Helika and Avalanche bring Accelerator Demo Day to San Francisco featuring top studios and a first look at Helika’s Publishing Engine

Helika and Avalanche will host a joint Accelerator Demo Day at Pocket Gamer Connects Summit San Francisco on Monday, March 9th, 2026.

The showcase caps a 12-week program designed to help game studios build, launch and scale on Avalanche - backed by funding, hands-on mentorship and Helika’s data and publishing support.

A first look at Helika’s Publishing Engine

Great games don’t fail because teams can’t build - they fail because publishing at scale is still an unsolved systems problem. Studios are forced to stitch together agencies, point tools and manual workflows to run acquisition, content, community and live ops. Helika is building the Publishing Engine to replace that fragmentation with one connected stack.

The Publishing Engine is an AI-powered, modular system that enables full-cycle publishing through a single interconnected infrastructure. At its core is the Content Creation Engine, which brings studio characters to life as persistent voices across social and community channels, strengthening the connection between studios, their game worlds and players while making publishing measurable and repeatable.

Where publishing meets embedded finance

Publishing doesn’t stop at community - economies are now part of the product. Avalanche provides embedded financial infrastructure that lets game publishers own their economies.

From cross-game loyalty currencies to real-time microtransaction settlement, Avalanche gives operators the speed, cost efficiency and auditability they need without exposing players to blockchain complexity. Trusted by studios building the next generation of interoperable gaming experiences.

Showcasing the Accelerator Cohort

The event will serve as a platform for the latest studios to showcase their products, meet investors and publishers.

“We didn’t build this accelerator to produce slide decks. We help top teams produce shipping games,” said Helika CEO and founder Anton Umnov.

“San Francisco is where we get to show what this partnership has created and to give the industry a first look at the infrastructure layer we believe has been missing between games and their communities.”

Helika CPO Ilya Abugov commented: “GDC is where the industry comes to see what’s next. This year, we’re bringing our cohort to the floor, and we’re previewing the Publishing Engine behind the program. If you’re a studio ready to scale, or a publisher looking for the next wave of breakout teams, you should be in the room.”

Ava Labs gaming partnerships lead Parker Heath added: “We are incredibly proud of the cohort we’ve assembled for this Demo Day. These teams are doing genuinely exciting work, and PG Connects is the perfect stage to show what’s possible when strong studios have real support behind them.”

How to attend

PG Connects Summit San Francisco takes place on March 9th, 2026, at 715 Harrison, San Francisco, during the week of GDC. Delegates can connect with the Helika and Avalanche teams onsite to request demo access and to schedule meetings.

Contact us: marketing@helika.io