Vienna + Manila

Secure software engineering
by women the world overlooked.

We train gifted women in Southeast Asia into cybersecurity and secure software engineers, deliver their work to DACH enterprises facing structural talent shortages, and hire our graduates into our own all-women engineering team.

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Are you a woman in the Philippines?  Join the waitlist →
Are you a 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

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

1. Select

We identify the most talented women in underserved communities across Southeast Asia and select those with the highest aptitude.

2. Train

Participants join a two-year, full-time program in software development and cybersecurity: on-site, tuition-free, with a basic income. They learn through real projects from day one, guided by experienced engineers. By graduation, they are job-ready engineers.

3. Develop Software

We deliver secure software development services for European companies. Every project is built by trained women under senior engineering supervision — to European quality standards, at competitive rates.

4. Employ

Most graduates are hired by heldin. They develop software for clients and help train the next cohort. Each graduate expands both delivery and teaching capacity. The model grows stronger 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
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
Our Founder

Founder-market fit that cannot be replicated.

Mariebeth Aquino, Founder and CEO of heldin

Mariebeth Aquino

Founder & CEO

Computer Scientist Serial Founder Austrian–Filipino 25+ yrs in Tech

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 diagram

▸ Mariebeth's Founder-Market Fit at a glance

Join the program · Sumali sa programa

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

Ikaw ay may kakayahan.
Patutunayan natin ito sa mundo.

heldin is looking for women in Manila who are curious, determined, and ready to grow into a career in tech — regardless of your background or formal education. We provide free training, a basic income while you learn, and a direct path to employment.

You don't need a degree. You don't need experience. You need potential and drive.

Naghahanap ang heldin ng mga kababaihan sa Manila na may sigla, determinasyon, at handang lumago sa karera sa teknolohiya — kahit anong pinagmulan o antas ng edukasyon mo. Libre ang pagsasanay, may basic income habang natututo ka, at may direktang landas patungo sa trabaho.

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 have an analytical mindset
  • You learn fast and want more
  • You pay attention to the details
  • You are reliable and show up
  • You are honest and ethical
  • You want to grow — and keep growing
  • Mahilig kang maghanap ng solusyon
  • May analytical mindset ka
  • Mabilis kang matuto at naghahanap ng kaalaman
  • Mapanuri ka at maingat
  • Maaasahan ka
  • Matuwid ka at may malasakit
  • Nais mong lumago — at patuloy na lumago
Women from the pilot cohort learning from each other at the Tondo workshop

▸ POC COHORT • TONDO, MANILA • 2025

What you get Makukuha mo
  • Free, two-year training in software development and cybersecurity
  • Basic income while you learn
  • Real project work for European clients — from day one
  • Employment with heldin or DACH companies upon 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

Not sure if this is for you?

Hindi ka sigurado?

Take our 5-minute self-check — a short set of questions to help you see if heldin is the right fit.

Subukan ang aming 5-minutong pagsubok — isang maikling set ng mga tanong para malaman mo kung bagay ka sa heldin.

Take the self-check →
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