When Gesvalt carried out the first Netun Solutions assessment In 2020, the market for V16 emergency beacons was about to take off. Today, with a potential fleet of more than 30 million vehicles in Spain and the mandatory requirement for connected lights on the horizon for 2026, Help Flash faces a double challenge: maintaining operational excellence and evolving from a lighting device to a safety and assistance platform that aims to grow through connectivity and internationalisation.
Netun Solutions was founded in Galicia, and very early on, Help Flash became more than just an emergency light: it was a commitment to opening up a category that was yet to be defined. In 2020, with the V16 regulations in full swing and the market about to take off, Gesvalt carried out the first valuation of the company: an objective snapshot at a time when the challenge was to demonstrate that the project had potential, scalability and a sustainable growth model.
Over the years, the beacon has retained its essence (with improvements and new developments), but the major transformation has been internal: the organisation had to adapt to explosive growth in a very short time, strengthening profiles in all departments and also putting pressure on its ecosystem of suppliers to be able to respond to demand.
At the same time, the company has positioned itself as a benchmark in a market that has become more complex due to the entry of new players, also taking on an educational role in the field of consumer protection.
Value does not reside solely in the tangible. In a company like this, intangibles, including rights, know-how and strategic alliances, become the backbone of the company. Because what lies ahead is no longer just a beacon: it is the transition towards the monetisation of a connected car platform (Incidence) and internationalisation, with a clear objective: technology at the service of people, competing on value rather than price.
We interviewed Jorge Costas, co-founder and CEO of Help Flash.
Just as we know the costs of our products in order to set an appropriate selling price, I need to know the value of my company in order to set that appropriate price so that neither party feels they have made a mistake.
Several years have passed since Gesvalt first assessed the company, right at the start of the new V16 signage. Looking back, what has changed most at Help Flash since then: the product, the market or the organisation itself?
The organisation itself is what has changed the most. The product remains the same, with improvements and new developments, and the market is more complex due to the presence of new players, but the organisation has had to adapt to explosive growth in a very short time, which has been and continues to be a challenge.
When you started out, the V16 market was practically non-existent. Now we are talking about a potential fleet of more than 30 million vehicles in Spain alone. What has this growth curve demanded of you in terms of structure, capabilities and internal processes?
Internally, the basic structure remains the same, but it has had to be reinforced with different profiles in all departments. Furthermore, this growth has affected our suppliers, who have had to adapt to meet our demand.
In recent months, you have strongly emphasised the importance of standardisation and warned about products that do not comply with the standard. To what extent do you also see yourselves as educators of the market, beyond being manufacturers?
As pioneers and leaders in the sector, we also have a duty to inform the market about technical requirements, especially at a time when many social media outlets and even reputable media outlets are not conveying the correct information. This is a task that should be public, but we support it for our own good and, above all, for the good of the consumer.
How much weight do intangible assets associated with R&D&I—patents, know-how, data, technological alliances—carry today in Help Flash's value compared to tangible assets?
Intangible assets in a company like ours are the backbone of our business. We do not manufacture hardware or even software. However, we own all the rights, and therefore the partnerships we have with leaders in each sector are critical. We are also known for the V16 beacon, but in the very near future, the company will depend solely on the monetisation of the connected car platform, which, together with internationalisation, will be our path to growth.
Not only has it made things easier for us, but it has also been decisive in our search for both bank and investor financing.
Help Flash IoT+ incorporates anonymous geolocation, connectivity included for years, and compatibility with the myIncidence app. How has this changed your value proposition: are you selling a device, a service, or a road safety platform?
We want to cover all the needs a driver has when their car breaks down or they have an accident. First, by protecting them and making them more visible with light, then by using the connected technology of the beacon to warn other drivers to avoid a second accident, and finally by providing the necessary emergency and assistance services, all with the latest technology to make it efficient and fast.
When a company is founded on such an innovative idea, it is easy for everything to revolve around the product. How have you managed to ensure that innovation is not limited to technology, but also extends to the business model, service and relationship with the end user?
From the outset, we had to find a way to achieve recurrence in one form or another, and we have achieved this with Incidence, the connected car platform. Using beacons, we are able to put the driver who has had an incident in contact with the emergency services and with assistance services, whether with the manufacturer or with the insurer/assistance service. We also handle all the management through AI agents and even connect the breakdown lorries.
