You’re probably wondering who’s actually behind one of Amazon’s most popular seller tools. The ownership story of Helium 10 isn’t as straightforward as you might think – there’ve been some major changes since Manny Coats founded the company back in 2015.
Here’s what you need to know: Pacvue offers two symbiotic suites – Pacvue and Helium 10 – that empower businesses at any stage of their journey to accelerate their commerce goals. But the full story goes much deeper than that simple statement.
Let’s break down exactly who owns what, when the major acquisitions happened, and how this affects the Helium 10 features you’re using today.
The Short Answer: Founder vs. Current Owner
Manny Coats and Guillermo Puyol founded Helium 10, with both having been actively engaged in e-commerce communities online for years. However, today’s ownership structure is completely different.
Helium 10 is now a subsidiary of Assembly, which serves as the parent company overseeing multiple e-commerce brands. Assembly as parent company of Helium 10 is focused broadly on E-commerce end to end, horizontally and vertically, with Helium 10 focused primarily on small and medium businesses.
This means that while Manny Coats remains involved with the company and continues hosting podcasts, he’s no longer the owner in the traditional sense. The transition happened gradually through strategic acquisitions rather than a single buyout event.
The Founders: The Manny Coats Era
In late 2015, Manny Coats and Guillermo Puyol set out to explore the e-commerce boom happening on Amazon, initially planning to start an e-commerce company selling private label products and document the journey on a podcast.
The AM/PM Podcast was launched with Manny as host, and as time passed, the podcast grew in popularity along with Manny’s understanding of the Amazon marketplace. What started as a documentation project became something much bigger.
Using e-commerce communities as their testing ground, they began developing software that addressed sellers’ numerous and ever-evolving needs, starting with an innovative listing optimization tool that became Helium 10.
Manny’s background as an active Amazon seller gave him insights into real problems that needed solving. As he noted in his income reports, he generated $1.3 million in sales on Amazon during his first 12 months from December 2015 through December 2016, proving he understood the seller experience firsthand.
The Helium 10 pricing structure and tool development philosophy came directly from this seller-first mentality that Manny and Guillermo established.
The Acquisition: Who Bought Helium 10?
The ownership changes didn’t happen overnight. Instead, Helium 10 went through several strategic transitions that eventually led to its current structure under Assembly and its partnership with Pacvue.
The Role of Assembly
Assembly, as the parent company, received a valuation of a billion dollars, representing significant growth since Helium 10’s early days when it had just five employees. This wasn’t just about acquiring Helium 10 – it was about building a comprehensive e-commerce ecosystem.
Assembly includes other brands focused on Shopify and influencer marketing, with the goal of allowing e-commerce entrepreneurs to succeed across multiple platforms. Think of it as a holding company specifically designed for e-commerce tools and services.
The Assembly structure allows Helium 10 to maintain its focus on Amazon sellers while benefiting from shared resources and expertise across the broader e-commerce landscape.
The Pacvue Acquisition
The recently announced acquisition of Pacvue as part of Assembly exemplifies how the company augments services, with Pacvue being an advertising platform primarily focused on enterprises and Fortune 500 companies.
Melissa Burdick, co-founder of Pacvue, started the company in 2017 after getting API access from Amazon. Pacvue approaches $20 billion in ad spend managed and works with over 70,000 brands and agencies across 95+ retailers worldwide including Amazon, Walmart, Target and Instacart.
This acquisition means Helium 10 users frequently ask about now have access to enterprise-level advertising technology. The expertise and technology developed for the most successful businesses in the world is being shared with Helium 10 customers, and vice versa.
The result? Helium 10 Ads powered by Pacvue leverages the collected intelligence of both platforms to unlock smarter advertising at scale, something that wouldn’t have been possible under the original ownership structure.
Who Is the Current CEO of Helium 10?
Bojan Gajic currently serves as CEO of Helium 10. His path to the top spot is interesting – he wasn’t brought in from outside but grew with the company.
Bojan transitioned from Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to Chief Operating Officer (COO) and then to CEO, having helped shape Helium 10 “from the seed to the tree that it is today”. He’s a mathematician by education who’s been with the company for years.
This internal promotion strategy shows the company values continuity and deep product knowledge over external hires. Bojan and Manny actually have a long working relationship that goes back before Helium 10, having worked together on several projects and transitioning through several phases of business and software development.
Under Bojan’s leadership, over 2 million Helium 10 users rely on the company’s precision products to build and scale thriving eCommerce businesses. The focus remains on what he calls “customer obsession” – one of the Amazon leadership principles he follows.
How Ownership Affects Helium 10’s Tools
You might wonder whether these ownership changes impact the tools you’re actually using. The short answer: yes, but mostly in positive ways.
The Assembly structure provides more resources for development. The expanded team brought in new talent that delivered impressive results in improving data accuracy and model performance. This directly translates to better sales estimates and keyword data in your daily workflow.
The Pacvue integration brings enterprise-level advertising capabilities to regular sellers. AI Advertising capabilities that automatically manage campaigns and optimize performance are now available in Helium 10’s most popular plan at no additional cost for Platinum customers.
However, some things haven’t changed. The core focus remains on customer obsession and thinking customer-first, which allows for proper product-market fit that can’t happen without understanding the markets.
The Helium 10 Platinum vs Diamond comparison now includes these enhanced advertising features, making the ownership changes tangible for everyday users.
Development continues at a rapid pace. The company constantly makes updates and launches new tools, with development teams working around the clock on new features. The expanded resources from Assembly enable this accelerated development cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does Manny Coats still own part of Helium 10?
While the exact ownership percentages aren’t publicly disclosed, Manny remains involved as “Co-founder of Helium 10” and continues hosting podcasts. However, operational control has shifted to Assembly and the current management team.
Q: Is Helium 10 still independently operated?
Helium 10 operates as a subsidiary of Assembly, but maintains its distinct brand and seller-focused mission. The integration with Pacvue provides additional capabilities rather than changing core operations.
Q: Will these ownership changes affect pricing?
The company has actually added more value at existing price points. Advanced AI advertising capabilities are now included in Platinum plans at no additional cost, suggesting the ownership structure enables better value delivery.
Q: What happened to Guillermo Puyol?
Guillermo Puyol co-founded Helium 10 with Manny Coats, but his current role isn’t prominently featured in recent company communications. The focus has shifted to the current leadership team under Bojan Gajic.
For more background on the educational resources that came from the founders’ vision, check out Helium 10 Academy and see how the training programs evolved.
The Chrome extension remains one of the most popular tools, and you can learn more about Helium 10 Xray to understand how the ownership changes have enhanced product research capabilities.
Final Thoughts: Ownership Evolution Drives Innovation
The story of Helium 10’s ownership shows how successful software companies evolve. What started as two entrepreneurs solving their own Amazon selling problems has become part of a billion-dollar e-commerce ecosystem.
The Assembly structure and Pacvue integration aren’t just financial maneuvers – they’re strategic moves that bring enterprise-level capabilities to everyday sellers. You’re getting access to technology and expertise that would’ve been impossible under the original ownership model.
While Manny Coats and Guillermo Puyol deserve credit for building the foundation, today’s Helium 10 delivers more value than ever before. The seller-first mentality remains, but now it’s backed by significantly more resources and cutting-edge technology.
Ready to see how these ownership changes benefit your selling business? Start your free trial and experience the enhanced platform that results from this strategic evolution.
