#WeArePlay
Celebrating the global community of people building apps and games businesses on Google Play. Teams of all sizes - founded by coders since childhood or tech newbies, based in busy cities and smaller towns.
Discover their stories and how they are improving lives, locally and around the world.
Stay tuned for more stories coming soon.
-
Meet Mesty and Garri, from Jakarta, Indonesia. Their app Tentang Anak gives parents across Indonesia the tools and knowledge they need to care for their children.
-
Meet Fujio from Tokyo, Japan. His app Pirika is tackling environmental pollution by creating a network of people dedicated to picking up and tracking litter across the globe.
-
Meet Hyojeong from Busan, South Korea. Her app NomadHer is bringing together a global community of women who are solo travelers, for safe and inspiring travel experiences around the world.
-
Discover more stories from Europe
Explore now -
Discover more stories from Japan
Explore now -
Discover more stories from the USA
Explore now -
Discover more stories from India
Explore now
Co-founders
Mesty Ariotedjo
and Garri Juanda
Company
Tentang Anak
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
Downloads
914,900+
# of employees
120
Mesty, a pediatrician and mother, witnessed firsthand the lack of parenting resources for topics like nutrition and sleep. She partnered with her husband Garri, a tech expert, to launch Tentang Anak – meaning "about children." The app provides comprehensive support for parents, including expert advice, 24/7 access to pediatricians and psychologists, and free growth and development screening tools. With 80% of their company being mothers, they are dedicated to empowering parents to raise healthy, happy kids. Looking ahead, Mesty and Garri are expanding Tentang Anak to reach even more families across Indonesia.
"Google Play's analytics has enabled us to personalize the app for each parent's unique journey, offering sophisticated features tailored to both parenting stages and children's growth"
Founder
Fujio Kojima
Company
Pirika
Location
Shibuya, Tokyo
Downloads
82,200+
# of employees
38
Reading environmental books in elementary school sparked Fujio's lifelong passion for nature. After majoring in global warming during his mechanical engineering degree, he went traveling and remembers finding garbage tucked between trees in a remote jungle. It sparked the idea for Pirika, meaning "beautiful" in the indigenous Ainu language. It's a litter picking app where people can upload photos of them disposing of waste, along with geotags to pinpoint problem areas. It's become a community effort with over 360 million pieces of trash collected worldwide. Fujio says this is just the tip of the iceberg and hopes to grow that number rapidly in the coming years.
"Expensive, localized equipment isn't enough to tackle garbage issues. We need to expand services, businesses and initiatives on a worldwide scale. That's why Google Play's global reach is such a valuable asset"
Founder
Hyojeong Kim
Company
NomadHer
Location
Busan, South Korea
Downloads
90,000+
# of employees
9
Growing up in South Korea, Hyojeong dreamt of seeing the world but a frightening experience at 19 made her worry about safety. Speaking to others, she realized many women shared her concerns. Determined not to let her bad experience deter her from traveling, she created NomadHer: an app offering tips on secure accommodation, night-time safety advice, as well as access to a supportive community. Recently, the team added a travel buddy feature for women to connect with fellow globetrotters and to join organized travel camps supporting local women-owned businesses. Next, they're working on enhancing profile personalization, allowing people to list their interests, including outdoor activities and museums. Today, Hyojeong is still an avid traveler and nomad, recently venturing to India where she explored the Himalayas.
"I’ve met people in Singapore, Berlin, San Francisco — all over. I’ve met so many people using the app I created. That’s the power of Google Play, we can see people using the platform all over the world"
Co-founders
Michael Odokara-Okigbo
and Shalom Odokara
Company
NKENNE
Location
Portland, Maine
Downloads
84,300+
# of employees
4
When Michael wanted to learn Igbo, his native language, he found that traditional learning programs couldn't help. He teamed up with his mother Shalom to create NKENNE, meaning "of the mother", a learning app specifically for African languages. People can learn with lessons, blogs, podcasts, and real-time conversations. Michael points out that African languages are the foundation of human communication and he is proud to be at the forefront of the preservation effort and the community he has subsequently built. Next, he hopes to offer people 30 languages by the end of 2025.
"The great thing about Google Play is that it's international. There are so many people who use Google Play all over the world. About 85% of our audience are on Android"
Co-founders
Robson Melo,
Pedro Concy
and Liliane Mathias
Company
Estante Mágica
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Downloads
60,000+
# of employees
200
Robson's grandparents believed in the transformative power of education. His grandfather, a carpenter, filled their home with books from clients, inspiring a family legacy of learning. This paved the way for Robson and his friend Pedro to create Estante Mágica - which translates to "magic bookshelf". The app allows teachers to have books created based on their students’ original stories. With the help of their third co-founder, Liliane, they scaled up, and expanded across Brazil and nine other countries. Estante Mágica boosts literacy, encourages creativity and has even played a role in preserving indigenous history. Their recently added feature, Magic Land, allows children to create games from their tales. Next, the trio plan to integrate AI for more interactive storytelling.
"Launching on Google Play helped us grow a lot. It meant we could reach way more people all over Brazil and Latin America, including indigenous communities"
Founder
Jakub Dvorský
Company
Amanita Design
Location
Prague, Czech Republic
Downloads
14,000,000+
# of employees
25
Jakub began creating adventure games with friends at university. After studying film animation, he founded Amanita Design, where he crafts visually stunning releases influenced by Czech myths, legends and fairy tales. His themes often feature elements and textures of industrial and abandoned buildings, nature, Czech landscapes, and references to Eastern European animations. In Machinarium, players navigate a dystopian city by solving puzzles and brain teasers as the robot Josef. The game’s beautiful hand-drawn storybook backgrounds have even inspired fan art contests with hundreds of submissions. Amanita Design has a new game in development, showcasing their commitment to unique artistry with hand-painted cardboard characters.
"As Google Play is such a huge platform, it’s given us the opportunity to reach a large, international audience that we wouldn’t otherwise"
Founder
Brian Zou
Company
SweatyChair
Location
Sydney, Australia
Downloads
9,500,000+
# of employees
7
After graduating in computer science, Brian embarked on a career as a 3D animator. Following a stint in Silicon Valley, he returned to Sydney and founded his own gaming company, SweatyChair, merging his technical skills with the passion for art. During a gaming developer competition, Brian - alongside his wife and three other participants - built a challenging monster and bullet dodging game called No Humanity within 48 hours, winning first place. He successfully improved and launched the title a week later, getting over 9 million downloads so far. Taking part of Google Play's Indie Games Accelerator program in 2022 helped Brian to grow the studio even further. Apart from assisting fellow creatives in the industry, he also champions a more active gaming experience, where players can create and enjoy their own elements.
"Google Play drives great organic traffic and gives our game exposure, which is hugely helpful for us as developers"
Founder
Bernard Frischer
Company
Flyover Zone
Location
Bloomington, Indiana
Downloads
33,700+
# of employees
5
While studying classics and archaeology in Italy in the 70s, Bernard was in awe of a physical model reconstructing the entire city of ancient Rome. It was then that the idea for a virtual travel experience first occurred to him. 50 years later, he was able to make this vision come to life with Yorescape. The app recreates historical cities and civilizations digitally for users to explore the ruins of ancient Egypt, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, and Mexico. Bernard recently added the Agora in ancient Athens. One day, he hopes to cover sites in all four corners of the earth.
“We’re passionate about what we do and wanted to share that passion with as many people as possible. Google Play has a large, global reach, so it makes it possible for us to do that”
Founder
Zülal Tannur
Company
From Your Eyes
Location
Istanbul, Türkiye
Downloads
2,000+
# of employees
4
Zülal was born with low vision and lost her sight completely at age 10. As a 4-year-old, she used to upload pictures of her parents to a computer to get descriptions of their appearance. But, was never satisfied due to the limitations of image processing technologies. This inspired her to create FYE, an app that uses AI to provide detailed visual descriptions of videos and photos. With her team, she aims to assist the millions of visually impaired people worldwide by giving them back a sense of independence and a connection to the world around them. Zülal has ambitious plans for the future, including integrating the app into smart watches and glasses.