Today, we see Help Flash in large retail outlets, supermarkets, e-commerce, and also in agreements with operators such as Movistar, as well as campaigns with initiatives such as Ponle Freno. What role have strategic alliances played in your expansion?
It is the key to growth. We believe in long-term relationships in all areas, not only in development, but also in distribution and any other critical aspect. This creates strong bonds that provide us with a solid foundation for growth. The risk here is deciding with whom to establish these alliances, since forging some can break others, and it is important to choose your travelling companions wisely.
Being pioneers helps, but it also means building a category from scratch. What have been the keys to positioning Help Flash as synonymous with V16 emergency lights in the minds of consumers?
Yes, being first is important, but I have always told my colleagues that being last, the one who closes the door, is much more important. In technology, for example, when Google arrived, there were already several search engines on the market, but only one has remained. Being last is the most difficult thing, but even more so than being first. The key lies in constant innovation, in setting up a project with an eye to the future and not just seizing the opportunity of the moment. This vision of the future requires being at the forefront in all aspects and making large investments in innovation.
In an environment where competitors and low-cost products are beginning to appear, what intangible elements—brand, trust, approval, service—would you say are your main differentiators today, apart from price?
I believe that consumers are intelligent and that, in the end, quality always wins out over price, even in a regulated market like ours where customers buy more out of necessity than conviction. In our case, quality and trust in the brand are the levers that make us leaders. As a company, we also have a vision of the future rather than just seizing opportunities; everything is connected.
Going back to that initial valuation you carried out with Gesvalt: why did you feel at that time that you needed an “objective snapshot” of the company's value?
A project that grows as explosively as ours is not understood by banks, and it is necessary to resort to private capital in order to grow and undertake the investments necessary to carry it out. Along with this long-term vision in execution, one of the most important things is to know where we are, but with measurements. We must measure, and valuation is a measure of management performance and allows us to have a starting point for negotiations. Just as we know the costs of our products in order to set an appropriate selling price, I need to know the value of my company in order to set that appropriate price so that neither party feels they have made a mistake.
A valuation requires you to put numbers on elements such as scalability, partnerships, and proprietary technology. Was there any aspect of the process that helped you see your business in a new light?
Of course, when you put numbers on things, when you evaluate them, the manager gains a very important insight into the business that he did not have before, allowing him to make decisions based on data.
In practice, to what extent has having an independent valuation facilitated discussions with investors, financial institutions, or industrial partners?
Not only has it made things easier for us, but it has also been decisive in our search for both bank and investor financing. The valuation provides a starting point with an independent third-party value, greatly facilitates negotiations with investors, and offers enormous peace of mind to a risk department, as it has a report to rely on to defend its decisions.
Looking back, would you say that valuation was just a one-off requirement or has it become a management tool to support strategic decisions (new products, markets, agreements)?
It is a tool that a management team should not obsess over, but one that they should have in their “toolbox” and use when they believe it can help them, either for their own internal use or, above all, when it comes to defending value to third parties.
With 2026 just around the corner, when connected V16 will be mandatory, what concerns you and what excites you most about the scenario that is opening up for Help Flash and Netun?
There is a short-term concern, which is to meet expectations in terms of operations while maintaining excellence in everything we do. On the other hand, looking at the long term, we want to open up other markets and monetise the connected car platform.
Now that the category has been consolidated in Spain, where do you see the next opportunities: internationalisation, new services linked to DGT 3.0 data, products for other types of mobility, etc.?
We are working intensively in other European countries and hope to see the first results soon, but we are also devoting considerable resources to the connectivity platform and other DGT 3.0 use cases, such as connected cones to signal roadworks and connected vests for road workers.
If we were to talk again in five years' time, what would you like to be able to say about the evolution of Help Flash and the role that intangibles – innovation, brand, data – have played in that growth story?
I hope we can talk after those five years, and I will be delighted to do so. I don't think we will ever know of a specific case, but having contributed to saving even one victim would be comforting enough. If there is one thing I would like to be able to say emphatically, it is that we grew without losing our soul: technology at the service of people. And while others competed on price, we competed on value. That, in the end, is what lasts.