CTO
Mira Okafor
Network engineer, ex-OmniCloud, NJIT and Georgia Tech. Designed the facility topology, power budgets, monitoring, and cable labeling discipline.
About
Built by people who needed this to exist.
Helixrack started with a cloud bill, a repaired A100, a cheap industrial room, and a salvaged rack with helical side panels.
Founders
The team behind the racks.
Hardware
Chen Weilin
Hardware operator and e-waste arbitrageur. Built the first node from salvaged parts, repaired the Helix Rack, and still handles intake inspections.
CEO
Dez McKenzie
ML engineer and operator whose $3,091.47 cloud bill became the sales argument: own the hardware, pay for the room.
Origin
The Helix Rack gave the company its name.
In November 2022, Chen found a bent OrbitRack Helix 42 behind a warehouse. The side panel had a double-helix cut into the steel. He straightened the rail, bolted it to the floor, moved the first hardware into it, and called it the Helix Rack.
The rack still stands in the center aisle. It is not a metaphor in the lobby. It is the thing holding servers.
Numbers
Small enough to be accountable.
68
customers
3,200
sqft after the Elizabeth expansion
0
servers lost in the company story
112%
2024 net revenue retention
Timeline
How the company got here.
Dez, Chen, and Mira sketch the idea after a cloud bill and a conversation at The Forge in Newark.
The Helix Rack is found, repaired, bolted down, and becomes the name of the company.
PulseCheck goes live on a Dell R630 and cuts a $1,200/month cloud bill to $85/month.
Cortex Ventures leads a seed round after a 92-day DGX A100 trial with zero incidents.
Helixrack reaches 68 customers, 22 racks, 3,200 sqft, and positive operating margin.
Talk to the people running the floor.
The contact form goes to the same team that quotes, receives, racks, and tests the server.