“People have told us that with our technology they regained their freedom and feel much more comfortable and independent in their lives”
Co-founders
Hasbi Asyadiq,
Anita Yustisia
and Risnandar
Company
Assemblr
Location
Bandung, Indonesia
Downloads
2,000,000+
# of employees
35
Computer scientist Hasbi has been exploring multimedia, 3D modeling and simulation for years. After creating augmented reality (AR) flashcards to help kids learn the alphabet, he became aware of the extensive resources required to build AR software. This inspired him to make the technology easily accessible to all. He then teamed up with friends Anita and Risnandar to establish Assemblr Studio. It allows anyone to create AR content and 3D presentations, with no need for coding or animation skills. This has proved helpful in education, with teachers worldwide using it to make lessons immersive and engaging. Looking ahead, they aim to develop an offline version for schools with limited internet connectivity and introduce AR glasses to enhance the experience.
"I believe the field of immersive technology is gaining momentum and we want to be a part of it. In fact, we want to be one of the biggest players"
Founder
Prachi Shevgaonkar
Company
Cool The Globe
Location
Pune, India
Downloads
99,100+
# of employees
3
Prachi intended to study computer engineering when a letter from her childhood self reignited a dream to make a difference. Inspired, she traveled to Maharashtra, working with children, waste pickers and farmers. Seeing the impacts of climate change—a farmer unable to work due to erratic weather and a girl dropping out of school because of drought—she vowed to reduce her carbon footprint. When others followed her lead, she created Cool The Globe. The app helps people track daily actions to lower their emissions. Prachi's dedication earned her the Young Changemaker Award in India. Next, she aims to add community dashboards for schools and organizations to follow their collective climate efforts.
"When I launched the app on Google Play, I was doing it alone. But it connected me to 1000s of citizens around the world who are doing it with me. So it was a great way to have real impact"
Co-founders
Felipe Otamendi,
Jonás Mora,
Federico Romero
and Max Martínez
Company
Pomelo Games
Location
Montevideo, Uruguay
Downloads
17,600,000+
# of employees
26
Software engineers Jonás, Federico, Max and Felipe met at college where they bonded over a shared ambition to create video games. Inspired by the success of Uruguayan studios and their own childhood favorites, they launched Pomelo Games. Their debut release, Bullet Boy, won a national contest, enabling them to become full-time developers. The popular action platformer, Once Upon a Tower, where players rescue a princess while battling dragons and enemies, now has over 5 million downloads. Looking ahead, the group plans to publish more titles in their distinctive style, including a sequel to their highly-regarded series Outlanders which will feature 21 levels and biweekly challenges.
"Without Google Play, we wouldn’t be where we are today and we wouldn't have reached as many people as we have. It has been one of the most important allies in our path, helping us bring our games to players all over the world"
Founder & CEO
Andrea Campos Guerra
Company
Yana
Location
Cancún, Mexico
Downloads
13,280,600+
# of employees
13
From a young age Andrea experienced bouts of depression and was forced to drop out of college due to her mental health. After spending time healing on a beach, she taught herself how to program and decided to create Yana: Your Emotional Companion. The app provides guidance and support via an AI chatbot, with tools to help people manage anxiety, learn about mental health, improve their self-esteem or simply feel better on a tough day. Already established in the Spanish-speaking community, the app recently launched in English. Next, Andrea is enhancing the app by adding AI to most features, as well as improving Yana's ability to record important aspects of people's lives and automatically track mood changes over time.
"When I started talking to people, I realized I wasn't the only one that experienced depression. I started seeing how this app could be a benefit for so many others"
Co-founders
Eyram Tawia
and Wesley Kirinya
Company
Leti Arts
Location
Accra, Ghana
Downloads
41,000+
# of employees
20
Growing up, Eyram wrote comics inspired by the retro videogames of the 80's and 90's which his dad, a professor, would then illustrate. After becoming a self-taught programmer in high school, he created games with friends as a hobby. But after discovering Wesley, a prominent 3D game creator in Kenya, Eyram reached out and they founded Leti Arts together. Their company preserves African history and culture by creating titles which celebrate the gods and historical heroes from across the continent. In their flagship game, Africa's Legends, players battle to break a hypnotic spell. Next, they plan to create 3D fighter and VR versions of the game.
"We're passionate about preserving African stories and telling it in a gaming format, because that is what I grew up with. Why can't we learn about our rich African stories through games and comics?"
Founder
Nadav Ossendryver
Company
Latest Sightings
Location
Johannesburg, South Africa
Downloads
128,000+
# of employees
9
Nadav's love for animals was sparked at age 8 on a safari adventure when he encountered lions and elephants. Frustrated by the difficulty in finding these elusive creatures, he thought up an easier way to pinpoint their location. A self-taught programmer at 15, he turned this idea into a tangible tool by creating Latest Sightings, an app where people record real-time wildlife sightings. Now the app has since evolved into a thriving business, allowing safari-enthusiasts to post photos and share their position with others. Committed to protecting species, the app also alerts vets to injured animals. Now reaching reserves worldwide, Nadav plans to gamify the app further, encouraging people to capture even more moments.
"It's useful and encouraging to see the reviews and ratings on Google Play. We're very satisfied with our experience, it's been a game changer"
Co-founders
François Martin,
Benoit Martin
and Julie Chapon
Company
Yuka App
Location
Paris, France
Downloads
39,700,000+
# of employees
9
Brothers François and Benoit have been close friends with Julie for over a decade. When Julie sought to leave her consulting job to pursue something more meaningful, the brothers invited her to a food hackathon. Here, they spent days creating a project, having a blast and eventually winning. This victory laid the groundwork for them to create their app Yuka which scans product labels to reveal their ingredients and health impact - largely inspired by Benoit's desire to provide healthy food for his 3 kids. Yuka recently added a top products ranking feature. Currently living in New York, the three co-founders have temporarily moved to the U.S. to work on cracking the American market.
"We're friends first, before everything else. So it's been really great working together and building something we're all so proud of"
Founder
Michelle Kennedy
Company
Peanut App
Location
London, UK
Downloads
2,300,000+
# of employees
30
When the loneliness of early motherhood hit, Michelle turned to a new venture. Applying the skills she'd honed as a CEO in the dating world, she created Peanut - an app designed for moms to connect, make friends, and find support. Peanut empowers women to feel less isolated, connecting through all stages of motherhood - from fertility through to menopause - to build a sense of community. Recognizing the need for a more tailored experience, the Peanut team recently revamped the main feed for personalization and introduced an ad-free option. Exciting updates are on the horizon too, all aimed at further supporting women throughout their motherhood journeys.
"Whether down to its diverse global reach, excellent analytics tools, or airtight privacy rules, Google Play has helped us build a community who enjoy and trust Peanut"
Founder
Charlie Sprinkman
Company
Everywhere is Queer
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Downloads
23,000+
# of employees
1
After gaining a degree in Entrepreneurship, Charlie found a job which allowed him to tour most of the U.S. in a van. As a recently out, queer person, he sought safe spaces wherever he went, often struggling to find reliable resources. This inspired him to create the Everywhere Is Queer app which includes a global map of LGBTQ+ owned businesses. The app now lists over 13,000 organizations, with hundreds of new applications weekly. It allows people to search for everything from bars to salons and even therapists. Charlie recently launched a job board in-app with posts from queer and ally-owned organizations.
"I felt euphoric being in a queer environment, like my most authentic self. I wanted to give others that same feeling, which is why I built Everywhere is Queer"
Co-founders
Caitlin McKeown
and Nicolas Guillot
Company
We Spot Turtles!
Location
Perth, Australia
Downloads
190+
# of employees
2
When environmental science student Caitlin returned home from a magical trip monitoring sea turtles in Western Australia, she was inspired to create a conservation tool that could improve the tracking of the species. Connecting online with mobile developer and fellow sea-turtle admirer Nicolas, the two collaborated virtually to release We Spot Turtles!. The app allows snorkelers, divers, scientists, and citizens to upload pictures of sea turtles they spot along the coast, leveraging Al to identify each turtle species and individual. The information is then passed on to different conservation projects and can even be used to influence environmental legislation. In the future, the pair hope to branch out into other conservation efforts, including red pandas and whale sharks.
