Tourism is a human business.
We believe good software should not come at the expense of the people who use it.
It runs on coordination, trust, timing, and people showing up in the right place at the right moment.
Yet most tools used by tour operators today do the opposite of helping. They add complexity. They extract value. They optimize for platforms, not for the people running tours on the ground.
Margins are already thin. Time is already scarce. Software should not make that worse. Helm was created to fix this.
The problem
Tour operators juggle bookings, guides, calendars, tickets, resources, last minute changes, cancellations, and client expectations every single day. Most of this work happens under pressure, during peak season, with no room for mistakes.
Instead of helping, many tools:
- Lock operators into rigid workflows
- Hide critical information behind layers of interfaces
- Monetize volume rather than sustainability
- Shift operational risk onto agencies and guides
The result is frustration, lost time, lower margins, and teams stretched thin. We believe this is not inevitable. It is a design choice.
The team
Walid Belghali
Co-founder & CEO
Walid is a certified tour guide in Paris and a co-founder of Dayin, running high-volume tours year-round and managing guides, staffing, and schedule changes in peak seasons. He knows what it means to keep operations steady when time and margins are tight. At Helm, he leads commercial strategy, early customer acquisition, and partnerships to keep positioning and priorities grounded in real operator needs.
Alexandre Fabri
Co-founder & COO
Product Manager by background, Alexandre has spent several years building and scaling digital products at the intersection of operations, UX, and complex workflows. Alongside his product career, he is also a certified tour guide, giving him first-hand experience of the operational challenges faced by guides and agencies in the field. At Helm, he leads product strategy with a strong focus on reliability and daily usability.
Célia Bourial
Co-founder & CTO
Célia leads engineering at Helm, building the systems that make the product usable in real-world conditions. She oversees the technical foundations, translating complex operational constraints into software that remains reliable under pressure. Her work ensures that availability, assignments, and changes are reflected accurately and consistently, allowing teams to trust the system without second-guessing it.
Clara Cassas
Co-founder
Clara is a certified tour guide in Paris and the Île-de-France region and a co-founder of Dayin. She has extensive experience coordinating tours, guides, and logistics at scale, particularly in high-pressure contexts. At Helm, she contributes to product direction with a strong focus on guide experience, communication workflows, and operational clarity.
Our stance
We build high value tech without extracting value from the people who create it.
That means no dark patterns, no artificial complexity, and no incentives misaligned with the realities of running tours. Every interface is meant to respect your attention and give you the information you need without hiding it behind layers.
Helm exists to help tour operators regain control over their operations, their time, and their margins. The product is a partner, not a platform that asks for more than it gives.
Our principles
Operators stay in control
Your data, your workflows, your rules. Helm supports your way of working rather than forcing you into ours.
Clarity beats cleverness
If a feature needs a long explanation, it probably needs a redesign. We favor clear defaults, readable calendars, and explicit actions.
Reduce friction
Automation is useful only if it removes real pain. We focus on coordination problems that cost time and create stress.
Sustainability over extraction
We aim to improve your margins, not skim them. Growth should come from real value, not dependency or lock in.
People first, always
Behind every event is a guide, a coordinator, a client. Our tools respect that reality.
The product
Our philosophy shapes the product in ways you can feel.
Staffing flows mirror how teams actually work in the field, with calendars that surface real constraints rather than hiding them. Notifications inform without overwhelming, and assignments are consent based so guides keep control over their time.
When plans change, the system lets you reverse decisions instead of locking you in. We deliberately avoid features that create dependency or blur accountability. Agencies stay in charge. Guides stay informed. Everyone sees what matters.
Manifesto
Helm is built by people who have operated tours, worked alongside certified guides, managed staffing under real constraints, and shipped digital products at scale. We know this world because we have lived in it, and that experience shapes every decision we make.
We are building Helm for the long term. Tourism deserves tools that respect its complexity and its people. We intend to be part of that future quietly and reliably, next to the operators who keep it running every day.