech Ang iyong landas sa tech
Step 1

Apply

A short application, right on your phone.

Maikling application, gamit ang cellphone mo.

Step 2

Assessment

An online aptitude check. It measures potential, not diplomas.

Online aptitude check. Potensyal ang sinusukat, hindi diploma.

Step 3

Online Learning Journey

16 weeks of free foundations on your Android phone, self-paced.

16 na linggo ng libreng foundations sa Android phone mo, self-paced.

Step 4

In-Person Course · Manila

Two years, tuition-free, with basic income and a job after graduation. Starts early 2027.

Dalawang taon, libre, may basic income at trabaho pagkatapos. Simula sa unang bahagi ng 2027.

Apply now · Mag-apply na →
Our Founder

Founder-market fit that cannot be replicated.

Mariebeth Aquino

Founder & CEO

Mariebeth Aquino brings rare founder-market fit to heldin: a computer scientist, serial tech founder, and Austrian-Filipina bridge-builder with deep roots in both Europe and Southeast Asia. With 25+ years in software development and venture building, she understands Europe's tech talent shortage from inside the industry — and the untapped potential of underserved women in the Global South through her Filipino heritage and direct on-the-ground work in Manila.

Her work combines technical depth, entrepreneurial execution, social justice, and a strong international network to build heldin as a scalable solution for both economic inclusion and Europe's future workforce.

Empowered by AI

heldin has been AI-native from day one. Mariebeth uses AI as a strategic multiplier across the company — helping a solo female founder move faster, learn continuously, and build for scale from the start.

Schedule a call with Mariebeth
Mariebeth Aquino founder-market fit: six facets around her portrait FOUNDER-MARKET FIT MARIEBETH AQUINO FOUNDER, heldin Woman LED BY · BUILT FOR · FUNDED BY WOMEN Computer Scientist TU WIEN · TGM Serial Founder GAMES AUSTRIA · XRIOUS Analytical NEURODIVERGENT Social Justice IAEA · UN · SDG Filipina-Austrian VIENNA + MANILA

▸ Mariebeth's Founder-Market Fit at a glance · click to enlarge

We're hiring · Manila

Build the next generation of engineers. With us.

heldin is looking for senior software developers and computer security educators who want to do the most meaningful work of their career — training high-potential women and delivering real projects for European clients.

Based in Manila, this is a full-time employment role at the heart of heldin's delivery model. You will train our women, supervise client project delivery, and help build the technical backbone of a company designed to scale fast — across the Philippines first, and across Southeast Asia soon after. This is not a volunteer role. Not a consultancy. You are a founding team member in a company that is going somewhere.

5+ years in software development or cybersecurity
Experience mentoring or teaching junior developers
Comfortable with project-based, hands-on learning environments
Belief in what heldin is building — and the grit to build it with us
Express your interest
The pilot cohort of women at the Tondo workshop, Manila

▸ POC COHORT • TONDO, MANILA • 2025

Mariebeth teaching two women at the Tondo workshop

▸ POC COHORT • TONDO, MANILA • 2025