"We have communities across 6 countries already including Australia and French Polynesia. Without Google Play, we wouldn't have the ability to connect on such a global scale"
Co-founder
Álvaro Velasco
Company
SkyAlert
Location
Mexico City, Mexico
Downloads
6,700,000+
# of employees
48
Álvaro was just 12 years old when a major earthquake hit near his hometown. The event left a lasting impression and inspired him to dedicate his career to limiting the destruction of large-scale quakes. His app SkyAlert connects with sensors installed around earthquake-prone areas in Mexico to deliver warnings about the size, severity and estimated time of tremors. Delivering this information through the platform allows people to take precautions to protect themselves which, in some cases, can be life-saving. Determined to limit the impacts of natural disasters, Álvaro is now looking to use the platform to provide other extreme weather alerts, such as flood warnings, to people around the world.
“We do everything we can as fast as possible to alert millions of people to impending earthquakes. With this information, they can protect themselves and it can potentially save their lives”
Co-founder
Steven Wongsoredjo
Company
Super
Location
Surabaya, Indonesia
Downloads
132,100+
# of employees
1,103
While traveling to rural areas with his parents as a child, Steven noticed how quickly his pocket money would disappear as snacks and drinks were more expensive than in the capital, Jakarta. This stuck with him and eventually inspired him to create a social commerce platform that could address inequality in economic distribution within Indonesia. On Super, shop owners in rural areas can purchase wholesale items and resell to their local communities at more affordable prices. It’s provided villagers with access to more nutritious food, built up a hyper local supply chain and improved the livelihoods of small shop owners and rural communities. In the future, Steven plans to expand Super further, bringing more affordable goods to villages across Indonesia.
"Google Play allows you to track a number of metrics, including audience retention. This has helped us to increase engagement and build the best app possible"
Founder
Múkami Kinoti Kimotho
Company
Royelles Revolution
Location
Herndon, USA
Downloads
4,500+
# of employees
1
Múkami wanted to empower girls and non-binary individuals to pursue their dreams in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) after watching her daughter playing mobile games. She realized that challenges in mental health, self esteem and limiting beliefs are disproportionately impacting girls, particularly those from underserved communities — a fact which might put them off pursuing careers in this field. This inspired her to create Royelles: a game anchored in fierce female avatars, like a global peace ambassador named Mara on her first mission to Mars which is voiced by an actual NASA scientist. She's excited to release more empowering gamified stories and learning modules, and a range of extended reality and AI-powered avatars based on the game’s characters.
"Our goal is to transform the lives of millions of girls. And we feel like we can do that through Google Play"
Founder
Cherry
Company
The Trans me
Location
Bethlehem, USA
Downloads
8,800+
# of employees
1
During her transition, Cherry had a lot of questions she struggled to find answers to. This inspired her to create TheTransMe: a space where transgender people can come together, make supportive friends and have their queries answered. It also allows them to post their transition journey, connect with doctors for medical advice and share their location to facilitate real-life meet-ups. A self-taught web designer and programmer, Cherry coded the app herself with help from a close group of tech-savvy, creative friends. In the future, she hopes to increase the reach of the platform and support more trans individuals across the globe.
"My goal with the platform is to offer support for people navigating gender dysphoria and transition within a safe community space, accessing a wealth of trans information"
Founder
Leonika Sari Njoto Boedioetomo
Company
Reblood
Location
Surabaya, Indonesia
Downloads
87,500+
# of employees
5
When her university friend needed an urgent blood transfusion but discovered there was none available in the bank, Leonika became aware of the blood donation shortage in Indonesia. Intent on saving patients’ lives, Leonika built Reblood: an app where people can find their nearest donation site and blood testing center. To date, an impressive 140,000 blood donations have been made using the network. But this is just the beginning for the app; a recently added feature allows people to find the most affordable medical checkups, marking the first in a series of upcoming tools aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles for blood donors.
"Google Play has a very supportive ecosystem around Android, making it an invaluable tool for reaching a wide audience"
Co-founders
Mathilde Nême, Hahyeon Park
and Jane Douat
Company
Omena
Location
Paris, France
Downloads
48,000+
# of employees
6
While completing their Masters in Entrepreneurship, friends Mathilde, Jane and Hahyeon became aware of how taboo menopause was in France and how little information was available on the subject. This inspired them to create Omena: an app providing women with expert advice and wellness programs for managing the symptoms of menopause. Alongside the app, the trio also launched a podcast aimed at building a community and reducing loneliness among menopausal women. They recently added a tool where users can book phone consultations and buy symptom-managing products through the app. Looking to the future, the next step for the founders is to take Omena international.
"The thing that we really liked about Google Play is how quick the approval process is. In general, a new version can be approved and released within a day. That's been really great for us"
Founder
Vinit Garg
Company
Mylo
Location
Gurugram, India
Downloads
9,600,000+
# of employees
150
As young parents, Vinit and his wife wished there were vetted, personalized resources to help guide them through pregnancy and birth. He felt motivated to create Mylo: a one-stop solution app providing new and soon-to-be parents with advice and support from top doctors, experts and other women who are in a similar journey as parents. Whilst built for all parents, mothers advocating for Mylo helped Vinit tailor the app to their needs through their lived experience, honest feedback, and powerful stories. Now, with the trust of over 9 million users and the support of a community of mothers behind him, Vinit wants to take this vital app further and go international.
"Google Play continues to be our default choice because of the distribution as well as the data and tools it provides for improving the app. We’re very grateful for that"
Co-Founders
Luciane Antunes dos Santos
and Renato Hélio Rauber
Company
CarSul
Location
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Downloads
90,000+
# of employees
9
Luciane was devastated when she lost her son in a car accident. Trying to spare others the same tragedy, she began driving her son’s friends and other young people safely home from clubs and parties in Santa Rosa. This eventually inspired her and her husband Renato to create Carsul, an urban mobility app with an emphasis on safety and security. Carsul also partners with a government health program chauffeuring sick patients long distances to big hospitals. Transforming the pain of the past into something that protects others has helped Luciane find peace. Next, she and the team are planning to expand into more cities in Brazil and protect more lives from road accidents.
"It’s so easy for drivers and passengers to download and register in the app using Google Play. For us, the platform has no comparison. It was just what we needed"
Founder
Cledilson Silva
Company
Recomece Mulher
Location
Feira de Santana, Brazil
Downloads
337,600+
# of employees
1
After witnessing the strong straightening chemicals used in his sisters’ hair treatments, Bahia native Cledilson saw an opportunity to both celebrate and help maintain healthy curly hair. With a mission to empower women, he dedicated years of study and working to raise funds for his app, Hair Empowerment. The app offers a wide range of tips and advice, with personalized schedules and routines to help its community of women feel confident with their hair. With the help of his sisters and his partner who love the app, Cledilson plans to develop other beauty titles including for skin and nailcare.
"My family loves Hair Empowerment, they always talk about it. I think it is working because it's something that has value"
Founder
Lily Tse
Company
Think Dirty
Location
Toronto, Canada
Downloads
8,000,000+
# of employees
15
As the daughter of a breast cancer survivor, Lily became aware from a young age the impact our lifestyles and the products we use can have on our health. Using her career background in art direction and digital marketing, Lily created Think Dirty— an app that demystifies the labels of cosmetics products and identifies potentially harmful ingredients with a simple scan of a barcode. Through the app, Lily is helping guide the change of the clean beauty movement in North America. Next, she aims to support consumers in making better-informed choices across the world by expanding into Asia, Africa, and Europe.
"As a woman, I want to see more apps created to improve our health. The most exciting thing for me is using technology to improve women's health"
Founder
Diariata N'Diaye
Company
Resonantes
Location
Nantes, France
Downloads
89,600+
# of employees
8
Spoken word artist Diata haș been working to support victims of violence for 20 years. After hearing the stories of young people who had experienced abuse that was similar to her own, she was inspired to create App-Elles: a title that allows women and girls to send out alerts when they’re in danger. Her app connects them to professionals and NGOs that can support them. As part of her organization, Resonantes, Diata also runs writing and recording workshops to help victims overcome their experiences with violence. Next, Diata hopes to continue to reach more vulnerable people with the app and connect the platform to wearables, like watches, to make sending out an alert more discreet.
