Heliad Equity Partners

Thomas Hanke is the Chief Executive Officer and has led the firm since its IPO in 2008. As a publicly listed investment company, Heliad discloses its management board structure in annual financial filings under German securities law. Day-to-day investment decisions rest with the management team operating from Frankfurt am Main.

Heliad is a publicly traded Aktiengesellschaft (stock corporation) listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, making it a permanent-capital vehicle without the fixed 10-year fund life typical of closed-end VC partnerships. Investors buy and sell shares on the exchange rather than committing capital to a blind pool subject to capital calls. This gives Heliad the ability to hold portfolio companies indefinitely but also subjects its shares to public-market pricing that may diverge from net asset value.

Heliad invests across a broad range: early-stage startups, growth-stage companies, pre-IPO rounds, restructurings, and turnarounds. This multi-stage mandate reflects the firm's evergreen balance sheet, which does not require exits on a predetermined schedule. Historically the portfolio has been weighted toward German and DACH-region companies in enterprise software, fintech, digital health, and property technology.

Heliad's model is primarily direct investment, including co-investments alongside other funds and secondary purchases of existing stakes. Its public filings reflect a mix of direct equity positions in private companies rather than LP commitments to third-party funds. Specific co-investment partners and secondary transactions are identifiable through the firm's periodic financial disclosures.

As a listed entity based in Frankfurt, Heliad draws on the deep network of German Mittelstand intermediaries, corporate venture units, and the advisory community around the Rhine-Main financial center. Its permanent-capital structure allows it to approach founders with the offer of patient, indefinite-hold capital rather than a fund-life-timed exit expectation. The firm's extended track record in venture and special situations since 2008 provides repeat-founder and co-investor relationships in its target sectors.