"The goal of App-Elles is to fight violence and harassment using technology. Today, we're proud to help and support over 130,000 women every day with App-Elles"
Co-founders
Geraldo Ramos
Company
Moises
Location
Salt Lake City, Utah
Downloads
26,300,000+
# of employees
78
When Geraldo was seven, his mom changed careers from civil engineering to computer science. Watching her work left him in awe, and he started his first tech company at 16. Geraldo also has a passion for music. His app Moises uses AI to remove voices and instruments from any video or audio file. Guitarists can take out the guitar part to play along; singers can remove vocals to make a karaoke track. Geraldo wants to empower anyone to be creative without needing expensive equipment, and make Moises as essential as instruments for musicians of all levels.
"Imagine you get a smoothie and someone asks you to remove only the banana. That is an analogy for what we do. It's a very complicated task, but the app made it simple and accessible"
Co-founders
Solape Akinpelu and Yomi Ogunleye
Company
HerVest
Location
Lagos, Nigeria
Downloads
15,400+
# of employees
20
Former colleagues at an investment bank, Solape and Yomi noticed how the lack of accessible financial services for Nigerian women was worsening gender inequality - so they set out on a mission to change it. Their app HerVest empowers women through offering saving and investment tips, financial education and access to capital. The app is geared especially toward farmers and micro entrepreneurs, who can grow their small businesses with access to credit and financial support on the platform. Their ultimate goal is to bridge the gender gap in Nigeria and reach 1 million women by the end of 2024.
“Money should not be gender-biased. We’re helping women to actively plan their finances, save, invest and build wealth”
Co-founders
Rita Rebelo, João Veloso and Martim Vieira
Company
SaveCook Team
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Downloads
301,500+
# of employees
4
Sometimes a spinoff is more successful than the original, and for app founders Rita, João and Martim, that’s exactly what happened. The university friends first launched the recipe sharing app SaveCook, and later released the accompanying app, Super Save, to help people compare supermarket prices and find the best deals on ingredients. In the midst of rising inflation, the app was an instant success and gained major media attention. Next, Super Save will help shoppers save more with a new barcode scanner that can tell people where to get a product for less.
"We use other Google products like Firebase and Flutter which obviously integrate seamlessly with Google Play. These technologies combined have enabled us to make the application as good as it is"
Co-founders
Kenny and Jeromy Yap
Company
Two App Studio
Location
Singapore, Singapore
Downloads
2,500,000+
# of employees
8
When Kenny won a tablet in a university programming competition, he and his twin brother Jeromy became inspired to create their own tech company. After several years of experimenting and brainstorming, the pair - who are also keen marathon runners - decided to channel their passion for self-care, mental wellness and productivity into the journaling platform, Journey. People can record their self-improvement goals using diary templates and prompts. Their coach program also guides individuals through personal issues, like self love and building healthy relationships. Next, they hope to get more coaches on board to create the best one-stop self-care platform, helping people become the best version of themselves.
"The rating system on Google Play is really helpful. As feedback is broken down into categories, it's easy to identify our strengths and weaknesses and know how to make the app better"
Co-founders
Chris Darnell and Rene Morgan
Company
Hayi حي
Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Downloads
21,900+
# of employees
2
Australian Chris and German-Egyptian Rene first met as youngsters in kindergarten. Years later, after graduating university, the old friends reconnected over their shared interest in startups. As expats in Dubai, the pair were aware of how disconnected a lot of communities are. This inspired them to create the social networking platform Hayi حي – or "my neighborhood" in Arabic – where people can share information with their neighbors, find help within the community and connect with those living nearby. Local businesses can also use the platform to offer discounts for locals. They've recently partnered with local government authorities and real-estate developers to post district alerts, and are adding channels for connecting people via shared hobbies such as art or sports. Passionate about sustainability, the duo also plan on launching social initiatives and more community environmental projects soon.
"Community is at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make. As a result, we like to think we’re having a positive impact on local neighborhoods"
Co-founders
Ingrid Sundqvist,
Totta Ogander
and Erika Hjertén
Company
Ridely
Location
Uppsala, Sweden
Downloads
145,000+
# of employees
14
Keen horse riders Ingrid, Totta and Erika love connecting with other equestrians. But while there were plenty of other sporting apps for tracking activity and learning, they couldn't find similar apps for riding. Undaunted, the three enthusiasts quit their jobs and combined their experience in marketing, programming and economics to create Ridely, giving an online voice and training platform to the equestrian community. As well as partnering with the US Equestrian Federation, they’re creating expert programs, monthly riding challenges and want to build a social feed for horse riders.
"We’re a female-led app company with many female staff, constantly innovating and looking at ways we can develop our app to improve our members’ horse riding experiences"
Co-founders
Rina Onur Sirinoglu, Remi Onur, Barkin Basaran, Fuat Coşkun and Mithat Madra
Company
Spyke Games
Location
Istanbul, Türkiye
Downloads
3,800,000+
# of employees
66
It was while working with business owners and tech founders in private equity that Rina caught the entrepreneurial bug. Noticing how rapidly the gaming industry was growing, she hopped on the trend to create content specifically for a Turkish audience. Her first game studio became a tech unicorn which was acquired by another company, and she continued her winning streak in launching Spyke Games with her brother Remi and friends Mithat, Barkin and Fuat. The team focus on blending fun, social multiplayer games with skill-based problem-solving. In Tile Busters, players collaborate and compete with their friends to pave tiles in complex patterns and build cities in a magical realm. Next, they’re looking forward to releasing a new game in the Busters franchise: Blitz Busters.
"Google Play has amazing representation in some of our key markets and makes account management and publishing easy. It's top-notch and so it was a no-brainer for us to distribute on the platform"
Co-founders
Diori Cergy and Agung Subagyo
Company
Minimo
Location
South Tangerang, Indonesia
Downloads
45,000,000+
# of employees
2
As a teenager, Diori loved developing his own games. So it's no surprise he went on to pursue a career as a game programmer in adulthood. While working at a tech company, he and colleague Agung hit it off and decided to collaborate on their own project together — launching their own studio, Minimo, shortly after. Inspired by Agung's passions for cars and mechanics, their first release was Mini Racing Adventures which features 65 unique vehicles for players to rally across tough terrain. The adventurous racing game went on to have huge success with over 10 million downloads. Looking to the future, they're open to venturing into new genres, with a shooter game currently in the works.
"With Google Play, there are equal opportunities for smaller developers like us to gain traction and exposure for our games. Everybody has the chance to be successful"
Co-founders
Pablo Realini, Gonzalo Sande and Alvaro Azofra
Company
Ironhide Game Studio
Location
Montevideo, Uruguay
Downloads
35,000,000+
# of employees
51
Friends Pablo, Gonzalo and Alvaro had a dream of making games for a living and created their own studio in 2010. Charged with a lot of passion and hard work, they tried their chances in the Web Gaming community at first, before quickly transitioning to mobile - teaching themselves to code for these devices from scratch in record time. One of lronhide Game Studio's most popular titles, Kingdom Rush: Tower Defence, was inspired by their passion for strategy games and made unique thanks to its medieval flair and fierce, action battles. Next, they hope to develop multiplayer games and continue to expand their Kingdom Rush series.
"Over the years we've realized that what we have is special, because we have the passion, but we also work really hard. This has allowed us to create something great"
Founder
Juliana Brêtas
Company
BLW Social
Location
Singapore
Downloads
1,208,500+
# of employees
22
When native Brazilian Juliana moved to Singapore with her husband and their 6-month-old daughter, she struggled to start her baby on solids using the baby-led weaning approach. Unable to find adequate resources to guide her, she decided to create her own platform BLW Brasil (in Portuguese), where she could share everything she had learned. Parents love how the app, which also has Spanish (BLW Ideas) and English (BLW Meals) versions, eases the mental load of managing their child's feeding journey - with many of them actively participating in the BLW community on social media. Recently, Juliana and her team added a feature to the BLW Brasil app that allows direct communication with a nutritionist, ensuring that parents always have access to expert advice.
“I'm very proud of where we are now and what we’ve achieved so far. We’ve helped millions of parents on their feeding journey with their babies and hopefully helped raise healthier kids”
Co-founders
Edison Duran Lucena,
Nastassja Palmiotto
and Ilan Duran
Company
PleIQ
Location
Chile
Downloads
919,100+
# of employees
11
Back in 2012 brothers Ilan and Edison, and their friend Nastassja, headed a company that used augmented reality to create interactive advertisements in their home country Venezuela. But noticing how much children loved watching their commercials inspired them to change path and focus on AR as an educational tool for young kids. After applying for a startup accelerator program, they moved to Chile and launched PleIQ - an early learning platform that uses AR to bring textbooks and educational games to life with immersive 3D content. The app is tailored to the local curriculum and even features virtual tutors. Their goal is to provide technology and resources across Latin America with plans to expand into Mexico and Colombia soon.
“From the beginning, we wanted to reach as wide an audience as possible and make our resources accessible. Google Play allowed us to do this, making our app available on Android devices across South America"
Co-founders
Harry Leeming
and Luke Martin-Fuller
Company
Visible
Location
London, UK
Downloads
15,400+
# of employees
5
When mechanical engineer Harry got sick with long Covid following a mild infection in 2020, his life drastically changed as he found himself unable to do the adventurous, athletic activities he always enjoyed. Alarmed by how little treatment and support was available for the condition, he teamed up with friend and tech lawyer, Luke, to create Visible. Their goal is to empower patients to monitor their health based on daily activities and nutrition, and share data to drive improved understanding of the illness. Soon, the pair hope to add AI insights to better read people’s health data, and a social network feature for patients to share their recovery journeys.
“We want Visible to be as accessible as possible. With Google Play, we can distribute around the world and with just a few clicks, people can manage their health better”
Co-founders
Ayushi Sinha and Nikhil Bansal
Company
Alippo Elearning
Location
Bengaluru, India
Downloads
204,500+
# of employees
52
During lockdown, Nikhil’s mother dedicated her time to different hobbies like cooking. Watching his mum scour the internet for recipes and techniques, Nikhil and his wife Ayushi realized there was no educational platform specifically for women in India. This gave them the idea for Alippo: an app where women can upskill and start their own businesses, with classes and study materials on everything from handicrafts to cosmetics. Nikhil’s mother is an avid user of the app, continuing to hone her cooking skills. Next, the couple want to provide women with raw materials for their businesses and even offer financing.
"The explore feature on Google Play helped us reach so many women who read our positive feedback and downloaded the app. We've acquired so much organic growth this way, simply by being present on the platform"
Co-founders
Ed Deng,
Ken Lai
and Erin Chung
Company
YAMAP
Location
Fukuoka, Japan
Downloads
2,120,000+
# of employees
101
Yoshihiko is determined to live his life with purpose and wants his mountaineering app YAMAP to make a difference. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, he was inspired to bring people closer to nature and save lives. Despite having no programming experience, he and his team created a platform which enables mountaineers to safely check their location and share their climb activity logs, even when there’s no phone signal. The app has become very popular with climbers, who have also formed a YAMAP community. Yoshihiko recently partnered with the local government to aid mountain rescues, wants to keep enhancing the app's safety features and continues to promote the joy of mountain climbing to the world.
“YAMAP has created and expanded a culture where phones can be used as GPS devices for mountaineering. Not only does it help to reduce the number of accidents in the mountains, but it is also a great pleasure to know that even if you do get lost, the YAMAP monitoring function can save your life”
Co-founders
Victoria Trofimova,
Michail
and Sergej Trofimov
Company
Nordcurrent
Location
Vilnius, Lithuania
Downloads
350,000,000+
# of employees
320
Victoria and her husband Michail had dreamed of making games since their childhood. This dream became a reality after teaming up with Michail's brother Sergej during university, developing their first game and using the profits to launch their own company, Nordcurrent, soon after. One of their most popular titles is Cooking Fever where players race against the clock to cook meals for restaurant customers. People enjoy the fast pace and wide range of cuisine, which even includes medieval dishes. Recently, the team added a pancake flipping restaurant as well as live events to celebrate annual festivities, such as Valentine’s day and Pride.
"As young people we never dreamed that our company would get so big and our games would reach hundreds of millions of people around the world"
Founder
Young-Gon Park
Company
Nexelon
Location
Seongnam, Republic of Korea
Downloads
50,000,000+
# of employees
9
Young-Gon first joined a gaming company during the PC game boom two decades ago. However in 2017, he decided to take the leap and launch his own studio, Nexelon, determined to reach a global audience with mobile games. One of his most popular titles, Fishing Life, was inspired by his own passion for the pastime. He wanted to recreate the relaxation and tranquility of hobbyist fishing, with soothing sounds and calming natural scenery. Soon, Nexelon are releasing a new title - this time sci-fi-themed - where players mine resources on other planets to help cleanse the polluted Earth.
"Google Play is an immensely useful platform for reaching global audiences as a game developer"
Co-founders
Johanes Nindyo
and Meiky William
Company
Gaco Games
Location
Solo, Indonesia
Downloads
10,488,000+
# of employees
8
Growing up, Johanes wanted to be an author as he loved creating new worlds in his imagination. It was this desire to tell stories that first drew him to role-playing games, eventually inspiring him to develop his own. Teaming up with graphic artist Meiky — whom he met on a social media page for developers — the pair created the anime-style combat and fantasy romance game Epic Conquest. It was a big hit with thousands of downloads in the first week, encouraging the pair to take it further with its sequel Epic Conquest 2. Next, fans can look forward to a new installment of the series with the upcoming release of the saga's next chapter.
"As most people in Indonesia use Android phones, it just made sense for us to publish our games on Google Play. Especially as it makes everything so easy, like building a store and running internal tests"
Co-founders
Tessa Clarke
Saasha Celestial-One
Company
Olio
Location
London, UK
Downloads
5,600,000+
# of employees
99
Tessa and Saasha met when studying business. Both ex-consultants, they are passionate about the environment and recycling. The idea for Olio came when Tessa was moving: she could not pack leftover food in air-freight, and could not find anyone to take it. The app began helping people give away (and get) spare food in their neighborhood, but they recently launched a feature for lending and borrowing household items too. It is now used in 62 countries, and Olio also partners with supermarkets and restaurants with their volunteers collecting and redistributing surplus food – an estimated 1 million meals per week.
"We have so many stories of people who have been feeling depressed or like they are lacking a sense of purpose. And through our volunteering, they are getting to give back to the community and connect with others"
Co-founders
Ed, Ken and Erin
Company
Health2Sync
Location
Taipei City, Taiwan
Downloads
1,461,100+
# of employees
110
While many of Ed's family members have diabetes, he was always struck by how well his grandma managed her condition. He soon realized this was because she kept close track of her blood sugar levels and frequently showed the notes to her doctor, giving Ed the idea for a digital data tracker for people with diabetes. Partnering with product manager Ken - whose mother also has diabetes - and former colleague Erin, he launched Health2Sync. The app helps people with diabetes to track their blood glucose, diet, exercise, and medication while receiving tips for managing the disease. They've recently added an AI-based food recognition feature and released an Arabic version for the Middle East. Next, they plan to expand to Australia and Korea.
"Being able to leverage technology to save people's lives and to help them get better. I think that's something that I can proudly share —we're making a difference"
Co-founders
Lorenzo Cartolano and César de Freitas Filho
Company
WeCancer
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
Downloads
60,000+
# of employees
15
Both Lorenzo and César lost their mothers to cancer. While Lorenzo's family had access to the best doctors and private clinics, César's mother relied on the public health sector and lived 60 kilometers away from the nearest hospital. When they met through a mutual friend and exchanged experiences, they realized how tiring hospital visits often are for cancer patients. This inspired them to create WeCancer: a comprehensive cancer treatment support platform, where patients can receive virtual at-home medical care, advice and round-the-clock monitoring. Working in partnership with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, they now want to make their interface light enough for all phones as well as expand into other Latin American countries.
"By providing appropriate qualified care outside of hospital walls, we hope to reduce inefficiencies in at-home cancer care and improve the oncological journey for our patients in Brazil"
Co-founders
Laura Seago, Erich Luedtke and John Gribbin
Company
Curable
Location
Denver, USA
Downloads
170,900+
# of employees
8
Laura, Erich and John have all experienced chronic pain in their lives, which was what bonded them as work colleagues and friends. Under John’s lead, the trio began practicing various alternative therapeutic techniques to reduce their pain and over time saw their conditions improve. Empowered and inspired, they wanted to share what they’d learned, combining their skill sets to launch Curable. The app offers a guided recovery program for chronic pain sufferers, using a wide range of science-backed techniques including cognitive behavioral therapy and meditation. They recently launched a subscription plan for healing video workshops, and are continuously working toward their goal of helping as many people as possible get relief from persistent pain.
"We're providing the tools that can empower people to heal themselves. They're really the ones doing the healing work — but the impact has been extraordinary"
Co-founders
Maria Burns Ortiz, AnnMaria De Mars and Dennis De Mars
Company
7 Generation Games
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Downloads
16,000+
# of employees
11
After a successful sports journalism career, Maria wanted to build something inspired by growing up as a Latina in rural North Dakota. She teamed up with her mom AnnMaria, a teacher and computer programmer, and software developer Dennis, to set up 7 Generation Games. They make educational apps – in English, Spanish and indigenous languages – to improve math skills of Hispanic and Native American children. Making Camp Ojibwe is a village-building simulation where players earn points by answering math and social studies questions. Research has shown that children who played their games have improved their math scores 3 times more than students that haven't. The trio aims to keep expanding and reach even more teachers and students in underserved communities.
"We were so excited to see that kids who played our first game saw their math scores improve by 30% in the first ten weeks"
Founder
Yiwei P'ng
Company
Kurechii
Location
Cyberjaya, Malaysia
Downloads
11,290,000+
# of employees
24
Yiwei started his career as a web designer, but as a keen gamer himself he soon transitioned into game development and launched his own studio Kurechii. As he watched busy commuters in Tokyo playing on their phone while carrying their briefcases, he got the idea to create a game that could be played single-handedly, but still feature adventurous role playing. In Postknight, players follow a knight as he makes dangerous journeys across the kingdom of Kurestal to deliver parcels. After releasing the popular sequel Postknight 2 with brand new characters, the team are now working to enhance both games, as well as brainstorm ideas for new titles.
"Something I really appreciate about Google Play is that it's always evolving, it’s not stagnant. Every year there are new features and this pushes us to grow too as we're provided with more information to improve our games"
Founder
Olivier Madiba
Company
Kiroo Games
Location
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Downloads
179,300+
# of employees
24
Growing up around his father's video store and a huge collection of science magazines, Olivier was exposed to technology from an early age. So it's no surprise that he studied computer science and soon began creating PC games. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, he was able to release the African fantasy RPG, Aurion. Partly inspired by Japanese manga, the game is an allegory for geopolitical themes, with players following the King and Queen of Zama as they fight corruption in Aurion. Next, he hopes to add multiplayer options and chat features to make the game more interactive, and transform Aurion into a global African-fantasy gaming brand.
"The game is symbolic of our generation's journey in Cameroon. It's about discovering where Africa fits into the world and the role it can play geopolitically"
Co-founders
Valeria Castro and Álvaro Gutiérrez Lorenzo
Company
Platonic Games
Location
Madrid, Spain
Downloads
20,000,000+
# of employees
7
Born in Uruguay, Valeria moved to Spain as a child. Her parents loved video games so she grew up playing them with her family. After studying computer science and traveling the world with her PR job, she transitioned into game development and launched her own studio, Platonic Games, with friend and co-founder Álvaro. Noticing that games for girls were often limited to a handful of genres, the pair decided to design something new for a female audience. Happy Hop is an addictive racing game featuring kawaii-inspired “Miimo” characters. Next, the team wants to attract other demographics to their games and reach a wider audience.
"The inspiration for our games come from our lives and experiences. Although it's a two-way street: making a game about cats actually inspired me to adopt a cat - life really does imitates art sometimes"
Co-founders
Jaron Soh
Kris Jack
Company
Voda
Location
London, UK
Downloads
1,500+
# of employees
3
Growing up, Singapore-based Jaron struggled to embrace his sexuality. But after moving to London to study, he began accepting himself after coming out to his parents and starting therapy. This experience inspired him to create Voda - a mental health app that offers the LGBTQ+ community the kind of mental health support he wished he'd had for his younger self. Built with co-founder Kris, who he met at an accelerator, the app offers guided therapy programmes, designed and led by a team of psychotherapists and mental health experts. In the future, the pair wants to go global and continue to support individuals struggling with their sexual or gender identity.
"I always wanted to work in tech in a way that aligned with my values. With Voda, I'm basically building what I wish I had in my younger years growing up gay: LGBTQ+ affirming mental health support"
Founder
Kate Tamera
Company
Euphoria
Location
Seattle, USA
Downloads
63,400+
# of employees
1
Kate had a harsh upbringing, so as a form of escapism she would spend time reprogramming her favorite games. A corporate career in tech followed, but she was dismissed soon after coming out as transgender and found herself coding websites to get by. It was while reflecting on how difficult and isolating her gender transition had been that she got the inspiration for her first app, Solace: a platform designed to help transgender individuals plan their transition and support them through the legal, medical and social steps. Other apps followed and she now wants to merge all of them under Bliss, currently a banking app for the transgender community, and make it a one-stop support platform.
"We want to help as many people as we can. We know how many folks out there need rescuers. And we're on a mission to make sure that no one gets lost in the fire of abuse"
Co-founders
Shivam Kaushik
Ankur Chawla
Rohit Sharma
Company
Glii
Location
Noida, India
Downloads
95,000+
# of employees
9
While working on cruise liners, Shivam's friend and shipmate confided in him about the struggles of finding companionship as a gay person due to catfishing, scams and safety fears. This stuck with Shivam, and inspired him to develop the LGBTQ+ dating app Glii, with co-founders Ankur and Rohit. Via the platform, matches can book a gay-friendly restaurant for their first date and, thanks to AI verification, know for a fact they're meeting a real person. People feel loud, proud and empowered on Glii, and they're spreading the love even further with plans to expand into Thailand and South East Asia soon.
"I really feel that we've given queer people a place and a community where nobody is going to judge them, where they can be themselves and be appreciated"
Founder
Ania Wysocka
Company
Rootd
Location
Victoria, Canada
Downloads
1,500,000+
# of employees
1
Ania had always been incredibly confident. But suddenly, as a student at the age of 22, she couldn't go for a walk or meet friends due to panic attacks. She sought help from books but couldn't understand why these resources weren't available on an app. This journey led her to create Rootd - Anxiety & Panic Relief with guided lessons, breathing tools, and exercises. Ania wants to make the app - now available in 10 different languages - one of the most widely used tools to overcome panic and anxiety in the world.
"We have over a million downloads on Google Play, that's been really incredible. It's also helped me connect with a lot of people in countries where Android phones are widely used"
Co-founders
Valentin Schütz
Juan Vicci
Tobias Zetzsche
Company
Gronda
Location
Innsbruck, Austria
Downloads
853,000+
# of employees
31
With hotelier and restaurateur parents, Valentin grew up learning about the challenges of the hospitality sector. As he was a better programmer than a cook, he decided to not join the industry. But at 22 - whilst successfully working abroad - he felt his life was lacking purpose. Valentin went back to his hometown and, after hearing his parents had troubles with hiring, created a hospitality recruitment app with co-founders Tobias and Juan. When Covid hit however, Gronda transformed into a platform for chefs to share and monetize their recipes, inspiring other culinary lovers. Next, Gronda wants to help ambitious chefs worldwide unleash their full potential.
"We create value, helping people learn something new and lifting their passion - that’s amazing. I mean, what more can you wish for?"
Co-founders
David Grigoryan, Arman Manukyan and Hayk Grigoryan
Company
Zoomerang
Location
Yerevan, Armenia
Downloads
16,215,100+
# of employees
20
As a child, David’s mother always told him he’d become a programmer. And he did, but it was his other passion, music, that led to Zoomerang. After uploading his music online, David got limited views because his video editing wasn’t engaging. So, along with co-founders Arman and Hayk, he created a platform where content creators could get editing templates for their videos, allowing thousands to grow their brand and vivify their content. Now, they want to become the number one video template marketplace and a major social media platform.
"I always wanted to create a product that would help millions of people to excel in a creative way. To help them feel better, be more creative, and able to express themselves"
Founder
Rama Kayyali
Company
Little Thinking Minds
Location
Amman, Jordan
Downloads
825,000+
# of employees
50
When Rama and her friend and co-founder Lamia had their first boys, they struggled to find resources to teach their little ones Arabic. So, they utilized their background in film production and started making children’s videos in Arabic in their backyards. When they held a screening at a local cinema, over 500 parents and children came to watch it, and they had to screen it multiple times. A few years later and the content is now digitized in a series of apps used in schools of 10 countries. The most popular, I Read Arabic, has educational videos, books, games, and a dashboard for teachers to track students' progress. To date they reach 800 private and public schools in ten countries and hope to reach even more soon.
"Our books focus on gender equality, inclusivity, tolerance, social cohesion and sustainable development goals, as we believe this impacts the social development of children"
Founder
Prakash Patel
Company
ForKeeps
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
Downloads
10,000+
# of employees
3
When Prakash's sister passed away, his nieces longed to hear her voice again and keep her memory alive. When his father died, he felt the same and regretted not having all his photos and messages in one place. This inspired Prakash and his co-founders to create ForKeeps: a platform for preserving a person's legacy with photo albums, stories, and voice messages — everything he'd wished for his dad and sister. Through the app, people can feel their loved one’s presence after they're gone. The Forever Album tool also allows the audience to share and celebrate special occasions in real time. Now Prakash's goal is to help more people across different cultures around the world record memories for their loved ones.
"We're very hands on because we truly believe in the product we're offering. We want to add value to someone's life and support them during an emotional time"
Co-founders
Anshul Agarwal, Meet Singhal and Harsh Tyagi
Company
Stamurai Speech Therapy
Location
Delhi, India
Downloads
200,000+
# of employees
17
Anshul, Meet and Harsh became friends and shared an apartment while working for a startup. Even after years living together, Anshul wasn't aware that Meet used to stutter. Meet explained he had bought various medical books and taught himself some speech therapy exercises to overcome the disorder. After this conversation, the trio decided to spread their knowledge and create Stamurai. The app was built for their own benefit but has been helping thousands of people worldwide. They are now working on adding more languages and more exercises for other speech disorders.
"I avoided ordering my favourite food, going shopping and talking to strangers. These speech exercises allowed me to do things that seemed simple for some, but were a struggle to me"
Founder
Bria Sullivan
Company
Honey B Games
Location
Los Angeles, USA
Downloads
3,757,200+
# of employees
1
Bria worked for some big names in the tech world, but wanted to start her own company based around what brings her joy. Bubble tea was something she always associated with good times with friends, and wanted to encapsulate that same feeling in Boba Story. In her game, players have to restore an old boba shop by designing the decor and a drinks menu, to serve bubble tea to cute characters inspired by Japanese anime. She recently added a garden with beekeeping to harvest honey, as well as a host of new boba flavours, teas and magic ingredients. A keen cook and baker herself, Bria hopes to release more cuisine-themed games in the future.
"I want to be an example for my community of someone who can live off of making fun things, own my own company which adhere to my ethics and my values, while also prioritizing my family"
Co-founders
Lauren Clinnick
and Christina Chen
Company
Lumi Interactive
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Downloads
192,900+
# of employees
22
As a child, Lauren played video games to distract her from the pain of chronic ear infections. She discovered games can be a healing experience for people — a sentiment she dedicated her career to. Intent on building a game that promoted wellbeing for women, she partnered with engineer Christina to make Kinder World: Cozy Plants. Players grow houseplants and perform wellbeing activities, like gratitude journaling and box breathing exercises. The concept was inspired by how popular taking care of plants became during quarantine. Next, the pair want to add multiplayer features like communal art projects and vegetable plots so players can work together and build a community.
"Google Play comes across as having a developers-for-developers kind of mindset. This is reflected in the tools it offers and how it put us in its early access program"
CEO
Jelena Jankovic
Company
3Hills
Location
Podgorica, Montenegro
Downloads
1,000+
# of employees
16
Despite having no tech background, Jelena was invited to set up one of the first gaming studios in the country while she was working as head of HR at a software development company. Now, 3Hills has become a pioneer of the mobile gaming industry in Montenegro. Their debut was Starblind, an endless adventure in outer space where players explore the universe and face UFOs. 3Hills also operates a tech academy that provides free game development and design skills training to developers and artists. Although they are just at the beginning of their journey, the team is passionate about inspiring others, helping people take their first steps in mobile gaming and app design.
"We built our training programme from scratch – now we have hundreds of people learning code and building apps. People are starting to see how amazing the gaming industry is and just how many opportunities there are"
Co-founder
Filipe Pereira
Company
Aoca Game Lab
Location
Salvador, Brazil
Downloads
5,000+
# of employees
8
Born and raised in Salvador, Filipe was inspired by the city's cultural heritage so he studied history, becoming a teacher and researcher. One day, he realized games could be a powerful medium to share Brazilian history and culture with the world. So, together with his business partner Victor, he founded Aoca Game Lab. Now as a team of eight people, they created their first title, Árida: Backland's Awakening, a survival game featuring the adventures of a young girl in the historic city of Canudos. It's been translated into 6 languages as they plan to reach millions. Aoca Game Lab took part in the Indie Games Accelerator and have also been selected to receive the Indie Games Fund. With the help from these Google Play programs, they will take the game and studio to the next level.
“The most incredible thing is how Google Play helped us to spread the game. So many people all over the world now know Árida and we are really grateful for that”
Co-founders
Clara Fernandez Porta
Juan Cartagena
and David Gil Pérez
Company
Rosita Longevity
Location
Cofrentes, Spain
Downloads
10,000+
# of employees
13
Clara runs a longevity clinic in rural Valencia where people learn to live a longer, healthier life. She knew this powerful knowledge could go far beyond her little village, so she teamed up with her husband Juan and his university friend David to found healthtech startup Hearts Radiant. Their app, Rosita, provides seniors long-term physical and mental health plans. With mentorship and support from the Google for Startups Growth Academy program, Hearts Radiant just launched in the US, where Clara hopes to continue scaling the company and pioneering health technology.
"We've had people who could barely go out or they could not go out alone, who are now sending us pictures from their holidays. And they know that it's because of us"
Founder
Noel Broda
Company
Broda Noel
Location
Córdoba, Argentina
Downloads
42,000+
# of employees
1
Growing up in the small village of San Antonio de Litín, Noel was a teenager with no internet access when he first got his hands on a book about computer programming. Fast forward a few years later and he’s travelling the world, working remotely as a software developer. When he discovered he’d missed a beautiful viewing point in Italy, he got the idea for NoFilter - an app compiling the best photography spots around the world. Next, Noel wants to launch more features for customized trip planning and offer travellers options to go carbon neutral.
"With tools and integration features, Google Play is a platform that feels like it’s on your side"
Co-founders
Amiraslan Bakhshili
and Orkhan Alikhanov
Company
Oxuyan
Location
Baku, Azerbaijan
Downloads
65,000+
# of employees
6
Top students Amiraslan and Orkhan met when they spontaneously teamed up at their university programming competition — and won. A series of tandem hackathons and coding all-nighters later and the pair launched Oxuyan (“scholar” in Azerbaijani), a platform for publishing exams and testing knowledge. Education had been a ticket to so much opportunity for Amiraslan, including studying abroad and travelling Europe, so his motivation was to make learning accessible to everyone. With new students joining everyday, sharing their scores on social media and a chat interface in the works, more and more young people are getting the access to the education they deserve.
"It's an honour for us to bring knowledge into people’s lives, especially in parts of Azerbaijan where technology and resources are limited"
Founder & ceo
Sam Glassenberg
Company
Level Ex
Location
Chicago, Illinois
Downloads
300,000+
# of employees
135
Sam had a successful career in game development. He comes from a family of doctors, and one day his dad asked him to create a game to train medical professionals. Sam built it over a few weekends, published it and forgot about it. Two years later, he discovered it had been used by 100,000 medical professionals, and studies showed it improved their performance. His company Level Ex now makes games to accelerate specialist skills, from cardiology to anesthesia. In 2021, they launched Top Derm, which educates in recognizing disease on skin of color.
''We're able to attract top talent from the games industry and healthcare because of the company's mission. They want to use those skills, not only to create great content but also to help doctors and patients''
Founder
Xin Zhao
Company
Savy Soda
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Downloads
3,500,000+
# of employees
20
Inspired by the 90s video games he played as a child, Xin knew exactly what game he wanted to create. The studio didn't quite have the money to fund it though, so it launched a crowdfunding campaign to help develop Pixel Starships. The game was completed using the money raised from the community. After years working in corporate tech, the move to designing and making games is something Xin has never looked back on. Millions of downloads later, his five-year-old child acts as a mini developer giving him feedback, and a sequel is now on the way.
“I think this is the job that all the kids want to do, right? To make games - it was definitely my dream”
Co-founder & Ceo
Liene Grenevica
Company
Roadgames
Location
Riga, Latvia
Downloads
10,100+
# of employees
10
Liene often braves the big outdoors and discovers what nature has to offer - so much so, that she organizes team-building, orienteering based games for her team at work. Seeing their joy as they explore the world around them inspired her to create Roadgames. It guides players through adventurous scavenger hunts, discovering new terrain and unexplored destinations. Recently, augmented reality was added to give the game another immersive dimension. In the future, Liene has big ambitions to go global and share new adventures across the world.
"We hear from users that they love the cool spots we feature. Our goal is to surprise people - and I think that's what we do"
Founder
Marko Petkovic
Company
Peaksel
Location
Niš, Serbia
Downloads
483,094,900+
# of employees
60
As a chemistry student, Marko was never really interested in tech - then he received his first computer and everything changed. He quit his degree to focus on his new passion and now, owns his successful studio Peaksel with over 480 million downloads. One of their most popular titles is 100 Doors Games: School Escape, with over 100 levels to challenge the minds of even the most experienced players.
"Google Play is our partner, an advertising channel and a source of income. The support just gets better and better"
Co-founders
Eefje Tabak and
Gijs de Beer
Company
Campy
Location
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Downloads
136,200+
# of employees
2
When Gijs and Eefje embarked on a journey across Europe in their camper van, finding the best spots to park up for the night wasn't easy. So Gijs taught himself to code, and with the marketing expertise of Eefje, they launched Campy. The app acts as a digital camping encyclopedia, helping travellers search, find and filter places to stay across the continent. The couple's ultimate goal is to help the community of motorhome and camping enthusiasts discover the beauty of Europe.
“It never ceases to amaze me what a tiny app can do for so many people. We are tapping into a community with so much knowledge and creativity”
Founder
Cristian Lara
Company
Reciclapp
Location
Santiago, Chile
Downloads
52,500+
# of employees
12
Cristian was the first of his family to go to university. During his studies, he had the idea to create an app for waste pickers - people that collect reusable materials and sell them to recycling centres - to make their lives easier. Instead of digging through waste bins, they can use Reciclapp to connect with local businesses and collect their waste for re-selling. With 3,000 pickups per month across Chile, the company has now expanded to Mexico. Next, Cristian plans to add more services to the app like repairs and cleaning, helping more people make a sustainable income.
“The social impact of this app is what motivates me. I want to work with people who pick waste and help them make more money”
Co-founders
Kennedy and
Duke Ekezie-Joseph
Company
Kippa
Location
Lagos, Nigeria
Downloads
829,000+
# of employees
63
When Kennedy and Duke saw their father's company fail, they saw the impact poor bookkeeping can have on a small business. After meeting with other business owners across Nigeria, they were inspired to create an accounting app to revolutionize, modernize and simplify bookkeeping. Their dream is for Kippa to one day become a one-stop shop for all business finance needs, empowering entrepreneurs all across Africa.
“More than 90% of Kippa users today are Android users. Google Play is the first place that they encounter our product. So it was a no brainer, without Google Play we couldn't help as many business owners”
Co-founders
Kelly Lilles,
Mikk Lilles,
Reimo Meier
and Madde Rebane
Company
ALPA Kids
Location
Tallinn, Estonia
Downloads
452,500+
# of employees
7
Kelly loves studying languages, and Mikk is into tech. While living abroad, they wanted to find a way to keep their sons connected to their Estonian heritage. They combined their passions, and along with relatives Madde and Reimo, created ALPA Kids - a mobile language game for Estonian children. After achieving several awards, they've now expanded to include the languages of Ukraine and India, with the ultimate goal of including as many languages as possible. They have also recently received funds to invest in artificial intelligence, to develop customised games based on each child's individual skills and ability.
“Our games are used by families, schools and preschools. It has had a huge impact for language preservation and language learning in early childhood education”
Co-founders
Vladimir Koščica,
Tomislav Podhraški
and Boris Barbir
Company
Pine Studio
Location
Samobor, Croatia
Downloads
531,800+
# of employees
17
In college, friends Vladimir, Boris and Tomislav had a dream to one day own a games studio. Fast-forward 10 years and they're now the proud founders of Pine Studio. Their game, Cats in Time – a puzzle where players need to find and save cats – was the first title they independently published. For every 100,000 cats saved in the game, 10kg of cat food is donated to shelters in Zagreb. They took part in Google Play's Indie Games Accelerator in 2021. Next, they plan to release more levels and a new game, Escape Simulator.
“We won the Indie Games Festival and it brought more players to the game. Google Play is our most popular platform”
Co-founders
Aldo Mujica and
Sandro de la Riva Aguero
Company
Dark Dome
Location
Lima, Peru
Downloads
7,580,000+
# of employees
3
When Aldo visited an escape room in Lima, he was so impressed with the design that he wanted to work with the owner, Sandro, to bring escape rooms to the virtual world. They joined forces to create The Girl in the Window, followed by other thrilling and chilling games. The stories take place in Hidden Town, with plot twists and jump scares to complement Sandro’s macabre artwork. The studio, Dark Dome, fulfills their wish to combine games with storytelling and art. Looking forward, the duo have more games in the works and are fine-tuning their processes to release sequels even quicker.
“Google Play is excellent for any developer, big or small. It’s easy to start from zero. It's a great opportunity for indie developers to build their dreams”
Co-founders
Anica and Kristijan Kačan
Company
Dub Studio Productions
Location
Preko, Croatia
Downloads
131,275,700+
# of employees
2
Anica and Kristijan love music and dance, and first met in a club where Kristijan was DJing. Music has always been an important part of their lives and Kristijan wanted to get the best sound quality on mobile. He put his coding skills to use and created Music Volume EQ. The app gives people control over the music on their phone with an equalizer, bass booster, and 3D virtualizer to simulate different acoustic environments. Dub Studio Productions is a family business. The parents' passion for music and technology inspired one of their sons, who is now a budding musician and game developer.
“We enjoy what we do, and our way of life. Google Play helped us to develop all of this from where we are.”
Co-founders
Annabel Angwenyi
and Patrick Ngugi
Company
Ziada
Location
Nairobi, Kenya
Downloads
59,700+
# of employees
11
It was a broken-down car which led to entrepreneurs Annabel and Patrick’s lightbulb moment. Stuck on the roadside in Nairobi, they couldn’t find a mechanic to fix their car quickly. They realised people need an easy way to find local businesses and trusted service providers. So, despite having no tech background, they created their app Ziada. Their on-demand service marketplace is growing in downloads - and with a predominantly female workforce offering mentorship to young women - they're taking the Kenyan gig economy by storm.
“Our most popular category, household, is led by women. That makes us really happy. There is an expression in Kenya that when you empower a woman, you empower the whole community”
Founder
George Parkinson
Company
Droplist
Location
Bristol, UK
Downloads
957,000+
# of employees
1
A fan of sneakers and streetwear, George would constantly search online for new limited editions. He decided at the age of just 16 to teach himself to code and launch Droplist. The app shows all upcoming special collections from major labels – plus where and how to get them. George spent hours in his bedroom working on the app without telling anyone, until his parents asked where his money was coming from. George now works directly with brands, has added a new restock alert feature, and built a community of people passionate about streetwear.
“The reviews are very useful. And it's also broken down with daily ratings as well – with the stars. It’s easy to see the data you want to see”